Many of my tribe get hives when they read in the Apostles Creed, “I believe in one holy, catholic church.” They take their refusal to recite these words as a sign of deep devotion to Jesus. They make out as if they have joined the long line of martyrs who refused to make the wrong confession. They really have no idea of what they are really saying about themselves when they refuse to recite these words. Maybe they need a little help in understanding what the words really mean.
The truth is biblically and historically that there is only one holy catholic church. The word “catholic” means “universal.” The one true or holy church consists of all those who have been chosen by God from before the foundation of the world as His, who by the power of the Holy Spirit are brought under conviction of sin and commitment to Jesus and HIs church when their eyes and ears are opened to see and to hear the life-changing and world-reorienting truth of the Gospel. Everyone who hears, repents and thus receives and believes the Gospel is brought into the one holy catholic church. This one holy catholic church is found throughout the world in all the varieties of local churches in which we gather to worship and from which we go to witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every local church is a corpus mixtum, a mixed body of believers and unbelievers. The Bible says that the Lord knows who are His and He will sort it all out on the last day (2 Timothy 2:19). And we will leave that issue right there. I want to address an experience I had recently in a Roman Catholic Church.
The church was in Spain. The occasion was a family wedding. My wife and I went to take her 91 year old, never been on a plane, mother to attend the wedding of her grandson. It was a great trip. It was the kind of trip that I will remember and in which I will rejoice for years to come. The wedding was held in a massive and majestic cathedral. What I want to address is simply what I experienced that caused me to give thanks to God and at the same time caused me to grieve.
I begin with what I experienced that caused me to give thanks to God. First, all and any who enter this cathedral are confronted first by two realities: the grandeur of the building and the command at the entrance to be silent. It was clear upon entry that we were crossing a threshold. We were moving from the common world into another, from the secular into the sacred. The greatness of God was on visible display. Second, the wedding ceremony was not the focus, nor was the focus on the bride or the groom. The focus was on God. It was clear that we were there to worship God. Third, the purpose of marriage as defined biblically was made very plain: partnership for mutual blessing and benefit out of which procreation is to happen. Only those not listening or not interested could have missed it: marriage is for a man and a woman serving God in a mutually beneficial relationship that sees the birthing and raising of children in a two parent home as one of God’s richest blessings. Fourth, the Bible was read often and the “Gospel” was made plain from the Scripture readings. Fifth, God was exalted above all and submission to Christ and His church was presented as the key to a fulfilling marriage. I give thanks to God for these things and more.
But I was also aware of the historical and theological context in which I was worshipping. I sat there through the entire one hour long mass and wondered if there would be any accommodation to the Protestants in the room. And I knew that if the officiant was faithful to the tradition of the church, I would be a witness to what would cause me to grieve. He was. I did. So, I was not surprised that when the homily was given based on Jesus’ words about our being the salt of the earth and the light of the world that it was interpreted by the officiant as being a call to do good deeds, participate in acts of kindness, show care and concern for each other so as to earn the favor of God while being a witness to others. This understanding of the text conforms completely to the understanding of the Roman Catholic Church but misses almost entirely the core of the Gospel. We do not do anything to earn the grace of God but because we have received the grace of God in Christ we want to do all that we do to show kindness and love to all people as a way of displaying what the Gospel has done in our lives with the hope and prayer that we can declare the Gospel to all who need to hear. Secondly, I can understand intellectually through the philosophical categories borrowed from Aristotle how the RCC gets to transubstantiation, but it is so far from what I read in the Bible and so foreign to what is reality in the world, I have to wonder if anyone really believes that it is really real. Thirdly, one of the first acts of the married couple was to present a gift to Mary in order to seek a blessing on their marriage and family. All of these things and more were fully faithful to the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. But they are not biblical, thus; the source of my grief.
There was so much for me in the service that was such a blessing, particularly the palpable awareness that we were in a building designed to shout the magnificence of God. But there was also the very vivid awareness of being present in a place where the ultimate authority is not Scripture but the long-held and much loved traditions of the church. And at this point as I end this post, I am supposed to say something noble like, “I am glad that as a Baptist I belong to a church that treasures the truth of the Word of God without paying any attention to the traditions of the church: hallelujah and amen.” But I have been a Baptist preacher far too long to say such nonsense. What we as Baptists often proclaim so loudly about our love for and loyalty to Scripture gets shouted down by our deeper devotion to our traditions. So I will just say that what I know is that “The Lord does know who are His,” and “His” were among those sitting in that cathedral in Spain as well as among those sitting in Baptist churches every Sunday.
P.S I will be out of the blogging business for a few days. I am having hip-replacement surgery. So, I will be going silent for a few days. Thanks for reading and commenting. Thanks for your prayers if you think of me tomorrow.