Can People Tell To Whom We Belong?
February 7, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
“Brothers and sisters, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Avoid giving offense, whether to the Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
A quick drive down any city street, or walk through any park can instantly reveal where people’s allegiances lie. Bumper stickers, hats, and sweatshirts immediately declare a person to be a Michigan fan, a Swiftie, a Trump or Biden devotee, proudly pro-life or proudly pro-abortion. Conversations with many of these people, and a quick perusal of their comments on news feeds or social media posts, would seem to indicate that these teams, people or causes aren’t just interests for them. Instead, they seem to be what defines them. And they are not shy about letting everyone know. Indeed, they are unapologetically loyal. What’s more, their lives appear to revolve around the next game, concert, political victory, or ballot initiative.
This comes to my mind as I pray with St. Paul’s words to the disciples in Corinth, and to us: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” In other words, Paul’s faith in Jesus as the one true Lord and sovereign King of heaven and earth wasn’t something private, invisible and more or less irrelevant for his daily life. It defined him. “I have been crucified with Christ,” he told the Galatians. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Paul wants the Church in Corinth to watch him and by means of watching him to learn how to think, speak, love, forgive, work, play, pray and more as a disciple of Jesus.
How about us?
Can people tell to whom we belong? Or is our faith something rather more private and personal? Is being a Christian something we happen to be, or does it define us? Can we honestly say, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ?”
Over the past few weeks and months, I have been wrestling with understanding faith to be much different than I think it is commonly understood. Many people – not all to be sure, but many – understand faith as a mere intellectual assent to various ideas about God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In reality, though, if we were to observe their daily lives, that assent doesn’t really make much of an impact on how they live. This is in large part because these same people know about Jesus but they don’t know Him. I don’t mean that to sound harsh or judgmental. In my experience as a priest, when I ask people if they have a friendship with Jesus – a friendship as real as the one with their best friend – they more often than not look at me rather puzzled by the question. A friendship with Jesus?
Most people in the Catholic Church were baptized as children; they “grew up” Catholic. They went to Mass (once in a while at least), received the sacraments, and either went to Catholic school or religious education. How many, though, can say that they have met Jesus? (Oh, to be sure, they meet Him objectively in the Eucharist in a most amazing way, but subjectively they don’t understand that.) How many can say they have had a life-changing encounter with Him? How many would describe their faith in Jesus the way Paul does? Many of these same people are the ones who walk around proudly wearing clothes proclaiming their various loyalties and probably feel more grateful to those teams or politicians or celebrities for having brought them more joy, more life, and more hope than being Catholic has.
So, then, what is faith? What does it mean to say, “I believe in Jesus?” Matthew Bates, in a provocative book entitled Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King, argues that it means three things. First, mental affirmation that the gospel is true. Second, professed allegiance to Jesus alone as King. Third, embodied loyalty through obedience to Jesus the King. In short, we could say that faith is intellectual assent; public declaration of loyalty to Jesus; and a life that, though filled with struggles to be sure, is one that is aiming at bringing everything under Jesus’ Lordship. This is markedly different from how many of us, at least in my experience, understand “belief.” Yet, this would appear to be a much richer and more accurate understanding of what it means to say “I believe in Jesus.”
Becoming Christian in Paul’s day was public and dangerous. Everyone knew it had happened. They knew it because to say “Jesus is Lord” meant you no longer professed Caesar as lord, for that was his title. This public allegiance to Jesus was costly. It brought division within those families who didn’t all give allegiance to Him as King. Ultimately, it could cost a person his life. It was that public witness of faith, though, and those lives that were radically different from the lives of their pagan neighbors, that gradually won the Roman Empire to Christianity.
Lent is suddenly around the corner. Ash Wednesday is a week from today. Perhaps we might want to think about Paul’s words as we prayerfully prepare for this season of grace. Some of us might want to consider if we know Jesus or know about Him, and then consider cutting some things out of our daily lives in order to create more opportunities to meet Jesus in prayer, Scripture and the sacraments. Perhaps others of us might want to consider Paul’s words and think about what areas in our lives need to come more into alignment with Jesus, not only for our own good, but so that others, by watching and listening to us, can come to know the only true Lord who is able to give real hope, true freedom, lasting joy and abundant life.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
February 2024
For God’s protection upon Fr. John, our team and our families.
For the ordained and lay leaders who will be joining us for a Leadership Immersive on our campus.
For missions in Indiana and Florida State University.
For all those running The Rescue Project in parishes and homes across the world.
For the grace to be attentive to the Holy Spirit.