Why an atheist says America needs Christianity
The death of Pope Francis continues to dominate the news, but commentators are beginning to turn their attention to what comes next as well. Of the twelve cardinals thought to be frontrunners to become the next pope, many are considered more conservative than Francis.
On the other hand, Pope Francis appointed 108 of the 135 cardinals eligible to vote for the next pope. Since four out of five votes in the coming conclave will be cast by cardinals elevated by Francis, some believe they will appoint a successor who will follow his pastoral priorities. (For more, see my new website article, “The funeral of Pope Francis and the papal conclave to follow: Who might be the next pope and what else you need to know.”)
The person who becomes the next pope will obviously be vitally significant to America’s seventy-two million Catholics (comprising the largest denomination in the US). But three values Francis emphasized during his pontificate transcend denominations and are crucial to the future of American democracy as well.
“Three things America needs most right now”
Jonathan Rauch describes himself as an atheist, homosexual Jew. Nonetheless, his conversation this week with Bari Weiss of the Free Press makes a point every American Christian needs to understand.
Rauch, a Yale-educated author, journalist, and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, claims that our democracy depends on three pillars: resist fearmongering, care for the rights of the marginalized, and forgive your political opponents. He asserts that they are “the three things America needs most right now.”
According to Rauch, these values are especially central to the Christian faith. (To illustrate his point, all three were repeatedly emphasized by Pope Francis in his messages and ministry.) Rauch, therefore, urges Christians to “teach how to be like Jesus in public life” by discipling people around politics and social media. He notes: “If Christians—especially white evangelicals—could bring the tone and behavior of Jesus into politics instead of mimicking the worst of social media, it could help heal both the church and the country.”
He adds: “Christianity has run aground before—indulgences, corruption, power. But the gospel endures: A God in human form who suffers and dies not to dominate but to redeem. It’s the most powerful story in human history. Maybe it’s not done yet.”
“What it is like to live separated from God”
Like Jonathan Rauch, Bari Weiss is Jewish. What neither of them seems to understand is that the incarnational love of God is not just a “story” but a living Reality. Frederick Buechner writes:
The proclamation of Easter Day is that all is well. And as a Christian, I say this not with the easy optimism of one who has never known a time when all was not well but as one who has faced the Cross in all its obscenity as well as in all its glory, who has known one way or another what it is like to live separated from God.
Like Buechner, I have known “what it is like to live separated from God.”
As far back as I have memory, I have believed that God exists. In my darkest days—the early death of my father, the cancer diagnoses of our oldest son and youngest grandson, the inevitable discouragements that come to pastors (and everyone else)—my faith in God’s reality persisted.
But I have known what it is like not to experience the joy of his presence, that visceral sense of fulfillment and significance that comes to those who are living in his leading and power. I have felt the absence of his presence when my sins grieved and quenched his Spirit (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). I have known days when serving him felt more like an obligation than a privilege, times when Christianity was more a transactional religion about Jesus than a transforming relationship with him.
“Death is not the end. The end is life.”
The good news is that such days are not the whole story. Buechner continues:
In the end, his will, not ours, is done. Love is the victor. Death is not the end. The end is life. His life and our lives through him, in him. Existence has greater depths of beauty, mystery, and benediction than the wildest visionary has ever dared to dream. Christ our Lord has risen.
I have experienced this risen Lord personally. I have known what it is to feel the intimacy of his presence, the joy of his grace, the power of being led by his Spirit.
Experiencing Jesus in this way is vital not just for our souls but for our nation. The three Christian pillars Rauch identifies as essential to democracy are empowered not by our religion but by our living Lord:
- We cannot truly refuse to fear others unless we have the courage of Christ infusing our minds and spirits.
- We cannot truly care for the marginalized unless we have the compassion of Jesus beating in our hearts.
- We cannot truly forgive our opponents unless we experience and share his forgiving mercy.
These gifts of grace are extended in nail-scarred hands to each of us, even now.
“He can heal us and help us move forward”
As the world marks the death of Pope Francis, I have been quoting all week from his latest book, published just two months before his homegoing. In it he writes:
How often we have felt the need for a change that would affect our entire person! How often we have said to ourselves, “I need to change; I can’t keep on like this. My life is leading nowhere, it will never bear fruit, it’s all pointless, I’ll never be happy.” How often have we had these thoughts! And Jesus, who is nearby, always reaches out to us and says, “Come, come to me. I will do the work: I will change your heart, I will change your life, I will make you happy.”
Jesus, who is with us, invites us to change our life. It is he, with the Holy Spirit, who sows in us this restlessness to change our lives and become better people.
Let us accept the Lord’s invitation without resistance. Only by opening ourselves to his mercy will we find true life and true joy. All we have to do is open the door—he will do the rest. He does everything; we just have to open our hearts. He can heal us and help us move forward.
Will you find “true life and true joy” today?
Quote for the day:
“I am a dreamer, dazzled by the light of the gospel; I stare into the night for visions with hope. And when I fall, thanks to Jesus, I always rediscover the courage to keep fighting, hoping, and dreaming.” —Pope Francis
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