“You are the light
of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 mNor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket,
but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way,
let your light shine before others, so nthat2 they may see your good works and ogive glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Mt 5:14-16, ESV)
A couple of days ago I read
an interesting post by Bruce
Charlton, a British professor and prolific writer and blogger.
He always has some interesting point to make
on his blog. The post I refer to was titled,
Should Christians Self-Identify in the West?
His conclusion was in the affirmative, and he
gave two or three or more reasons for saying so. There was one I thought was
one easily over looked by most people today.
And partly because most non-Christians
self-identify...
...so that devout adherents of most other religions are usually immediately
identifiable - and so are anti-Christians by their style of dress (youth cult
allegiance, immodesty), bodily self-mutilations, badges, consumption and
conspicuous life styles.
It isn't fashionable, or politically correct, to be
Christian these days. It's actually positively frowned upon. We are to keep our
religion to ourselves if we are Christian, especially if we are Catholic
Christians. Yet, as Mr. Charleton pointed out, for members of other religious
groups, for instance, Muslims, these rules don't apply.
Why shouldn’t Christians be more visible in
the world?
The question is, how do we do this? Professor Charlton doesn't tell us, but one way could be to make ourselves more
conspicuous by wearing a crucifix around our neck or as a lapel pin. We could wear gaudy t-shirts that proclaim
some Christian message. I guess we could
even wear sackcloth and ashes on occasion.
After all, Jesus did say, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden,” we
shouldn’t just be invisible.
Yet this isn’t the way Christians have “self-identified” in
the past. For instance, since the days
of the early Church, Christians have self-identified by the way they live their
lives. The Letter to Diognetus tells us:
Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by
nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their
own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their
teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike
some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to
dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever
city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is something extraordinary about their
lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing
through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the
disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their
homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and
have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not
their wives.
It seems it was the distinguishing marks of the early
Christians not to be distinguished; they blended in, as far as the casual
observer was concerned. Yet, there was “something
extraordinary” about them – they lived their lives in a different way, with
different goals, than their non-Christian neighbors. They self-identified by living truly
Christian lives.
I agree with Professor Charlton that Christians should
self-identify, but that doesn't mean we have to wear different clothes, or Christian symbols
around our necks. We should
self-identify by living Christian lives.
Christians today are indistinguishable from those around them, but
sadly, for the most part, neither is there much extraordinary about them. Too often, they’re willing to share both
their meals and their wives; they’ve
surrendered to the culture. We should be noticed as Christians, not because we don't dress like those we live and work with, but because we don't act like those around us; we act like someone seeking to be holy.
How do we do that?
St Josemaria Escriva had a specific, and simple, method for Christians
to follow, described by Scott Hahn in his book Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace:
“St Josemaria Escrva sketched out a simple
apostolic program: ‘First, prayer; then, atonement; in the third place, very
much “in the third place,” action.” Most
of our apostolate, then, will be invisible.
Our friends might someday glimpse the tip of the iceberg – maybe. In heaven, however, they’ll know our love in
its very depths.”
Prayer, atonement, action – these are the steps necessary if
Christians are to have any hope of self-identifying, maybe also the only hope
of the West itself. It's a call to Christians, and our neighbors, to true conversion. Little else has
worked to change our steadily declining culture; this surely can.
