What Christians do.
I wrote this message in response to the following, which is a comment a friend left on my blog entry about the word “religion.”
Friend:
“This post touches on something i have often wondered about Catholicism. Catholicism has ancient traditions that are devastatingly beautiful to those in love with Christ. My question is this- i’m curious to hear where you stand as someone i believe is a saved Catholic: do you think that the emphasis of Catholicism may be put too greatly upon the establishment rather than on the fundamentals?
Meaning, if someone is coming to Catholicism without already being in love with Christ and His message, would they be able to truly understand the fundamentals as a relationship opposed to an establishment? Confessionals seem to stress the idea of “do this for your sins” and even the idea of taking the words of the Pope as the be all and end all seems to promote an empty religion. i don’t believe it is an empty religion, please don’t misunderstand me, but it seems dangerous to base and emphasize so much establishment rather than the issue of the heart and personal relationship with Christ. im just interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.”
Me:
I’ll admit that, as a convert to Catholicism, I have a much different perspective than that of what you might call a “cradle Catholic,” which implies that I (coming into the Catholic Church with my Evangelical brand of piety and passion) have a better understanding of what the traditions and the rituals mean for the Christian soul. This is true, at least partly; the thing is, we may apply such an idea to the broad spectrum of Christianity, and quickly realize that it is the same for all of us when we meet new converts. It doesn’t really matter what sect or denomination a new convert encounters; he or she will humble the locals with his or her newfound zeal and thirst for knowledge. So, yes, I believe that a person who has already walked his/her entire life seeking the Lord comes into the Catholic Church with somewhat of an advantage, due to seemingly limitless stores, simultaneously, of excitement and hushed awe.
However, what people like me tend to miss is the simple side of things. I came into the Church brimming with the exhilaration of these grand ideals and sweeping centuries of history, full of saints and martyrs calling me to their ranks, a humble little footsoldier. I had read books upon books and heard Catholic preachers and had sacrificed peace in my family for what I believed Jesus called me to; and so you might imagine the shock like icy water that hit me when I arrived to Catholicism, breathless and wide-eyed, only to encounter many Catholics who shrugged and smiled and chalked it up to new-convert-syndrome. There certainly were those who were visibly encouraged by my zeal, but many of them didn’t know what to do with it. To the people who were raised Catholic and who actually remain faithful, as opposed to the ones who leave in college and never return, baptism and communion and processionals and chants and love and charity are just what Christians do. I can’t excuse that, and I think there are some bad side-effects, but at the same time, there is a certain goodness there that new-convert-syndrome tends to cloud out, which is that Christianity is not merely an experience, but a way of life; it is, for lack of a better word, a system, illuminated by relationship with God. The system would be nothing without God, and His grace flowing through the ceremonies and traditions and Sacraments; but the fact remains that a faithful Catholic is not at Mass to “experience God”, but to give Him the worship He is due, and to do what a Christian does, and what a Christian is designed to do.
That being said, I am a firm believer in the utmost importance, of course, of what Catholics call the “second conversion”, and what Evangelicals call “the born-again experience.” Here’s what it comes down to, in my opinion; in the rituals and traditions of Catholicism, the Gospel is proclaimed loud and clear. Even in the simple creed of faith that has been spoken since the first centuries of the Church, we hear the Gospel at each Mass;
“…and we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God; eternally begotten of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, true God, from true God; begotten, and not made, one in Being with the Father. For us men and our salvation, He came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again, in fulfillment of the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.”
The problem is not whether the Mass preaches the Gospel. The fact is, if someone has the eyes to see and the ears to hear, they will see and hear Jesus at every Mass in any Catholic Church around the globe. At the end of the day, it’s the Holy Spirit that must do that; the Church must simply be faithful to proclaim the truth, and that she does. This second conversion happens differently for every Christian, and every Catholic; some grow up knowing what it means to know and love Jesus. Some do not discover that till later on in life, whether in highschool or in their senior years…but at some point, if a person is faithful in the Church, somewhere along the line everything seems to just fall into place…the Holy Spirit lifts the veil and they see Christ in new ways. I didn’t have that experience, where I truly surrendered my life in its entirety to Jesus, until I was 19.
I’m not going to say that the Catholic Church couldn’t learn a lot of things from our Protestant brothers, especially in the area of preaching the Gospel with freshness and newness…they could, and they should. But ultimately the responsibility to make the Gospel relevant doesn’t fall on her shoulders; she must stand, like a bulwhark through the ages and in the oceans of time, proclaiming the simple truth, and welcoming all who seek it.
Recording and ranting.
Things are going swimmingly… yesterday we watched Old Gregg videos on Youtube, ate some pretty dang awesome burritos, drank obscene amounts of coffee and tea, talked about Catholicism and Church history, contemplated having some wine, but never did, and just about died laughing watching Japanese men with rubber bands under their noses try to eat marshmallows. Oh…yeah, we recorded a bunch of music, too. Thanks to all of you who have given so generously of your love, your encouragement, your prayers, and your dollars…every bit has helped make this possible, and I am humbly in your debt!
In all seriousness, it’s been an overwhelmingly joyful experience for me so far. I have been reminded over and over again that, as Jon Foreman so deftly pinpoints, “I feel like every artist operates at a crossroads between personal faith and art and commerce…”. That intersection can be the most frustrating place–I have always been afraid of “selling out”, and I have to confess that I haven’t always known exactly how *not* to do that.
What has been so infinitely encouraging has been working with a team of brilliantly talented individuals who have come alongside me to make this recording with the utmost integrity–both musically and spiritually. By doing this record independently, I haven’t had to compromise singing about one ounce of the Gospel I believe so passionately, or one single melody line of any song simply because it doesn’t happen to be “radio-friendly.”
I have a song called “Known”–one of the dearest lines to my heart is “As the lover knows his beloved’s heart; all the shapes and curves of her, even in the dark; You have formed me in my inward parts; You have known me.” Someone pointed out that it would never fly on the radio, and he’s right.
I’m morally frustrated by this business, if you know what I mean; I don’t understand why an industry that creates, produces, and distributes “Christian” music (oh, how I hate labeling it) is reluctant at any time or for any reason to promote songs that preach the Gospel. I realize that this is a blanket statement, and I can’t apply that to everyone; my point is that if the Gospel doesn’t “sell”, then I don’t want to sell what people are buying. I have absolutely no problem with Christians who do not record “Christian” music–they usually make better music anyway–my problem is with overtly “Christian” songs that are dismissed because they are too…graphic, scandalous, raw, or convicting. Isn’t that the Gospel? Isn’t Jesus a lover of prostitutes and beggars and thieves? Wasn’t our salvation purchased on a common sinner’s tree, by a dying, bloody Christ? Doesn’t Jesus know us as intimately as a lover, and isn’t that Scriptural? Furthermore, isn’t the very beauty of love and sex precisely that it is a shadow and a picture of the love of God for us? Then what I would like to ask, for once, and with no politeness or restraint, is why on earth any Christian wouldn’t want to hear that on their radio, and what Gospel they believe if it doesn’t include such things.
End rant here.
::catholic me:: 