By Gary Topping–
The recent death of the Reverend Billy Graham, by far the most prominent Evangelical Christian of my generation, has me thinking about the relationships among the various groups of us who call ourselves Christians. One of the things I’ve reflected upon is what I consider the deplorable tendency to form ourselves into tribes and to erect walls around our tribe and to consider as truly Christian only those within our own walls. Evangelicals, in my experience, are the group most prone to that. Rev. Graham, I think, was increasingly able to transcend that propensity as he matured. I even read, to my astonishment, that at some of his crusades, as people came forward to commit themselves to Christ, he had Catholic counselors to direct them to a nearby parish.
Some examples from my own experience: one of my friends, who was raised in the Catholic Church, wrote that at one point he abandoned the religion of his youth “and became a Christian.” I didn’t say anything, but in the future I might ask him, “Look, every Sunday when you were growing up, you recited the Nicene Creed as part of Mass. What was there in the creed that you considered unchristian”? In fact, the reason we recite the creed every weekend is that it is the very definition of what Christianity is, and we are reaffirming our belief by reciting it.
A few years ago, I was contacted by a girl with whom I went through high school (well, that means she’s no longer a “girl,” and in fact she is a grandmother several times over). She is an Evangelical, and even married an Evangelical minister. One of the first things she asked me, even knowing that I am a Catholic, was, “So Gary, how is your walk with God”? I felt an initial surge of anger—what Catholic would ever ask such a question?–but I let it subside before I answered, “Well, it’s never been better.” What I really wanted to say was, “And how is your walk with impertinent questions”? Thank goodness I didn’t.
I hasten to admit that we Catholics can be guilty of that kind of ecclesiastical chauvinism also. Just this morning I heard a priest on EWTN radio assert that his ministry was directed “to those who have not yet developed a relationship with God,” clearly meaning anyone who was not Catholic.
I happen to live in Mormon Country, and the question is always coming up as to whether Mormons are Christians. The Catholic Church does not dwell on the issue, though our theologians have determined that Mormon teachings are far enough removed from basic Catholic doctrines that we require Mormon converts to accept Catholic baptism (and the Mormon Church reciprocates). Otherwise, we applaud the fact that our Mormon neighbors live by the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes and we find many opportunities to collaborate with them on charitable projects and other endeavors for the common good.
Evangelicals are not nearly that mellow. Some of them, in fact, obsess about converting Mormons and every year during the twice-annual conferences of the Mormon Church there are groups of Evangelicals yelling at the conference attenders warning them that they are going to Hell and need to accept Christ. A few years ago I audited a philosophy course at the now-defunct Evangelical seminary down the street from where I work. In addition to being subjected to frequent pleas for my own conversion, I noted that the seminary catalog listed courses in how to convert Mormons.
Listen, people, we can do a lot better. While I by no means intend to turn my back on the serious, and indeed hitherto unresolvable, theological issues that divide us, I am inclined to extend the hand of fellowship to anyone who calls themselves Christian and who aspire to live by Christian values. We live in a lost and confused world where there is already enough intolerance and discrimination. Let us dedicate ourselves to diminishing and eradicating those ugly forces rather than adding to them.
