One thing that never ceases to amaze me about the Bible is how seemingly obscure, random passages can nonetheless speak so powerfully to present circumstances. As readers of this blog know, for Lent I’ve been working my way through Revelation. My most recent devotional brought me through Jesus’s exhortation to the church in Pergamum, which includes this rather odd rebuke:
But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam . . . . So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. -Rev. 2:14-16.
Don’t worry, this post is not a meditation on the intricacies of the Nicolaitan teachings. In fact, I don’t even know what they taught, except for that it probably had something to do with sex or sexual immorality. But who cares. What stood out to me about this passage is that within one church, Jesus identifies two schools of thought that have gone astray, and He is very, very concerned about it. in other words, theology matters.
Why is that so timely? Because, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last month, you probably know that the Catholic Cardinals are in the process of selecting a new Pope. Now, not being Catholic myself, the selection affects me at most only indirectly, so my own perspective on the whole affair can best be described as “detached observer.” But what I find absolutely fascinating about it is that one simply cannot read a prominent publication (whether print or online) without finding some advice on what “reforms” the next Pope will need to embody or implement in order for the Church to come into some perceived modernity. The usual suspects are then trotted out: sexuality, homosexuality, the role of women in the church, birth control, and so on. And yet, altogether lacking from every opinion piece I’ve ever read is any discussion about the theological underpinnings of the current Catholic positions.
It lately seems that such suggested “reforms,” however well-intended, are actually little more than efforts to conform the Church to secular standards of morality and/or equality, under the assumption that doing so will decrease resistance to its teachings and thereby increase its relevance/membership. Again, I am not Catholic so I do not particularly care what it teaches. But, as a Christian more generally, I am deeply concerned about the trend towards sweeping difficult or unpopular messages under the rug for the sake of being uncontroversial. As Christians, we are not called to preach what is popular, or what will be accepted, or what is easily understood. We are called to preach the truth. One can easily think of countless messages that would play well to modern audiences: make money, be successful, have lots of sex, live your best life now, and so on and so on and so on. But at the end of the day, the critical question should not be–MUST not be–“Will this message be well received?” Rather, it should be, “Is this message the gospel?” Is this message true? The message from Revelation 2:14-16 (quoted above) is that from the beginning, Churches have been filled with preachers of popular, but misguided, messages. But Jesus is deeply concerned about the truth of what is preached in His name. Preaching a lowest-common-denominator of morality may be popular in the secular realm, but it also represents a fundamental abandonment of the Church’s role to be the salt of the Earth.
Ultimately disputes over abortion, celibacy, and so on are only symptoms of a larger, more pressing issue: How do we know what the truth is? How do we know God’s mind and heart? Are we to be a weathervane, blowing after popular fashion? Guided by tradition? Guided by the Bible? And if so, how is the Bible to be understood? Or is there a role for all of all all of the above? In the long run, the Church’s theological, as opposed to merely secular, legitimacy and relevancy will be determined not by where it stands on any particular issue, but rather by how it determines the teachings it preaches.
I am not Catholic. I have no stake in whom the Cardinals pick as their next Pope. But as a member of Christ’s body more generally, I hope that in their new leader, the Catholic cardinals do not seek the person who can best propagate secular notions of modernity. Rather, I pray that they find a leader who will seek to discern God’s truth, whatever that may be. And let the chips fall where they may.