(August 18, 2019) Lectionary: 120
Thomas GetteAdults: When has your taking a strong stand on a moral issue created division rather than healing in the short term?
Children: Is it important to do the right thing even if others are angry as a result? Why or why not?
When I was first coming into the faith, I was kind of zealous and arrogant about the newfound truths I was discovering. As a result, I was causing divisions, but for double reasons: the truths themselves and my attitude of how I defended those truths. I became almost prideful because of the truths. The truths mattered so much to me that I thought this was all that mattered. It was now plain for me to see, so I thought it should be simple to make it plain for others to see. Much to my surprise, no one was interested.
But thankfully things changed. In the long run, living humbly and faithfully made a real impact. I allowed the truths to move from my head to my heart and transform me more deeply day by day. Instead of being so assertive and abrasive, I began to preach the truths by living a life that showed that I believe them. The commitment over time showed I was serious, and the change in me showed the truths mattered on a deeper level. Instead of obstinance, this eventually led to understanding and acceptance from family and friends, and even imitation and curious searching.
We all take a stand on things that are important to us. Some of those things matter more than others. Some so much that we are willing to let people be upset with us. No matter how much my life was transformed by grace and truth, there was still strong resentment from some people because I was associating with the Catholic Church. I realized that I could not please everyone. I had to learn to be OK with certain people being toxically opposed to me.
There are some things that matter more than relationships. God’s truths matter above all and should be our guiding point. But our commitment to these truths determines a lot. In Ephesians 5:14, St. Paul tells us “... speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” The truth might hurt for some to hear, but we can’t let pride and self-righteousness be what causes the hurt. We must grow in holiness as a way to proclaim the truth.
This division over the faith is something that Jesus warned us about. From this Sunday’s Gospel he explicitly tells us he came to bring division. But he did not come for the sake of division. What he was expressing was that the truths he came with would inevitably cause division. We can think of this like a surgery. A doctor does not perform surgery just to cut a person open. However, in order to perform the surgery, the cutting open is required.
So, when we are faced with doing the right thing, or not wavering on a belief we hold, we must remember that division and anger is a possibility (at least in the short term). However, we must ensure we do not cause division or anger because of a lack of love. “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
Thomas Gette is a family man with a passion for the domestic Church. He holds master’s degrees from both Franciscan University and the Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium.