Finding Faith ... in the fulfillment you might find by trying to effect change

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat discussed an important facet of faith in his Dec. 22 weekly newsletter column. No stranger to writing about religion, Douthat opined about the state of the Catholic church in light of Pope Francis' announcement that Catholic priests can now bless the people involved in same-sex relationships, even though priests still are prevented from any official acknowledgement or blessing of the couple's marriage.

In short, Douthat -- who in his own words is a conservative Catholic -- urges fellow conservative Catholics not to lose faith in their 2,000-year-old church because of the decisions of the current more liberal leaning Pope Francis. In fact, he argues there is no better time to be a Catholic, a position that I'm sure many of his fellow conservative members of the faith might find puzzling.

Trying not to put words in his mouth, I would sum up his column by saying that liberal and conservative popes alike come and go, but the authority of the Catholic church remains steadfast through the ages. So giving up the church now because of a particular run under the reign of Pope Francis is akin to giving up on what the church stands for. And, so, he argues, this is exactly the time to remain faithful to the church, even if you are dissatisfied with who currently is the pope.

He writes: "But I have come to terms with this change. Whatever papal authority means, the church’s history shows that it’s fully compatible with periods of deep internal Catholic turmoil. This is not exactly pleasant to live through, it raises all kinds of difficult questions for individual Catholics, but it does not somehow make Catholicism the wrong place for a religious believer, a would-be follower of Christ, to be planted. To the contrary: As I have become more doubtful of the church’s certain authority, I have become much more convinced of its importance, its decisive part in revealing God’s intentions and history’s ultimate direction."

And it is this facet of faith that I think sparks an urgent conversation with all of us faithful, regardless of what faith or denomination you currently find yourself calling home.

Every clergy member has heard similar arguments from parishioners who are leaving their church or potential parishioners who won't come to your church for reasons they find offend their faith senses. And trust me, the reasons run the spectrum of the very serious, such as this church is too liberal or too conservative, to the more absurd, such as this church doesn't have a lively enough worship band.

Do this pastoring thing long enough and you no longer are surprised by the reasons some will gin up in their minds to make a church -- or even an entire denomination -- unfit for their membership.

Now, that being said, it's important to recognize that their is bad religion out there. And there are clergy, churches, denominations and even entire faiths that have done demonstrable harm to a great many people over the millennia. And if you find that your spiritual leader, your church or your denomination is truly toxic, or worse, truly damaging to you as a person, then by all means, you should run as fast and far away from it as humanly possible. ... And I promise you that God -- whatever God you worship -- will understand and still look graciously upon you.

The issue that Douthat is discussing, however, is something else. What he is writing about is the attempt by faithful people to find the "perfect" faith, which in his case would be the "perfect Catholic faith." But the trouble is that a perfect faith -- and I will extrapolate this out to a perfect church nor a perfect clergy leader -- doesn't exist. After all, each of us is an imperfect human, and imperfect humans make imperfect institutions such as churches, denominations and faiths.

Unfortunately, even in my relatively short pastoring journey of seven years, I've seen and heard enough people who can't find a leader, church or denomination that fits them. And, instead of sticking around a faith community long enough to possibly help usher in change for the better, people will leave for greener worshiping pastures that they just don't ever seem to find.

And given that we generally are blind to our own shortcomings in reasoning, these folks continue to believe that their lack of fulfillment by a particular clergy member, church or denomination has nothing to do with them and has everything to do with the focus of their disenchantment.

In his essay, Douthat is urging fellow conservative Catholics to look beyond a current papal reign which may leave them perplexed and confounded to a much more important touchstone, which is the historical Catholic church itself. As he said, he's come to terms with the changes forced on the church by a pope he feels is too liberal. But that hasn't dimmed his faith in the bigger church proper.

Again, from Douthat: "If they are truly on God’s side against an erring pope, they will almost certainly be vindicated within the Catholic Church eventually (presuming that the events of the Book of Revelation do not intervene). And the means of that vindication will probably be less any kind of public argument, as important as those may be, and more a personal willingness to practice and transmit the faith through adversity, to model fidelity and charity, to play an ordinary part in working out the destiny of Christianity’s most important church."

In other words, it's perfectly acceptable to be a practicing Catholic unhappy with the direction the current pope is taking the church, but still stay active in the church because you believe in God's ability to correct the course of the church over time. After all, God's reach is long, and time is on his side far more than it is on the side of finite human lives -- popes included.

Full transparency: I'm not always 100 percent a champion for what my denomination does ... because, again, it is a human-created institution, which means that it is fallible, as are all things human made. I also know that my pastoral leadership style, and the way our church operates, is not for everyone. Either might be the reason that someone has stopped coming to our church, and I think that's likely in the case of at least one former parishioner.

However, I made peace with that eventuality early on in my pastoral journey after a conversation in which I realized that I would never be able to deliver the fulfillment for which one particular parishioner was looking. During the conversation, I came to understand nothing I could have done would have changed their minds. So, instead, I learned a valuable lesson, and I pray today that former parishioner has found a faith home that grows their heart and soul.

But I think Douthat makes an important point to weigh before abandoning one's faith, or even specific church or denomination. And that is that one might think long and hard about what change they might be able to foster for the good if they decided not to leave. Often, small organizations can be effectively changed for the positive by a small group of committed people. ... Indeed, even by one committed person!

So, if you find yourself in a similar situation right now, I'd encourage you to faithfully enter into a consistent and committed prayer practice to think through why you are unfulfilled with your clergy leader, church, denomination ... or, yes, even your faith. You might be surprised at the fulfillment you may find specifically because you chose to stay and be a positive agent of change by accepting that God has the ability to affect the course of things! ... After all, that's what faith is! ... Amen!