I’m not a Catholic and yet I was encouraged by the recent election of Francis I.
The few weeks leading up to the election of the pope made it seem like a sporting or political event. Bookies were placing odds on the contenders for the red slippers.
We sometimes treat faith like a football game and we treat worship like a pep rally.
This is hardly unique to Catholicism.
We’re trying to get pumped up.
We’re trying to win arguments.
We’re trying to evangelize and plant more churches.
We’re trying to show how we’re somehow better, more spiritual or holy than the next guy.
But through his actions, Pope Francis showed us this wasn’t a pep rally.
To be sure there was the big crowd at St. Peter’s and yet when faced with the throngs of people, Pope Francis wasn’t afraid to ask the people to pray for him.
“Pray for me.”
Yesterday, he also started his first day as Pope in prayer. This was his priority. This was about someone needing help and not being afraid to either pray and ask for prayer. This wasn’t about organizing coalitions, or reforming the papal bureaucracy, this was about leading a billion people in faith.
If I was in his place, I’d be praying too.
Many of the reports, I’ve read about the new pope are about his humility. This is man who lived in a small apartment and who rides the bus. This is a man who lives simply and unpretentiously. He’s also criticized leaders of his own church for their ostentatious living and for ignoring the poor.
What does it say about us, that we can be amazed by these qualities?
It’s as if we’re treating humility as this extraordinary, incredible thing that you never see in a leader.
This leads me to ask. . .
What makes this particular pope so remarkable?
Maybe we should ask the opposite question. . .
What makes the rest of our leaders so unremarkable?
The idea of a humble or servant leader in the church is not a new idea. Jesus anyone? Still, humility in leaders is an unusual enough trait, so when we see it, we take notice.
Perhaps the fact that we’ve taken notice of Pope Francis’ humility also points to something lacking in ourselves.
A common discussion has also focused on how how the election of Francis might possible change the political positions of the church.
In this regard, it’s as if we’re treating the Pope as just another secular leader who makes policy. While I might be sympathetic to progressive positions, I can’t help but feel this focus is a misguided and wrongheaded approach to faith. It treats politics as a matter of primary importance. If there is anything we should have learned as Christians in America over the past forty years, it’s the danger of getting our politics and our faith confused with one another. We focus our hope primarily on politics, to the detriment of taking our eyes off Jesus, who is the object of our faith.
If the Pope focuses on loving Jesus and loving people, I think everyone (including non-Catholics) will be in a much better place and this will hopefully lead more of us to having compassion on all people, including the poor and hurting. This kind of love and compassion is the thing that leads to dialogue and conversation. It’s the kind of thing that leads to reconciliation.
Focus on Jesus and focus on loving people. The rest will follow.
