The church is not for the left or the right

If the church was merely a human institution this would be understandable but as a both human and divine institution, it stands in the culture to convert souls to the Gospel. Just like the Christian is not of the world but in the world, the church presents a Gospel that challenges those of all political views with the desire that all be saved. The church is for the salvation of the world.

I experienced the broadness of the church as a young priest while serving in Palmer, Alaska. One Sunday we blessed animals on the feast of Saint Francis — and as an added note I decided to bless the hospital across the street because I had heard a local doctor was performing abortions there.

A few of my liberal friends were livid and some, as they say in Facebook, “unfriended” me. The next Sunday began the first war in Iraq — a conflict that Pope John Paul II had said was unjust. I preached against the war. Some of my conservative friends were livid, said I was un-American, and a few of them also “unfriended” me.

The following Sunday I stood in the pulpit a free man. Ever since then I’ve been trying to preach a Gospel that is not swayed by popular causes or political correctness or cultural agendas. The church is to preach a Gospel that saves, heals and converts people and, by extension, whole cultures to Christ. With this in mind, the church will always be somewhat of a scandal to the world because all need conversion — both left and right.

For those who long for the good old days when the church didn’t meddle with the culture (first century say) I heard a lecture once by Presbyterian pastor Tim Keller that should give pause to this way of thinking.

Early Christians did not just keep their faith private — it shaped their lives and the lives of others. They were often looked upon as strange and were often persecuted. They didn’t go to the blood thirsty entertainments of the Roman amphitheaters and thus were suspect and considered anti-social. They didn’t support Caesar’s wars of conquest. They opposed abortion and infanticide which the Roman culture accepted. Early Christians empowered women differently from the Roman culture, showing greater respect for their gifts and leadership. Early Christians opposed sex outside marriage and same-sex practices. They were radically in service of the poor and the sick and gave money, time and life for them. They mixed classes and races together in their liturgies and they believed that Christ was the only way to salvation.

So what are we to do as the church in our time? We are not called to attack the culture or assimilate to the culture, but to convert the culture through service. We can do this by living so deeply the gift of the church that even those who disagree with us and oppose us will be compelled to acknowledge that the church serves the needy like no other. I believe this is what our present Holy Father Francis is doing.

Why does the world love this pope? He holds all the controversial teachings of the church that were named above but the world loves him because he holds these teachings in love and in service. As the pope says, the church is for the salvation of the world. This is as true today as it was 2,000 years ago.

The writer is a missionary priest of the Anchorage Archdiocese who is serving as pastor of the Church of the Nativity in Magadan, Russia.