One and Half Popes and Doctrine

I read an article on the Fox News website about the ceremony where Pope Francis elevated nineteen new Cardinals to the College of Cardinals, the body responsible for electing a new Pope. His predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict was also present at the ceremony. It was quite an interesting article but there was something that struck me quite powerfully about the article. The writer made reference to the fact that the crowds that were coming to listen to Pope Benedict daily when he was in office were one-third of those that now come to listen to Pope Francis. I believe the intention of that particular piece of information (or was it a fact check?) was to show how unpopular Pope Benedict is in contrast to Pope Francis. This is in light of the fact that the writer in the same article remarked that people present cheered when they saw Benedict.

                        

There is a tendency in human beings for comparison even though the Bible tells us that the people who do this are not wise. One of the most obvious means of comparison is numbers. Therefore a person in an office who attracts more people to his sermons or meetings is deemed more popular and from that position we believe that he must be more effective. However I tend to see things differently. I believe the fact that Benedict drew smaller numbers of people than Francis says a lot more about the people than it does about Benedict.

There have been several reports in the mainstream media about Pope Francis comments. These comments have been analysed, dissected and analysed some more in the mainstream media. From their analysis of his comments one would be forgiven for thinking that he was about to abolish all the doctrines of the Catholic Church. It seems the mainstream media have got this idea between their teeth and their running with it so much so that it culminated with him being on the cover of TIME magazine as their man of the year. And it seems a lot of Catholics seem to have this idea as well. So it seems that while a lot of them see Benedict as a strict and unbending conservative, Francis is the flexible and conciliatory liberal. Hence the great love.

G. K. Chesterton said that the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, rather it deemed to be hard and so left untried. I have always said I do not believe in labels when it comes to Christianity. You are either a Christian or not. I do not believe you’re a conservative Christian or a liberal Christian. I also reject the terms fundamentalist unless by that you mean someone who believes in the Bible. I believe the Bible is the final authority on all things that has to do with the faith Christ gave us. Like C. S. Lewis said, doctrines were given to us as maps by men but these men had deep relationships with God. I believe we live in a fallen world with fallen minds which need renewal in the word.

I admire Benedict. He felt trapped in a position that was not allowing him fellowship was God which he missed deeply. So he gave up his position and all the trappings and stepped aside for someone else who could handle everything so much better. I do not believe the fact that Pope Francis is drawing bigger crowds reflects badly on his predecessor. I believe some of the people who come to see Francis are already living the liberal lifestyle they want him to endorse. They want him to endorse their own beliefs and make them happy and comfortable by breaking down doctrines that have served the Church for centuries. We’ll wait and see if he’ll oblige them. Although I wouldn't hold my breath.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

Who Is He, This Jesus?

As the year runs to a close, we are presently just a week away from the 25th of December. This is the day when most Christians the world over celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the originator of their faith. As Reinhard Bonnke said, those who complain that the 25th of December is originally the date of a pagan festival miss the point. The birth of Jesus can be celebrated on any day and if we decide to celebrate his birth on the 25th which is a pagan festival, it doesn't matter as long as we know what and who we are celebrating. So my question to you is, do you know whose birth you are celebrating?

Let me help you a little here. Even though we commemorate the birth of God in the form of a child, he is no longer a child. He is the Lion of the tribe of the tribe of Judah. Referencing the uproar that accompanied Fox anchor Megyn Kelly saying Jesus was white, might I point out to you that he is not some tribal or ethnic warlord. He is the King of Israel and indeed the whole earth. He is the Prince of Peace who told us he has left us peace in this turbulent, ever changing world. He is not some ordinary man who said nice things that sounded good. He is the Word of God. He is the Truth. He is not one of the ways that lead to God. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is not a person who would see another hurt or in pain and not do anything. He is the Healer and the Comforter. He is not some man who gave his opinion about how we were to live our lives. He is the Righteous Judge. He is not some man whose words change with any change in Western culture or whose opinion changes with the changes in other men's opinion. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. In fact, he doesn't change. He is constant, unfailing. His love is forevermore. His love for us does not depend on our love for him. He loved us even before we were men. In this sad and dreary world, he is our Joy. He is not some man whose words we take with a pinch of salt. He cannot lie, will not lie. His promises are Yes and Amen.

I could go on and on about the person whose birth we will celebrate in a week's time. But I could go on and on and still not be able to fully exhaust or describe all His attributes or do Him justice. But as we prepare for Christmas, I would like us to remember that the essence of Christmas is not about eating, drinking, shopping or giving gifts but about a God who loved us so much that he didn't want us to continue to wallow in sin. He looked for messengers to send to us but none was worthy or capable. So he came Himself and took on the form of man and was born as a baby. He gave us the best gift anyone could give. He lived amongst us for thirty three and a half years, telling us about the Kingdom of God and giving us an example to follow. When he was going, he told us he would come back for us one day.  All he asks is that we have faith in Him and trust Him. Will we all do that?

Christians, The Endangered Species

In the last few days alone, 75 Christians were killed in an attack on a church in Pakistan while 62 Christians were killed by members of the Al-Shabab militant group, an affiliate of Al-Quaeda. The killings at the mall in Kenya were particularly gruesome and cold-blooded as there are reports that before the killed anyone, they would first ask the person the name of Muhammed's mother. If the person was unable to answer correctly, he was shot. The attack on the Christians in Kenya occurred because of Kenya's involvement in the fight against Al-Shabab militants in Somalia. Pakistan on the other hand is an increasingly unstable country. I once read a dire report from a Pakistan born BBC reporter who decided to leave the comfort of the UK and go back to Pakistan. According to him, if at least 10 people were not killed in a day in Karachi, then it was considered a good day.

On the other hand, in the US and other Western countries Christians while Christians are not yet being killed en-masse for their faith, we constantly face a barrage of abuse and criticism from non-Christians, the media and other people who claim to be Christian but who don't believe the Bible or don't believe Jesus is the only way to God and don't consider him as their Lord and Saviour, the main argument being that Christianity should move with the times and become more 'modern', whatever that means.

Sadly, I only think it will get worse. Whole not trying to be alarmist, I see a trend where in the West where in name and spirit of 'equality', law makers will try to get Christianity and Christians to conform to the spirit of the age by enacting laws that make it hard for Christians to utter biblically sound doctrine. When we think of China and North Korea, we think of repressive and authoritarian regimes. And we think it can never happen in the West. Now I'm not so sure. It might sound far fetched but looking at the things happening this days, I won't be surprised if churches have to go underground to preach the word. I recently heard of an anti-discrimination ordinances a county in the state of Texas is thinking if passing that critics allege is aimed at Christians.

I believe that more than ever, these are the times to know who and what we believe. And I believe these are the times to boldly speak out about what we believe without fear or shame. I believe that is the least we can do since we have not yet been called on to die for what we believe in. Yet. Jesus said if anyone of us is ashamed of him here on earth, he will be ashamed of them before the Father. We should also not forget to say a prayer for those who live in countries where they are liable to die for the faith they profess. These are the things we must do.


Update: Please read this article by Thomas Marshall of the Hudson Institute: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/24/kenya-pakistan-egypt-it-is-now-open-season-on-christians/