Can we be honest?

One of the things that has sadly been lost in the caricature of “political correctness” that surrounds us, and something that has been drowned out by all the charges of hate speech, intolerance and (fill in the blank)phobias is honesty about disagreements.  Is it just me or does it seem that you cannot vigorously disagree with someone without the charge of hating or fearing being leveled?  That has led to a climate where too often people are not willing to be honest about their differences.  With the anniversary of the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation just a week away, and the 500th anniversary of it just a year away, let me share with you a case in point.

A few weeks ago, at a website called CRUX:  Taking the Catholic Pulse, there was an interesting interview with English bishop William Kenney, who is a key figure in the official Catholic-Lutheran dialogue.  Bishop Kenney will be with Pope Francis in Sweden at the end of the month. Kenney believes unity between Lutherans and Catholics is a matter of decades away, and he thinks it's possible that Francis may use the trip to make a gesture on inter-communion.

One observation in that interview really caught my eye.  The interviewer made this observation, to which Bishop Kenney agreed:  “The consensus of the 1999 [Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification] stated, if I’ve understood it correctly, that the reasons for the Catholics condemning the Protestant positions and vice-versa no longer hold, and if ever each Church did hold the position that the other said they did, what is now true is that neither Church no longer holds that position. In other words, the Reformation was all a big misunderstanding!”

The Reformation was all a big misunderstanding?  On the contrary, Luther and his fellow reformers on one hand and the theological authorities of the Roman Catholic Church on the other hand were very clear about where they stood on the doctrine of Justification, and they surely were not standing in the same place. 

Justification is the teaching of Scripture that explains how it is that God declares sinners to be forgiven and righteous in his sight.  Since this lies at the very heart of the Christian gospel, the reformers were very clear about what they believed and taught on the basis of Scripture.  In Article IV of the Augsburg Confession of 1530, Dr. Martin Luther and the reformers stated their position on the doctrine of Justification:  “Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.”  They believed that because that’s what the Scriptures say.  In Romans 3:20-24 the apostle Paul wrote:  “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.  But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  By faith alone, and not all by our works.  All Jesus’ doing, not at all our own.  Pretty clear, wouldn’t you say?  Luther and the Reformers read it that way.

When the Roman Catholic Church met for the Council of Trent (December 13, 1545- December 14, 1563), they staked out their position on Justification clearly in Canons 9 and 12:  "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema." ... "If any one shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that it is that confidence alone by which we are justified...let him be accursed."  By faith and works, by Jesus and by us.  They were quite clear about that.  They clearly disagreed with and condemned the Lutheran understanding, and the Lutherans clearly rejected the Roman Catholic understanding. 

They knew they disagreed, too.  Back then actual battles were fought over this issue.  But that was a long time ago.  What about now?  While it is certainly true that some Lutherans no longer hold the position stated in the Augsburg Confession, and while it is certainly true that some Roman Catholic theologians no longer hold to the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, the truth is that the Roman Catholic Church has never rejected its position on justification and confessional Lutherans have not rejected the Augsburg Confession.  What the interviewer and Kenney suggested was a “big misunderstanding” that no longer holds true is wrong on both counts.  We don’t burn each other’s churches down, and we don’t hate our Lutheran or Catholic neighbors.  But if membership in our respective churches means anything it means that we still don’t agree on this fundamental teaching of the Christian faith.

Let’s be honest about that.  Pretending it doesn’t matter is not only disrespectful to the Holy Scriptures, it disrespects honest people who honestly hold to the differing positions on this.  Saying that the Scriptures aren’t sufficiently clear on this subject for people to hold firm positions is to say that God is either a mumbling and incoherent author who could not speak clearly on such an important subject, or that he tried to be cleverly imprecise so that everybody could interpret his words in their own fashion.  Neither is true.

So what’s the big take away here?  Don’t hate on people; but also don’t patronize them by pretending there is agreement where there isn’t.  That’s insulting.  Be honest, and in your words and in your actions acknowledge those differences in a way that shows that what you believe matters, and that your neighbor matters enough for you to be gently but firmly honest.