A New Teaching
08/04/16 05:29
It has been a long time and emotions have cooled, but I remember some intense disagreements with my brothers and sisters growing up. We were a large and loud family and serious debate and discussion were expected. We were encouraged to express our beliefs and ideas and the family dinner table was a place of lively discussion. I know that some of my friends were alarmed when invited to be guests at our table because we raised our voices so often. Having three brothers resulted in a small amount of physical fighting, although I remember learning at an early age to restrain my urge to tackle a brother. Bullying by the big brother definitely was not tolerated.
We may have fought with each other, but those fights were kept in the family. Out in the neighborhood, we brothers presented a united front. Every one of my friends knew that picking on one of my brothers wouldn’t be tolerated.
I grew up with a sense that there is a huge difference between a fight that is inside of the family and one that involves folks from the outside. Now that we are becoming seniors I still stick to that same sense. I am comfortable with disagreements between my siblings, but when they take those arguments into the public arena - through a nasty post on Facebook or even in a list serve that involves cousins - I squirm.
As my father said repeatedly, “This is a family. You can’t resign from a family. You’d better learn to get along.”
I tell that story because it is also the way that I look at the church. We’ve had some rather major disagreements in the family of the church. A major argument over theological issues and organizational principles led to a break between the Greek Church of the East and the Latin Church of the West in 1054. Subsequently, the Eastern Orthodox church divided into Russian Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox. Those two parts of the church remain in communion, but do not report to one another. On the Latin side, the Protestant Reformation resulted in a large split within the Roman Catholic Church and Protestants have subsequently divided over issues such as baptism, church structure, and theology. There are a lot of different “brands” of Christianity in the world.
Still, when the recent historic meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Krill of the Russian Orthodox Church finally met after nearly a thousand years of division between the two communions took place, Pope Francis is reported to have said, “We are brothers” as he embraced Krill. Later a 30-point statement was released in which the two leaders declared themselves ready to take all necessary measures to overcome historical differences. That statement also said, “We are not competitors, but brothers.”
The disagreements within Christianity are disagreements within the family. They will not be resolved by one part of the Christian body saying to another, “I have no need of you.” Even if such a statement were to be said - and such statements have been made in anger over the years - it would not change the fact that we are linked together.
So it isn’t an inconsequential matter that Pope Francis has become the favorite pope of Protestants in the world. Despite evidence of some pretty sharp disagreements and divisions within the Vatican, those of us who are Christian but outside of the Roman Catholic Church find the populism and progressiveness of Pope Francis to be refreshing and inspiring. We are reminded once agin that we all belong to the same family of faith.
I have been looking forward to an opportunity to read “Amoris Laetitia” the proclamation on family life that Pope Francis officially released today. It is 256 pages long and it will be a few days before it is available in English, but it is a major teaching for those of us who are not in the Catholic Church. According to the global press release on the document - “The Joy of Love” in English - the proclamation hints at a path for divorced and remarried Catholics to return to communion. What the document does not do is to issue any new rules or give new directions. Pope Francis doesn’t think that way. He isn’t interested in “top down” reforms for the church. He encourages priests and bishops to think and act in accord with their own judgment, conscience and love for the church.
The statement will, I am sure, be dismissed by some in the church as just one more teaching about family life by a person who has made and kept a vow of celibacy. “How can someone who will never marry be an expert on married life?” is a question that I often hear. I, being married, of course, do not know the answer.
Often in family disagreements there is more sadness than anger. I feel this intensely when a couple of my siblings fight. I don’t get very angry, but it does make me sad. That is how I feel about a major disagreement that continues between the Roman Catholic church and my corner of the church. From my point of view the failure of the Roman Catholic church to consider the wealth of leadership from the women of the church and the insistence of making the hierarchy of the church exclusively male is a sad waste of such brilliant potential leadership. Imagine how much more vital and effective the church could be if it learned to accept leadership and wisdom from the other half of its faithful members.
Then again, I shouldn’t be too quick to judge. My denomination, the first to ordain women in 1853, has yet to call a woman as its General Minister and President. I guess I can be sad not only for others but for ourselves as well.
