The Jesus Way
In 2007, I was on the steering committee that recommended to the diocese that my childhood parish elementary school – the school where I was at the time the 8th grade teacher – should close that coming June.
It was a heartbreaking decision. Many of you here at Immaculate Conception know exactly what that pain feels like. It is a death, and for it, we must grieve.
But I’ll be honest, before the tears came the anger and the back-biting; whispered rumors and hurtful gossip that should never come from a Christian’s mouth and heart. But it did: The pastor didn’t try hard enough; the committee didn’t care; they just want money for the buildings … the list of accusations was nearly endless.
As a Church, we can be nasty to one another. Jesus knows it, too -- which is why this Gospel passage (Matt 18:15-20) might in fact be one of the most practical passages in all of Jesus’ teachings.
I love that in his love for us, he is presenting a way forward, so that when disagreements and challenges arise – when sin and selfishness color our actions as members of His Body – we have the way – His Way – to grow, heal and stay united in truth. He prayed for this unity on the very same night that he gave us the Eucharist: that all may be one in Him.
We often aren’t. Sin tears us apart. Look how the dark and selfish actions of many in the Catholic Church throughout the centuries – including our own day – have caused divisions and schisms, and most tragically for so many, a complete exodus from any formal practice of faith.
We are a Church of sinners. But we aren’t called to stay that way. Thus, Jesus’ practical advice for healing, especially when we wrestle to find a solution for the pain and divisions caused by sin.
Notice the first piece of practical and, dare I say it, easier-said-than-done advice: if you find fault with someone in the Church, especially if his sin has hurt you in any way, go to him and tell him.
It does not say: tell everyone else in the parish how hurt you are or what a jerk this parishioner is. It does not say gossip about him until you feel better or get everyone on your side. It simply says: go to him and share your struggle, one-on-one, in Christian charity. Yes, it is hard. Who wants to face someone who has hurt you and others to tell that person how his actions are affecting many persons? Who wants to face the possibility that one’s concerns will be ignored or mocked?
It’s a real possibility that such efforts will be rebuked or ignored by the one who has hurt you, but again, Jesus asks us for the sake of unity: don’t stop trying. If the one-on-one effort fails, return to find healing. This time, though, bring two or three others.
Not as a way to gang-up on the one who has caused harm. Rather: to witness to the truth. In the Jewish faith, having at least two others that are able to attest to the wrongness of a person’s behavior was a way to say “we are concerned about you and we love you; please don’t continue down the road you are traveling.”
We forget, especially these days, that telling someone he or she has sinned is perhaps the most loving thing the Church can do for another member. Why? One’s soul is on the line. And if we truly believe that – if we want to see that person spend eternity with our Lord – than we need in true love to call out the sin. But we really must make sure it is coming from love, not just a desire to be “right.”
That statement alone should give us pause: How and why am I calling others out or judging them for their actions? Because I love them or because I love being correct in my own world?
What if that still produces no fruit – the two or three with you to ask the sinner to amend his way? Jesus says: tell the Church. We can’t waver or cower on this one, as much as we might like to. A wayward sheep could put the entire flock in danger, and so the Church needs to know once all other previous efforts have failed. Again, not from the perspective of gossip and backbiting or to stir up a hornet’s nest of hatred toward an individual, but to get the Church to do a number of important things for the good of the entire Christian community: pray for the conversion of the individual, first and foremost; then, keep others from falling into the same ravine of similar sin.
This is where it gets painful, and I don’t use the word lightly, because we all know that the Church – especially in recent years (but also throughout her history) – has called out Catholic celebrities and politicians alike who are not publicly living the faith they profess to hold. Some of these public figures could quite frankly lead others astray, claiming that the Church professes one thing when, in fact, that is not the case. Does the Church have the duty to call them out? To that I simply say: have the first two steps have been followed? And have those first two steps come from a place of authentic love for the offender’s eternal soul?
That formula must never be forgotten or “skipped over.” Never. We can’t as a Church just go to the Jesus “Step Three,” which no doubt, has often been the case.
And should it get to the point on this journey that the Church has been consulted – and the sinner still has no desire to amend his ways – then the final step is “treat them like a tax collector or Gentile.”
This seems like harsh, non-Jesus-like advice. The Jewish people of our Lord’s time ignored and nearly shunned those who did not live like them or believe as they did. Could Jesus really mean this for us now?
Yes, with a qualification. God is not fooling around with sin, and we can’t be wishy-washy here. If it is at the point where someone’s sin is causing others to sin … if the sin of one is paving the road to hell for all … then close the door. Do not let the sin infect the entire body. We all know that it can, and often does.
But here’s the other hope, which I am sure is always at the heart of God. If I am cut off from the body because of my waywardness and embracing of evil – and if I am prayed for during that time of separation – the hope is that I would miss the community (and Eucharist) so much that my heart would be converted in order that I might return home. The goal is always unity, never separation and discord.
That’s the definition of Church, after all: a family united, who despite stumbles and falls on the journey, strive to live in such a way that sinfulness is not the driving force of their relationship with God and one another.