But how do I know if they 'love God' and 'love their neighbor'? What sort of objective criteria do we have for such judgements? Those who love God keep his commandments. So we avoid sentimental or subjective judgements and see if the person keeps God's commandments. If they formally allow for divorce and remarriage, homosexual 'marriage', abortion and contraception, if beneath the surface they are greedy, liars who manipulate and control others for power, then even if they are nice, prayerful, respectable, intellectual and seemingly pious, well mannered people then they don't love God. They are, in fact, in rebellion against God.
Secondly, people can be said to love God if they love the Truth that he has revealed to humanity. Therefore, if a person who calls himself 'Christian' actually formally denies miracles, denies the historicity of the incarnation and virgin birth, denies the historicity of the resurrection and the reality of heaven and hell. If they deny the simple and honest interpretation of the historic creeds of Christendom, then it would be inconsistent to say that they 'love God'. They cannot love God if they deny the light and truth that he has revealed to his people, and no amount of religiosity, piety and good works can change that fact.
Do they love their neighbor? Now the question becomes very interesting, because I would argue that one cannot truly love one's neighbor in the Christian sense if one does not wish for the salvation of their eternal soul. Oh yes, we can give food and clothing and shelter to our neighbor, and this is always a good and noble thing, but does it count as 'loving one's neighbor' in the fullest Christian sense? I think not.
Therefore, can a person who denies God's revealed moral law and denies the doctrines that are revealed by God and affirmed by his Holy Church actually truly and fully 'love his neighbor'? No, because without a full understanding and participation in God's moral law and doctrinal revelation they cannot love God fully, not can they love their neighbor fully for they cannot assist their neighbor to the greatest blessing of all--which is their soul's salvation.
I am not loving my neighbor therefore if I condone and bless their sinful lifestyle. Neither can I say that I love my neighbor is I communicate to him a version of the Christian gospel which is--in fact--heretical.
This sounds harsh, and I am not on a campaign to judge other individuals. However, I do wish to avoid the sentimentality and mushy subjectivism that pretends that just because a person seems nice, respectable, religious, pious and socially involved that they are 'good Christians'. Fact is, we don't know if they are or not, but we can see what they believe and how they behave and make some tentative judgements.
And that's okay if you begin the judgment with the person in the mirror.
Well, no. No, I am not. I am not even really a nice person, although I would like to be. I'm tired, cranky, lacking in prayer sufficient for a mother of 5 (one on the way) after 11 years of marriage. I'm impatient, confused, quick to anger, and all the things Corinthians 13:4 tells me not to be! But I believe it. I believe in the Creed and what Holy Mother Church teaches us to help us along. I'm a work in progress trying not to lead others (any more than I already have in my past) away from God. There are probably a lot of saints who were not exactly "nice" while on this earth. It will take me a lifetime to get to know them more. I sure hope faithful counts for more than "nice."
ReplyDeleteYour post will be a good resource for my daily examination of conscience. There's much to ponder.
ReplyDeleteBeing nice is worrying about offending. Being kind is worrying about well-being. You can be kind either coldly, by judging others from afar, or warmly, by taking the time to teach and show the joy you have found in Christ. It was the latter that brought me back to the Church.
ReplyDeleteWell said Father.
ReplyDeleteAs Fr. Benedict Groeschel has pointed out, the word "nice" does not appear in the Bible. Better to concentrate on personal holiness, of which niceness, as commonly perceived, is often a by-product. If I had to choose between one or the other, I would rather be a Mother Teresa than a Barney.
ReplyDeleteI think this post is difficult to understand. I'm not really sure what you're getting at. You desire to judge those who don't 'love God' and you know who they are because they are the ones who do not follow God's commands and they deny His revealed Truth. They are in rebellion against God. Umm, I think that would include the whole human race. All of us fail to keep his commands and are in denial and rebellion. You might want to ask "why am I so offended by those I perceive do not love God." "Why do I think I have to defend God" Can't He take care of Himself? I once heard the stuff you despise in your neighbor is really a reflection of what you hate in yourself. Maybe we all hate that we don't really love God and that we have failed to receive His love and his ultimate gift to us; ourselves.
ReplyDeleteBroken,
ReplyDeleteI think you have missed the point.
In Jesus and Mary,
David
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not die on the cross to make me a "nice person". He died to remake me in His own image. He is Truth, and when we deny or gloss over truth to be "nice", we are denying Him. I am not suggesting that we should ever be actively and deliberately unkind, but there are times when we may be perceived as being unkind if we hold to the truth delivered to the Saints. Should I be "nice", and let my neighbor drink poison, or should I knock the cup out of his hand? We are to be light and salt, not sunglasses and syrup.
ReplyDeleteTo David,
ReplyDeletePerhaps.
See, you mustn't judge nice Christians. And how do you determine they are nice Christians in the first place by ... um ... judging them to be nice Christians.
ReplyDeleteFolks, it's time that we stopped using "judge" to mean "think". Jesus did not mean, "Think not, lest ye be thought about." We can look at what someone is doing and see if he is in danger of running afoul of the Judge (and we all are!); we can seriously advise him to throw himself on the mercy of the court. What we must not presume to do is to pass sentence. None of us will ever have the right to say EITHER, "Depart from me, ye worker of iniquity," OR, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
Howard@5:03 PM -- Exactly!
ReplyDeleteThank you for speaking the truth father. It's been a long time since I'd heard someone actually speak bluntly about these matters.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said elsewhere before, being a Christian is not just about being a nice person and passing out warm fuzzies to all and sundry.
ReplyDeleteThanks Father, I also like to remind people, "Our Lord never said, "Blessed are the Nice"......."Nice" ain't a virtue!""
ReplyDeleteAs committed Christians we should be concerned about doing what is right. Doing right sometimes means we might be perceived as not being "nice". One of the Spiritual Works of Mercy is to admonish the sinner. Of course we do that in a charitable way but even when we do we are accused of judging. The word "judging" is often misused and misunderstood. We don't judge someone's eternal destination but it is right to "judge" what is offensive to God.
ReplyDeleteI think that if a person is "nice" but has rejected certain teachings of the Church is quite possibly someone who has unfortunately had a bad experience with the Church. Jesus was not always "nice" nor should He have been, but someone earlier mentioned we should be "kind" not "nice". We should love our enemies, not allow them to trample us. I think a balance in not only the typical "liberal" objections to our faith, but also the "conservative" ones as well would give this post even more power rather than it being lauded by posters who don't see that the corporal works of mercy are the ones Jesus mentions in Matthew 25. Yes the Spiritual ones are important, but those that ignore the corporal are not a part of the kingdom.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of 1 Corinthians Chapter 5:
ReplyDelete5:9. I wrote to you in an epistle not to keep company with fornicators.
5:10. I mean not with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or the extortioners or the servers of idols: otherwise you must needs go out of this world.
5:11. But now I have written to you, not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator or covetous or a server of idols or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner: with such a one, not so much as to eat.
5:12. For what have I to do to judge them that are without? Do not you judge them that are within?
5:13. For them that are without, God will judge. Put away the evil one from among yourselves.
I wish people tried to follow this more. I know people who have left the church because so many of the catholics that were the examples showed them they did not believe in God or hell by their works. I'm glad we at least enforce the excommunication of people who commit direct abortions by writing it in the catechism.
Well said, Jay. Very well said!
ReplyDeleteThis does beg the question:
ReplyDeleteHNWJB
How Nice Would Jesus Be?