Lately I’m becoming frustrated with a division among Christians. For most, this line may not be noticeable, but I believe this distinction is of great importance. You see, many will ask you about your “personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” What does this really mean?
In the early Church, Christians lived in community, often sharing everything for the betterment of the whole (see Acts 2:44). This is the first image of the body of Christ, of the Church. Even today there are Christian communities attempting to emulate this model.
In the Catholic Church we have the Sacrament of Penance, or Confession. In this Sacrament there are 3 realities of forgiveness. First, we are reconciled with God. Second we are reconciled with the Church, the Body of Christ. And lastly, we are reconciled with ourselves. The mechanics of these 3 realities is mute; the point is that all are necessary for full and complete reconciliation.
I wonder why Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father”. Is there meaning there? Is there a purpose for His teaching?
The Catechism has some beautiful teaching on this idea in paragraph 166 and 167.
CACC 166: Faith is a personal act—the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.
CACC 167: “I believe” (Apostles’ Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. “We believe” (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. “I believe” is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both “I believe” and “We believe.”
I know this appears to be a broken post, as there are various points above…however consider this…When one believes that faith is only personal or one dimensional, they are depriving the body of Christ. The fact is that if faith is only “my” or “I” then there is no Faith. The Faith, with a capital F, is Ours…something we are called by Christ to pass on.
Again, I know this may seem like a small divide, or some insignificant ideology…but this is really a fundamental problem. This is a break in the body of Christ. There are believers who don’t think they are a part of the body! That’s a problem!
It goes further… The reason I brought up Confession before is because forgiveness is directly tied to this idea. If I sin against you, I sin against God (Read 1 Cor 8). If I sin against you, but only ask God for forgiveness, have I not still left the body of Christ broken and bruised? Have I not left a division among us? I think this mentality, that of only needing to confess our sins to God, is what causes gossip, hatred, and judgment in the body of Christ. This is not to say that Catholics do not struggle with these things, there are many Catholics who don’t take advantage of Confession, nor do they seek to live out the teachings of the Church.
Again, I’m not trying to single out any denomination, or group, because I don’t think this division is that easy. It’s more about how we see others, and how we see God.
That’s just my 2 cents….
Tags: Body of Christ, church, conversion, cursillo, faith, lord, love, teaching
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