As Christians, we have a responsibility to involve ourselves in issues of peace and justice, to defend the dignity of human life from conception to natural death. When the human family is suffering, when injustice reigns in the land, we cannot stand idly by and do nothing. Our faith calls us to action.
Our faith…. calls us to action. When we involve ourselves with the issues of the world, our focus isn’t politics it itself, it isn’t economics in itself, it isn’t the powers of the world in itself, it is first and foremost our faith that guides us.
We decry the suffering of the poor, not because we want to control the economy, but because the prophets taught us that this matters to God. When we protest against racism or war, we do so not go gain greater power over others in the world, but because Jesus told us that we were to act with peace in the world. When we stand up against abortion, we do this not for political leverage but because God taught from the very beginning that all human life was created in his image and likeness.
The issue, whatever it may be, is never the end, is never the utmost priority of life. Rather, it is our faith, our desire to live as disciples of Christ, sons and daughters of God, that remains at the center, ultimately leading us to action. There is nothing more important than being a disciple.
Nothing. At least, there shouldn’t be. The unfortunate reality of our Church today is that, in so many cases, the order has been switched.
Rather than faith informing an issue, rather than our desire to live in the reign of God leading us to action, all too often I see people focused on an issue, driven by a particular stance, using faith as justification. For so many, faith becomes the means, rather than the end. On the left, I have met many who have made it their life’s work fighting for justice in the area of immigration, the environment, or race relations.
And that’s great. I am so proud to have met people who are so disgusted by these atrocities that they are willing to risk their reputations, their comfort, even their lives, so that the justice of God may exist. With God at our center, we should do these things.
With God as our center. The unfortunate reality, though, is that in some of these cases, faith has become the means rather than the end. I have met more than a few people working for justice in these fields that, I do believe, care more about immigration than the Church, care more about preserving the environment than their enemies, care more about justice, in this time, in this place, than they do about trusting in God’s eternal justice.
How do I know this, you ask? I know this because when push comes to shove, when they are forced to choose between the tenets of discipleship and the possibility of furthering their cause, I see them choosing the latter. I see them siding with politicians that do not share our values, using very unchristian tactics to attack their enemies, acting in very unchristian ways for short-term success without much consideration of the wider view of the Kingdom.
Their passion for an issue leads them to ignore Jesus’ insistence that we love our enemies, that we act humbly, that we be meek and peaceful. When push comes to shove, it’s clear that their god is not Jesus, it is the issue. Jesus is a convenient justification for their stance.
Of course, this problem does not exist only on the left, but resounds like a siren on the right with the issue of abortion. On the one hand, just as before, I have met countless people over my years who have courageously worked to end abortion. Out of a deeply rooted faith in God, they recognize the beauty of all life and a need for solidarity with all, and so find themselves utterly disgusted by the affront to human life.
Rather than just complain, they have made it their unrelenting duty to pray for change, organize events, raise awareness, and prevent its need. These people are to be heralded for taking on such a controversial issue. And yet, just as we see on the left, there are plenty of people on the right for which abortion is their god, their single-minded focus that reigns supreme over all other considerations, all other issues, all other life issues.
Over the past decade, I have grown more and more disappointed in the so-called Pro-Life movement that seems to care only about one issue of life and yet has so readily aligned itself with the economic and social issues of the Republican party. I see Catholics so enflamed with passion for this issue that they are not only willing to collaborate with repugnant politicians and fundamentalist Christian theologies, they are willing to cheer them on, even look for ways to support them. Getting supreme court justices that will possibly overturn Roe v.
Wade became such a god to some that they were willing to uncritically support justices that also allow for affronts to the human family in other ways, that are more aligned with conservative economics than with life issues. In this case as well, their actions betray them: the issue of abortion in so many Christians has become more important than true discipleship. When push comes to shove, there are more than a few people who have done extremely unChrist-like things in order to gain ground on this issue.
Which, should absolutely leave us with something to ponder. If gaining ground on an issue requires you to do something that Christ wouldn’t do, if it requires you to violate the Ten Commandments, ignore the beatitudes, or turn from God, for even a second—and you do it anyway—it might be time to reevaluate your priorities. No issue—not the environment, not racism, not poverty, not even abortion—can be at the center of who we are.
When I say that abortion is not THAT important, I’m not saying that it doesn’t matter or that it can be ignored. As Christians, we should devote every resource we have to removing this horrible blight from our world. No, when I say that abortion is not THAT important, what I mean is that it is not worth losing our place in the kingdom over.
It is not worth sacrificing our lives as disciples for. It is not so important that we should seek to remove it at all costs, doing anything at all necessary. Nothing is that important.
When it comes down to it, the center of our lives, the only thing that gets our undivided and vigilant attention, is following Jesus. Seriously. Loving one’s enemies, showing mercy, forgiving others, walking humbly with God, announcing the truth of the Gospel.
Nothing compares to this, nothing can take our attention away from this. If we find ourselves with a deep seated love for Christ and a commitment to the Gospel, then it only follows that we will involve ourselves with the issues of peace and justice, that we will work for an end to abortion and all other affronts to the human family, but it must go in that order. Discipleship comes first.
Everything else is secondary. As we prepare for yet another protest against abortion, as we welcome a new president and legislature to govern our country, I invite you to take my words today very seriously. Burn them onto your hearts: no issue is more important than discipleship.
If you want to engage in any of these social issues, if you want to challenge our leaders to do something about it, and you should, do so as a witness to Christ. Before you go marching, read the beatitudes. Before you write your congress person, do an examination of conscience.
Before you criticize the president, pray for him. Jesus tells us that if our right hand causes us to sin, we must cut it off. What good is it to have both hands as we’re locked out of heaven?
We could ask the same question of some of our movements. If they cause you to sin, no matter what good you may perceive them to do, you must cut them off. What good is it to say that you helped the cause to end abortion in the world if you have to sell your soul to do it?
Make discipleship your aim, and everything else will work itself out.
