As you all know, the white smoke finally came out of the Sistine Chapel yesterday, signalling the choosing of the new pope. [and if you don't know about that... I'm concerned!]
This event has been heavily covered by news media. As is bound to happen when a new leader is appointed, analysts have been discussing whether or not Pope Francis is qualified for his new position. I've found many of these discussions very though provoking because of one concern all news analysts seem to share: Is Pope Francis going to make any changes?
An article from the USA Today quoted a professor of religion from Boston University who said that the church "needs change to survive, and it seems incapable of doing anything to ensure it's survival". He was specifically referring to the social issues, such as gay marriage and abortion, and whether or not this pope will make any changes in this area.
I found this statement extremely interesting because I believe it applies to my own life. As a Christian, it can be hard for me to live out what Christ says because it makes me different from the world around me. God has called me, as His follower, to look, act, and be different than others. This can be hard because, as a human, I want to be accepted by others. Standing out isn't comfortable.
So there's this tendency for me to want to accept this mindset of "change". That in order to make an impact on people and do ministry, I need to change to look and be like them. When that professor said that the Catholic church needed to change in order to last, he meant that the church needed to become more relevant, that they were going to lose followers if they didn't start to compromise a little on the social issues. This idea of being relevant has, I believe, infiltrated our churches in America. Youth groups especially have been the primary victim of such ideas.
I think what we often forget as Christians is that we know the truth, and the truth is something that is always relevant. What we've done in conforming our standards to attract more people to our churches is compromised on the greatest aspect of Christianity and its message. Instead of giving people the truth that they're searching for, we're giving them the same things that they already have, just with the word "Jesus" plastered on the front.
What's encouraged me tremendously is the realization that Jesus and his disciples were some of the most radical people of their time. They didn't do things the way that everyone else were doing them. Yes, they had knowledge about the culture they were living in [which I believe is extremely healthy], but they didn't lower themselves to the standards that culture was upholding. God's calling for me isn't to change to be like the world, but to change that world.
There's also difference in changing for the better and compromise. When you feel like you're beginning to change in some areas of life, pray about it. Are you compromising? Or are you conforming to God's image for you?
Remember, people, like the professor, will say that we need to become more like everyone else, but what they don't realize is that we don't need social reform to last, we need the truth. And if you're a Christian, you have that truth, which is more valuable than any kind of acceptance from others.
I'm not sure what choices the Pope will make, and frankly, it won't affect me. But I hope that, for the sake of the truth, he doesn't compromise as the rest of the world believes he needs to.
