Not Right Or Left

A senior priest I once knew said something like, “If the Church were to really follow Jesus, the Church might be smaller.” This idea, I am sure was not original to this priest, but it presents an interesting if unoriginal thought. The claim and demands of the Gospel are radical. Jesus says the Kingdom is at hand and we are to live as if it is here. Jesus says give up everything and follow. Jesus says tomorrow will take care of itself, so don’t live in fear and anxiety. We have never quite lived up to these freeing, but radical ways of being.

The Church longs for Jesus’ way, but we allow ourselves to falter as we contemplate the implications. Ultimately, we waver because most of us receive much we like from the present order. Jesus’ offer for individual and corporate transformation is easy to reject, if you are relatively content with the way things are.

I think the far-left of our Church desires to be seen in particular ways. I think there is a desire to contort the faith into something that is palatable. “It is not so much that I buy into Jesus, but I am a worker of just things.” The content of the faith is seen as suppositious nonsense in these circles, and priority is given to righteous action.

The far-right acts out of an anxiety about perception as well. They tend to cling to some notion of the faith as received, yet are held captive by it. Fear about what is touted as the decline of “traditional morality” forces this camp to become entrenched. I also wonder if it is about power and status. I sometimes detect a certain fear about the loss of prestige and prominence. The antidote is a rigid, dogmatic approach in these circles.

The real cure for what ails us is the Gospel. Christianity hinges on being in relationship with Christ. It is in Jesus, we find the acceptance God offers us. Our acceptance of Jesus and his way puts us at odds with the present order. We must respond and act in the world in Christ’s name.

So, the “right” is right. This faith of ours rests upon the revelation of God in the person of Jesus, the Christ. But, we don’t build walls around what God desires to reveal to the world.

So, the “left” is right. We go into the world to transform it. We seek to transform the world into the Kingdom of God, the one that Jesus spoke of. Otherwise, we have a small society for the preservation of justice and ethics.

Friends, the Church shrinks because we are not making a compelling case for her purpose, and helping people know what we have. The Church shrinks because we are not clear and unified in our Gospel mission. I pray we stop the chaos and put our hands to the plow and never look back. We can do it, together.