The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, May 20th: Acts 7:55-60; Revelation 22:12-20; John 17:20-26)

BROODING OVER IGNORANT CHRISTIANS

I’m still kind of brooding about last week’s Unauthorized Homily essay. If you missed it, you can find it either as the cover story of this week’s TIME Magazine or at my website: http://www.boomertrek.com/archives/fa561.htm . (I suggest if you actually want to read it, you should try the website first.)

The topic of last week’s essay was, in a word, “ignorance.” (Go ahead, say it: “ALL of your essays, Billy Boy, are filled with ignorance!”)

A while back my sister sent me an email lamenting the large number of apathetic people in her parish. The dwindling number of folks who bother to show up on Sunday just seem to go through the motions. Most folks, however, choose not to show up at all. The problem, by the way, is not unique to her parish, or even to Catholic churches.

I opined that the root of the problem is a fundamental shift in the way many people answer the question, “Why did God make you?”

In a bygone era, Christians knew the right answer. Those who attended Catholic schools and had to memorize the Baltimore Catechism, reflexively blurted out, “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”

Whichever way the answer was phrased, the key concept was to put God’s will ahead of one’s own will. This was the only logical answer, especially considering that God created mankind and not vice versa, and therefore He has every right in the world to call the shots in our lives.

Since approximately the 1960s, our current generation has carefully avoided logic in most of its religious, philosophical, and metaphysical thinking. Today when people consider the question, “Why did God make you?” (which they rarely consider anyway), the answer is: “God made me to be happy…right now!”

Or the expanded version of the answer: “God made me to do whatever the hell I want, whenever the hell I want, and with whomever the hell I want…and no one has the right to judge me!!” (Note: the use of the word “hell” in the previous sentence is not gratuitous, as this self-centered attitude surely originates from the very depths of Satan’s lair and is likely the eternal destination of those who embrace this attitude.)

The main focus these days in not on knowing and doing God’s will; it now is on doing our own will. “Thy will be done” is out. “My will be done” is in.

As I mentioned last week, with this new view of religious faith, doctrines are irrelevant since feelings, urges, and impulses govern our thoughts, words, and deeds.

This week’s gospel reading is a portion of Jesus’ long prayer on the night before He was crucified. In the first part of His prayer, Jesus prayed for Himself. Next, He prayed for His disciples, those who were with Him that evening. Finally, in the section we hear this week, Jesus prayed for all believers throughout history. He said, “Holy Father, I pray…for those who will believe in me through their word.”

The “their” in Jesus’ prayer refers to His disciples and apostles, and “word” refers to the Good News of the Gospel, the message the disciples and apostles would be commissioned to spread after the Resurrection.

Contained within that Good News message are many key doctrines. And a person simply must comprehend these key doctrines or else he or she never will be able to be in a loving relationship with the Lord nor live a victorious Christian life. These key doctrines include: the true natures of God and mankind, the identity of Jesus and the reality of the Atonement, the power of the Holy Spirit, and God’s will for our lives.

The reason I say the essay topic is “ignorance,” and the reason I’m kind of brooding, is because I’m convinced a clear majority of people who call themselves “Christian” today have no clue about these key doctrines.

They don’t know the difference between Deism and divine revelation—and they don’t want to know. They have a vague idea of Jesus’ identity, sort of a warm and fuzzy Mr. Rogers in sandals who never judges anyone, but the subject gets only a fleeting thought. And trying to know God’s will for one’s life? A meaningless concept to a person with a “My will be done” mindset.

So in order for Jesus’ prayer to be answered, in order for people to believe in Him as a result of the key doctrines contained in the Good News message, we need a serious crash course in basic Christian principles. We need some emergency educational programs.

I don’t know how it is in your particular faith tradition or local church community, but in mine, the youngsters periodically attend C.C.D. classes. If the kids are anything like I was at that age, they’re probably not paying very close attention. Then at the ripe old age of about 15, there is the sacrament of Confirmation, which most people interpret as the official graduation from formal religious education. Again, if the kids are anything like I was, the day of Confirmation is also known as, “I Never Have to Think About Religious Doctrines Ever Again Day.”

Then, during our adult years—the time when we often ponder for the first time the profound questions of life, especially when our children are born—there are no programs in the basic church experience, not counting occasional snippets during those seven-minute weekly homilies, to explain the key doctrines of faith. And since the institutional structure doesn’t seem to hold knowledge in high regard, the majority of parishioners go on their merry way—fat, dumb, and apathetic—all-the-while thinking “My will be done” must be an acceptable attitude.

Again, I’m in a brooding frame of mind, so take these concluding words with a grain of salt: If we don’t get our act together, and fast, Christianity in America will become as fossilized and meaningless as it has become in Europe. It only takes one generation of ignorance to break the chain and turn the majority of citizens into self-absorbed, secular nincompoops. I’d venture to say we’re about halfway there.

©2007