The Legacy of Pope Francis

 

I’ve been following the funeral proceedings for, and conversations about, Pope Francis. As a lifetime Protestant, I don’t know a lot about Catholicism, but I know enough to understand he was an exceptional Pope. It seemed to me that his defining character was love, especially for the outcasts of the world. When you look at Jesus’ life and example, when you read the New Testament, you see the defining characteristic of all Christians should be love. Unfortunately, many of us miss the mark.

Some Protestants question whether Catholics are Christian, and vice versa. There are a lot of differences in practice and tradition, this is for sure. At the core, we all believe the same thing, Jesus Christ, equally man and God, came and died for the sins of the world and rose again defeating death and sin. Beyond that, the differences really don’t matter, unless they overshadow the core tenets. As to that, both Protestants and Catholics struggle with letting the peripheral issues outshine the core. Neither group is above that. The fact is, both groups came out of the first churches, with Protestants splintering off centuries later. We come from the same roots.

One of the biggest struggles all Christians have is with judgment, something we are warned in the New Testament not to do. Whether someone is a Christian or not is ultimately God’s concern, not ours. Certainly there are markers a Christian should have in their life, but none of us can see into another’s heart. Since all of us remain sinners the entirety of our lives, oft times that sin can cover up a heart that was given to Christ.

How can that be? Well, it isn’t sin that keeps someone from becoming a Christian. That is a common misunderstanding about Christianity. Christ died on the cross taking on the sin of the world. He died in our place. God accepted his sacrifice, with the resurrection proof of that acceptance. The New Testament teaches that we have all been forgiven for our sins! That is the good news! The question isn’t ‘what sins have I committed’; it’s what have I done with the gift of Christ’s sacrifice in my place? Have I accepted His gift? If so, that is what it means to be a Christian. A Christian isn’t someone who has stopped sinning, because we really can’t do that. Certainly we should get better at not sinning as we give more control of our life to God, but we will never, in this life, be free of sin. It’s our nature. But the forgiveness for sin is already complete, finished, one time for all on the cross.

The New Testament does give some markers of a true Christian. We should be bearing God’s fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control. Love, above all, should be a characteristic of our life. Part of unconditional love is accepting people as they are, not as we want them to be. If Jesus died for all, then all have been forgiven. Most just don’t know they are forgiven, let alone accepted the gift of God’s forgiveness. Ultimately, when we stand before God, it won’t be what we’ve done or haven’t done that “gets us into heaven”. It will solely be based on whether we accepted God’s gift or not. But, the Bible does say we will account for our use of that gift while on earth. Have we reflected God’s character in our life or not? Have we loved? Are there people we think are beyond the pale and don’t deserve our time or energy?

I’ve written before about God’s unconditional love. It’s the love that enables Him to forgive all of us. But that doesn’t mean He turns a blind eye to sin. Sin has consequences every day in our lives. And God’s hatred of sin is why it took such an expensive cost to remove sin’s power from our lives. It cost Jesus his life, in our place. God’s love and wrath met on the cross and were satisfied. It doesn’t mean we are now free to just go about enjoying sin – if Christ is in our life, if we have accepted His gift of forgiveness, our lives should reflect a difference, imperfect, but different.  Otherwise we make a mockery of the extremes He went through to save us. I am a sinner, saved by God’s grace, but everyday my goal should be to be more like Christ

Pope Francis exuded God’s love. He upset a lot of people by loving people many of his fellow Catholics felt shouldn’t be loved, at least to the extent Pope Francis loved. And as Pope, he wasn’t afraid to speak out against the injustices he saw in the world around him. He called on Christians everywhere to do something about that. He called on us to love the people around us, to reach out and make a difference, to show Christ in our behavior towards others.  That is exactly what Jesus did. He embraced the outcasts around Him – tax collectors, women, lapsed Jews, Gentiles, to name a few. And Jesus spoke out against those who criticized Him for “eating with sinners”. Jesus’ life on earth was all about compassion and acceptance. Pope Francis lived that same life.

In this sense, it’s fair to point out inconsistencies in those around us claiming to be Christian and yet showing very little acceptance, love and compassion of those around them.  The writer James in the New Testament says Christians can be known by their fruit, by what they do and how they do it. I think a lot of people believe that being a Christian means you have very little tolerance toward people who are a different color, or belief, or gender or sexuality. The fruit they bear is a total lack of compassion and grace towards anyone they disprove of. People outside of Christianity see this fruit and think, “Ah, there is a Christian”.

But this isn’t the fruit of Christianity. True Christian fruit is the opposite. Just look at Jesus’ life and you will see this is true. Christians are to be followers of Christ, to live Christ-like lives. Christ never lacked compassion towards people. The only people who drew His righteous anger were the religious leaders of his day. And He was angry because they had passed judgement on groups of people they felt were not worthy of God’s kingdom and love. Jesus came to make us all worthy (even those religious leaders), but sometimes, like those leaders, we can become blinded and think we are not the ones who need saving. An unfortunate conclusion indeed.

I am so thankful for Christians on the frontlines, like Pope Francis, who show the world there is another way to view Christianity. True Christians, though still flawed and able to make gigantic mistakes, are people who humbly believe their salvation isn’t earned. It’s a free gift that they have accepted. And now that they have this gift, their desire is to be more like the One who gave it. This means bearing Christ’s fruit in their lives – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control. 

What will our legacy be when we die?