
An evangelical is studying the ancient Church Fathers. She is impressed with the deep theological insight of the Fathers. She begins studying ancient Christian art, and takes a special interest in church architecture. Over time, she begins to personally observe the Church Year, and studies the hallowed prayers and liturgy of the Church. She finally tires of the white walls and “contemporary” music of her mega-church, and decides to attend a Catholic mass. She steps inside, and kneels to pray, but can’t find any kneelers. Soon the procession starts, and rather than being solemn and reverent, dancers parade up the aisle. The architecture is no noticeably different than the evangelical church, and the priest add libs a lot to the liturgy, making it rather chatty. The evangelical leaves, and decides to visit an Orthodox Church.
A progressive Protestant is starting to see increased crime in his neighborhood, which he starts to connect with a general moral breakdown in society. He ponders the root cause of his neighborhood’s decline, and now questions his former assumptions about certain family issues, particularly his belief that divorce is “no problem.” This leads him to explore the Catholic Church, because it, unlike his current mainline church, still considers divorce a sin. Soon, after much independent reading, he begins to see the wisdom of Catholic Teaching on a variety of issues. He decides to meet with a priest to discuss becoming Catholic, and the priest gives him a strange look, and asks him why he wants to become Catholic when he already has a church. The priest counsels the man that since the ecumenical era, the Catholic Church doesn’t steal sheep, but if the man really wants to be Catholic, then the priest won’t stop him. So he is thrown into RCIA, where he is taught things that pretty much line up with the mainline church he came out of. The man leaves RCIA, and starts looking for a new church.
Now, I know these examples are simplistic. Most committed seekers would not abandon joining the Catholic Church simply because they entered one or two distressing situations. Nonetheless, I have often wondered:
How many faithful potential converts have been turned away from the Church, even scandalized, by the watered-down Catholicism they sometimes encounter?
I know that some catechists, priests, and liturgists justify “dumbing down” the faith, or “watering down” the liturgy in order to make Church teaching and worship more attractive. Nonetheless, this seems to me to be a losing situation, in that by dumbing down the faith, they are attracting those who aren’t likely to be committed to the Church. I mean, to whom are they making the Church more attractive? Committed or uncommitted converts? First, in today’s society, with few social and family pressures to be Catholic, I am guessing that few uncommitted people are going to bother joining the Church, watered-down or otherwise, to begin with. Second, it seems to me that those uncommitted to joining the Church on the Church’s terms are not going to suddenly become committed, active Catholics once they do join. So, basically, by being flaky, is the faith being watered down so much that committed seekers are being turned away, leaving only a small handful of semi-committed converts? I think the answer is probably “yes,” and this could explain the decline of many mainlines: nobody is going to join a church or organization whose beliefs are so watered-down or nebulous that they are meaningless.
Now, I have to say that standing up for, and teaching the Truth of Catholic Teaching, does not mean being overbearing. As a teacher (and sponsor for RCIA), I am always reminded that amidst our permissive society, Catholic Teaching is generally going to be difficult to digest, and offensive on its own, so it is important that it be taught in both Truth and charity. I think it is important that we not fall into the opposite extreme of being flaky, which is being hard, impatient, and mean to those struggling to believe. I have honestly seen quite a few nominal Catholics and candidates accept Church Teaching after actually having the teachings explained by a faithful, but patient, person. You wouldn’t think a Catholic in her 40s would not know that the Church is against artificial contraception, or that a Catholic in his 30s would think that we are supposed to give up meat on the Sundays of Lent, but I have known of these cases. In both of these examples, patient and loving teaching worked.
So I am curious, how many of you have been scandalized by flakiness? Has it ever influenced your decisions relating to religion, or choice of parish? I know that many on the Christian blogosphere are pretty devoted and committed, so we notice things like this!