So I will seek to learn what I can from the wisdom of the pope. One quote has already caught my eye: “A pastor cannot feel that it is enough to simply apply moral laws to those living in ‘irregular’ situations, as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives.”
Inside of our family as well as in our relationships with those who are not Christian, we are called to set aside our judgments and show our love. That, of course is at the core of our faith and the teachings of Jesus.
We may have fought with each other, but those fights were kept in the family. Out in the neighborhood, we brothers presented a united front. Every one of my friends knew that picking on one of my brothers wouldn’t be tolerated.
I grew up with a sense that there is a huge difference between a fight that is inside of the family and one that involves folks from the outside. Now that we are becoming seniors I still stick to that same sense. I am comfortable with disagreements between my siblings, but when they take those arguments into the public arena - through a nasty post on Facebook or even in a list serve that involves cousins - I squirm.
As my father said repeatedly, “This is a family. You can’t resign from a family. You’d better learn to get along.”
I tell that story because it is also the way that I look at the church. We’ve had some rather major disagreements in the family of the church. A major argument over theological issues and organizational principles led to a break between the Greek Church of the East and the Latin Church of the West in 1054. Subsequently, the Eastern Orthodox church divided into Russian Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox. Those two parts of the church remain in communion, but do not report to one another. On the Latin side, the Protestant Reformation resulted in a large split within the Roman Catholic Church and Protestants have subsequently divided over issues such as baptism, church structure, and theology. There are a lot of different “brands” of Christianity in the world.
Still, when the recent historic meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Krill of the Russian Orthodox Church finally met after nearly a thousand years of division between the two communions took place, Pope Francis is reported to have said, “We are brothers” as he embraced Krill. Later a 30-point statement was released in which the two leaders declared themselves ready to take all necessary measures to overcome historical differences. That statement also said, “We are not competitors, but brothers.”
The disagreements within Christianity are disagreements within the family. They will not be resolved by one part of the Christian body saying to another, “I have no need of you.” Even if such a statement were to be said - and such statements have been made in anger over the years - it would not change the fact that we are linked together.
So it isn’t an inconsequential matter that Pope Francis has become the favorite pope of Protestants in the world. Despite evidence of some pretty sharp disagreements and divisions within the Vatican, those of us who are Christian but outside of the Roman Catholic Church find the populism and progressiveness of Pope Francis to be refreshing and inspiring. We are reminded once agin that we all belong to the same family of faith.
I have been looking forward to an opportunity to read “Amoris Laetitia” the proclamation on family life that Pope Francis officially released today. It is 256 pages long and it will be a few days before it is available in English, but it is a major teaching for those of us who are not in the Catholic Church. According to the global press release on the document - “The Joy of Love” in English - the proclamation hints at a path for divorced and remarried Catholics to return to communion. What the document does not do is to issue any new rules or give new directions. Pope Francis doesn’t think that way. He isn’t interested in “top down” reforms for the church. He encourages priests and bishops to think and act in accord with their own judgment, conscience and love for the church.
The statement will, I am sure, be dismissed by some in the church as just one more teaching about family life by a person who has made and kept a vow of celibacy. “How can someone who will never marry be an expert on married life?” is a question that I often hear. I, being married, of course, do not know the answer.
Often in family disagreements there is more sadness than anger. I feel this intensely when a couple of my siblings fight. I don’t get very angry, but it does make me sad. That is how I feel about a major disagreement that continues between the Roman Catholic church and my corner of the church. From my point of view the failure of the Roman Catholic church to consider the wealth of leadership from the women of the church and the insistence of making the hierarchy of the church exclusively male is a sad waste of such brilliant potential leadership. Imagine how much more vital and effective the church could be if it learned to accept leadership and wisdom from the other half of its faithful members.
Then again, I shouldn’t be too quick to judge. My denomination, the first to ordain women in 1853, has yet to call a woman as its General Minister and President. I guess I can be sad not only for others but for ourselves as well.
So I will seek to learn what I can from the wisdom of the pope. One quote has already caught my eye: “A pastor cannot feel that it is enough to simply apply moral laws to those living in ‘irregular’ situations, as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives.”
Inside of our family as well as in our relationships with those who are not Christian, we are called to set aside our judgments and show our love. That, of course is at the core of our faith and the teachings of Jesus.