On the Conduct of Christians

I've been thinking a lot recently about the relationship between the Church and the world, especially in regards to its relationship with the current culture. The main question that has been on my mind and in my heart has been this: How do we, as sinners, interact with and correct a sinful world? We know there must be correction of those outside the Church. Out of a true desire to see them know the love of Christ we become convinced that we must tell people what they are doing will leave them unhappy.

However, Jesus himself challenges us on this point. He says, "How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." (Mt. 7: 4-5) As sinners ourselves our own vision is skewed. Sin is a distortion of vision, and thus the sinner loses sight of the good. In turn, it becomes more difficult to turn and preach to a world even further lost in sin.

This problem of sinful Catholics in a sinful world is well documented by the Church's enemies. In today's world, it is often the hypocrisy of Catholics, not their love, that makes the national headlines. Of course, part of this is due to the modern news cycle which is mostly focused on the spreading of scandal. Today, most people know the Catholic Church from the news stations, and not from interaction with their local parish. This cultural loss of the local, a strategic move by the Culture of Death to cut man off from reality, has resulted in the faults of some Catholics being emphasized more than the charity of others

So, in today's world, Catholics must overcome both their own personal sinfulness and the sinfulness of other Catholics in preaching to a world that does not know its own sins. Quite the task, to be sure. Where do we begin? Can we still effectively preach Christ's love with sin so prevalent?

To begin with, my Dad always likes to point out that Christ doesn't say, "Never take the speck from your brothers eye" but only "take the beam out of your own first." The first step to spreading the Gospel, then, is to draw close to the Word Himself. If we are going to show the world God's mercy, we must first know it for ourselves. To know God's mercy, though, we must be weak. It is not necessary to sin to know God's mercy. Mary knew His mercy well; she experienced it in the fact that she was saved from all sin. For ourselves, though, we can experience His mercy in our sins. St. Therese of Lisieux used to enjoy telling her sins to Our Lord because she recognized that sins were an opportunity for Him to pour out His mercy, His love, on her. Of course, this does not mean sin freely, since the act of sinning is a rejection of God's Love! Rather, when we do sin, we must recognize it as an opportunity to allow Christ further into our hearts.

It is in our acceptance of His mercy, then, that the beam is removed. He wipes away our sins with His Love, and He restores our sight. By immersing ourselves in His mercy we're able in turn to reach out to those outside the Church in the hope they will accept the same mercy. We must show them mercy, not prejudice. We must show them love, not harshness. We must remain small, while helping those who are also small. Most of all, we have to trust in Christ, for when we are small we can be easily injured.

The reason I mention all of this, and the reason I have been thinking of it, is because I have often noticed many instances of Christians acting uncharitably on the internet, both Catholics and non-Catholics. Anger is expressed against bishops, politicians, enemies of the Faith. Christians (myself included) so often forget that we are told to love our enemies, and yet there are so many examples on the internet of Christians telling others they are going to Hell. They make a judgement that is not theirs to make, for only God judges the final resting place of a soul!

Such arguments, such anger and bitterness, only further alienates those who are outside the Church. And if we are responsible for such alienation, it will be something we must answer for in front of God. "You can't use the Devil's tools to do God's work." We cannot be prideful, we cannot threaten violence, we cannot shout, we cannot offer harsh judgement when we come in contact with those outside the Church. These tools are not available to the Christian. Instead, we are offered the weapons of humility, peace, silence, mercy and love to fight our battles with. It is a lie of this world that these are not effective weapons, for they are the weapons the Son took up when He walked this earth, died, and was raised three days later.