Benedict XVI has deplored the widespread misrepresentation of Jesus as Someone Who “demands nothing, never scolds, Who accepts everyone and everything, Who no longer does anything but affirm us.”
It was not always thus. Why? Well, to begin with, if you read the Gospels, Jesus says He is meek and humble of heart, but He has a sharp tongue: He calls some fellow Jews a “brood of vipers”; in Luke, after teaching the Lord’s Prayer, He remarks almost casually to His own disciples, “If you then, who are wicked. . .”; and He warns often about the possibility of eternal damnation.
This excludes people, is judgmental, may not exactly build self-esteem. Benedict has noted tartly that Christian community “must not be conceived as if the avoidance of conflict were the highest pastoral value.”
Jesus warns us in several places, “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye” – very good advice, even in secular terms. We’re quick to criticize others and to give ourselves a pass. But like all virtues, this one becomes a vice beyond its proper scope.
We’ve seen a similar phenomenon with regard to Christian failures in this country. Whenever the latest Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, or priest predator arises, Christians are mocked as hypocrites. It always surprises me that Christians take the abuse instead of simply replying, “That changes nothing. We deplore these sins as much as you do, and we continue to deplore the sins these sinners deplored, unworthy messengers though they were.”
It was not always thus. Why? Well, to begin with, if you read the Gospels, Jesus says He is meek and humble of heart, but He has a sharp tongue: He calls some fellow Jews a “brood of vipers”; in Luke, after teaching the Lord’s Prayer, He remarks almost casually to His own disciples, “If you then, who are wicked. . .”; and He warns often about the possibility of eternal damnation.
This excludes people, is judgmental, may not exactly build self-esteem. Benedict has noted tartly that Christian community “must not be conceived as if the avoidance of conflict were the highest pastoral value.”
Jesus warns us in several places, “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye” – very good advice, even in secular terms. We’re quick to criticize others and to give ourselves a pass. But like all virtues, this one becomes a vice beyond its proper scope.
We’ve seen a similar phenomenon with regard to Christian failures in this country. Whenever the latest Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, or priest predator arises, Christians are mocked as hypocrites. It always surprises me that Christians take the abuse instead of simply replying, “That changes nothing. We deplore these sins as much as you do, and we continue to deplore the sins these sinners deplored, unworthy messengers though they were.”
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