The Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church is perhaps the most antagonized denomination in Christianity, perhaps the most antagonized element of all religion. Many of Rome's positions upset our social understandings of equality, rights, or tolerance. Simply, they're not progressive enough. And the amount of control exercised in the Roman Catholic hierarchy is often terrifying, especially to those of us who live in the United States where individual liberty is such a highly respected ideal.

What the Roman Catholic Church as going for it, though, is that its members are committed to a universal church of the faithful. Many Catholic congregants will privately tell you that they disagree with this and that position of the Pope but they will still live within the doctrines of the Church out of respect for the church universal, the worldwide faithful, which includes the many mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers of the faithful who have long since passed away from our earthly world. Public indignation and open disobedience toward the Roman Catholic Church are very rarely displayed by its own members.

I am not writing in favor of the Roman Catholic Church, though I could do that if I so chose. Instead, I'm writing in favor of the catholic church, the little c version. The catholic church as in the church universal. I am a United Methodist, so my discussion will reflect issues harboring in the United Methodist church, but one could probably insert another denomination of choice whenever I say, "United Methodist."

The United Methodist Church, as with all denominations, asks of us our commitment to the church universal. Many in the church take that to mean public and indignant disapproval of the United Methodist Discipline (the book of our doctrines and practices) that amounts to intellectual, if not actual and physical, disobedience to the foundational and guiding document of our faith, not to mention the tradition handed down to us from our faithful mothers and fathers. Our particular difficulty at the moment is the acceptance of homosexuality. Personally I affirm what the Discipline currently says on the issue, which is that while we no doubt should love and welcome homosexuals, the practice of homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching." That decision has been reached through the reflective discussion of a community of the faithful throughout history.

I want to be clear. I'm not in favor of an unchanging, unquestionable human structure that calls itself "religion" in the name of control, especially a control that is oppressive or unjust. Our faith in Christ calls us to love and equality. Even so, when we speak and act out against the church we have committed to and devoted our membership to, we need to be careful.

We first need to be careful because if we commit to our own arrogance that we individually know better than the church united throughout history, our attitude and position threatens to divide the church irreparably and create the Once-United Methodist Church. Our mission is to be faithful disciples of Christ. Perhaps unfortunately, we don't unanimously agree on how to be faithful disciples. Let us not assume that "clearly" the United Methodist Church's doctrines should change because they are currently somehow inadequate. Let us not assume that "clearly" where we individually see the United Methodist Church lacking that all other members should or do see things our way. We must seek improvement in Christian brotherhood and sisterhood, gently and calmly, so that the Holy Spirit has room to move. Perhaps we who seek improvement in our church's doctrines and practices are wrong. If we seek improvement gently, then the Spirit has the opportunity to tell us that, in fact, the current doctrines of the church are the reflection of God's call for His people. In the same way, if improvements are sought gently (and resistance to change performed gently) then changes are much less likely to create a new branch of the church. And we who agree with the current iteration of the Discipline should take any changes with a calm spirit, believing that discussions done in a gentle spirit will always reflect the wishes and calling of God.

We should also be careful, and here I would like to add some emphasis, because of the existence of our Holy Scriptures. If we believe that changes should be made to the United Methodist Church, what basis do we have? Are we saying that changes need to be made to keep up with the trends of society? Has society shown us better ways to incorporate love and wholeness into our lives than Scripture does? Is Scripture inadequate? Are we saying that the 2,000 year history of Christian churches have gotten it wrong and suddenly the cultures of the last half-century have found a better way of living? Yes, appropriate changes to our faith have been made so that our churches and our individual understandings are more in tune with Scripture. But by changing our stance on homosexuality, are we becoming any more faithful to the witness of God through Christ?

Again, our interpretations of Scripture invariably differ. But Christ does say that marriage is between a man and a woman to become one flesh, a repetition of our Genesis story. If Christ is wrong, if St. Paul and our other biblical witnesses are all wrong, then how do we determine authority? When do we say Scripture is a faithful witness of God's call to our lives and when it's not? Who gets to make that decision?

You see, the second we say that Christ got something wrong, we run into issues of authority. We then put our own individual and cultural understandings above the text we all have said, as Christians, to be our primary witness. Let's not worship the Bible. But let's take it seriously.

Changes may need to be made to the United Methodist Church and other denominations, but we need to be careful. We need to be slow and gentle, letting the Holy Spirit guide us. And we need to consider what source is guiding our inspiration: society or Scripture, personal convictions or revelation of God. Most of all, we need to understand the importance of a catholic church. I will not say, "If you don't like it, find a denomination that will." Our personal convictions and varying compromises with society have led to enough division in our catholic church that has damaged our credibility to the world and our sense of familial love.