A Thin Line

Accepting the reform of behavior but not of beliefs

04/24/2018

Acts of the apostles 11:1-18 The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, saying, 'You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them." Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying, "I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when in a trance I had a vision, something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me. Looking intently into it, I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. I also heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.' But I said, 'Certainly not, sir, because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' But a second time a voice from heaven answered, 'What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.' This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. Just then three men appeared at the house where we were, who had been sent to me from Caesarea. The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.

At critical junctures in Church history great reformers have arisen to put the Church back on track. These were visionary men and women unafraid to challenge church authority, even that of the pope, calling them to live a more authentic Christianity. But sometimes, in their zeal they shot their arrows of reform at the wrong targets. Instead of directing their criticism to how Christians behaved (which can always stand improvement), they criticized what the Church believed (which remains intact and inviolate down the centuries). There is a very thin line between behavior and belief.

Perhaps the most glaring case in point was the Protestant Reformation, where this thin line was crossed. Martin Luther was right regarding reforming the behavior of Catholics, including some popes, but he was mistaken about changing beliefs. He sort of tripped over that thin line between behavior and belief. Unfortunately, he was not content to call out the Church’s lack of fidelity to the gospel, he went so far as to question the faith itself. There was nothing wrong with the faith of the Church, but there was plenty wrong with how Christians practiced that faith. This pattern of needing to reform the right things is repeated again and again in Church history.

The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the effort of the first pope, St. Peter, to reform the behavior of Christians, but not belief. Arguably, the first great controversy to confront Christians was whether or not to include gentiles (that is, non-Jews) in the ranks of the saved. That may seem nonsensical to us because we welcome everyone who wants to be Christian into the Church, regardless of race, color or creed. But that particular Church practice of including only Jews needed to be reformed. St. Peter enters the home of some uncircumcised people (non-Jews) and shares a meal with them. But Jewish Christians questioned him. St. Peter answers them: “The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.” In other words, the gospel is good news for everyone, not just a chosen few. The first pope was an authentic reformer: changing bad behavior but not the beauty of belief. He didn’t trip over that thin line separating the two.

I think this is the perspective from which we need to see the past five years of Pope Francis’ pontificate. From his first year in the papacy Pope Francis has called Catholics to a “missionary transformation.” That is, a different approach to practicing our faith, in a “missionary key” as he often says, but not to change the faith itself. The symphony of sanctity can be sounded in many keys, but the conductor is always faith. The pope wants to change our behavior not our beliefs. The hard part is knowing where that thin line is between behavior and belief. Conservative Catholics might accuse the pope of already crossing that line, and they want to reel him back in. Liberal Catholics might say the pope still has a long way to go to get to that line, and cheer him on for more.

My suggestion to you would be don’t worry about what the pope is doing but worry about what you are doing. In other words, each Catholic needs to examine his or her own faith life and see if our behavior lines up with our beliefs. Do we practice what we preach? The conversion of the world to Christ – which is the heart of every genuine reform – depends far more on Christian behavior than on Christian belief. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. And when people leave the Church, what do they invariably point to as the culprit? It is how Catholics behave not so much what Catholics believe.

Today,  let us thank God for all the great reformers he has sent over the centuries, including the one occupying the Chair of St. Peter today, Pope Francis. And let us pray that all reformers help us abandon our bad behavior, but never our beautiful beliefs.

Praised be Jesus Christ!