“Why Do Catholics Fight So Much with Each Other?”
COMMENTARY ON
MATTHEW 5:1-48
“DO NOT SPEAK EVIL AGAINST ONE ANOTHER” (JAMES 4:11)
“Why Do Catholics Fight So Much with Each Other?”
“DO NOT SPEAK EVIL AGAINST ONE ANOTHER” (JAMES 4:11)
"Do not speak evil against one another" (James 4:11)
Catholics appear at times to be unable to get along with each other. Even in the New Testament itself we find arguments and disputes among Christians. All too frequently over the course of history, Catholics have fought bitterly with each other over points of doctrine and practice. Even saints have disagreed with each other sharply, and certainly the average Catholic may seem as inclined to gossip and complain as anyone else. Why be a Catholic, however, if it is going to be such an experience of tension and arguments? As a Catholic who left the Church expressed her frustration, “About a year ago, I was in the local pub, sat near a priest, and was listening to him bitch about a fellow priest—not for me.”
The sociologist William D’Antonio and his co-authors report that Catholics who practice their faith seriously often have deep concerns about the present state of the Church. They write that such Catholics “are genuinely troubled by some past behaviors, some current conditions, and some scary projections for the future.” Such worries are not conducive to handing on the faith to the next generation. According to sociological studies, people with strong faith are more likely to “have experienced a miracle, committed their lives to God, had prayers answered, and/or had a moving spiritual experience.” To some degree at least, the joy of these powerful experiences is dampened when Catholics fight with each other.
It is not enough, however, to avoid unpleasant speech. Another problem is that many Catholics are reluctant to speak in ways that might make them unpopular. In Blessed are the Bored in Spirit: A Young Catholic’s Search for Meaning, Mark Hart reports on the basis of his extensive experience with Catholic young people: “They want to be heard, but are reluctant to speak. It has become more important to be liked than to be respected, to be tolerant than to be truthful.” Of course the desire to find social acceptance is powerful, but so too is the discovery of the truth that God has a plan for each of us and has revealed his plan for the world’s salvation in Christ.
The people who make up the Church are often tempted to conform to the world. Sharp speech can therefore be necessary at times, as a corrective to a false assimilationism. Even so, under the desire to correct the errors of others, Catholics may easily slide into speech that is unnecessarily divisive and confrontational. The line between speech that builds up and speech that tears down is sometimes difficult to discern.
Can the Bible offer guidance on this matter, which is becoming urgent in our era defined not only by conflict between different visions of Christian faith and life, but also by the extremes of incivility and strict political correctness in the broader culture? This chapter examines teachings and examples from the Old and New Testaments to explore the harm that evil speech does, the need to speak out against evil, and the ultimate purpose of speech in giving praise to God.
“The people who make up the Church are often tempted to conform to the world.”
Doing Evil and Speaking Evil
Language has been corrupted by sin. The Psalmist will go so far as to complain, “Everyone is a liar” (Ps. 116:11). The story of the fall in Genesis depicts this corruption of speech. When Adam and Eve commit the first sin, God comes to them and asks them to confess what they have done. But instead of confessing honestly, they strive to separate themselves from blame. Most tragic in this regard are the words used by Adam. Having freely rebelled against God’s Law, he complains to God, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12). His way of putting it blames Eve entirely as though he simply ate what Eve put before him. Whereas once Adam rejoiced in the sight of his beloved Eve, proclaiming her to be “flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23), now he blames her for his own crime against God. This kind of speaking evil, in which we assign to others the blame for our own deeds, often results in terrible harm. Such words show a refusal to take responsibility and to repent. Our tendencies to lie and to cover up our betrayals may fool human beings but do not fool God. Such language therefore not only fails to love our neighbor but also lacks awareness of the God who will judge us and who will extend to us his mercy if we turn to him with repentance.
Perhaps the paradigmatic examples of the fragmenting power of evil speech arise during the exodus from Egypt. Due to the difficulty of the exodus journey in the wilderness, as well as due to the desire to gain power, the people often complain against Moses and attack his leadership. Soon after escaping from the Egyptians, “the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’” (Exod. 15:24). Later, when faced with the difficulty of leaving the wilderness, “all the Israelites complained against Moses” (Num. 14:2). This complaining and criticism sows deep discord and division. At one stage, even Moses’ brother Aaron and his sister Miriam go so far as to speak against Moses and undermine his authority. They suggest that Moses’ main concern is his own power rather than the people’s true good. They ask rhetorically, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” (Num. 12:2). Although they aim to foment a rebellion, God immediately puts a stop to it.
Less easily stopped is a rebellion that arises not from within Moses’ own family but from among the people and specifically from certain leaders of the tribes of Levi and Reuben. Korah, Dathan, On, and Abiram lead this rebellion against Moses’ authority. They make their rallying cry the claim that the whole congregation is as holy as Moses. This claim, quite laughable by this stage in the exodus—since the people have repeatedly proven their lack of holiness—causes Moses great alarm due to his commitment to the mission he has received from God.
Insofar as the rebellion involves Korah (a Levite), Moses sees it primarily as a challenge to the authority of Aaron as the chief priest. Dathan and Abiram, neither of whom are Levites, attack Moses himself, questioning, “Is it too little that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also lord it over us?” (Num. 16:13). Their words make the false claim that Moses, in leading the people out of Egyptian slavery and toward the Promised Land, has been motivated by a desire for power, to “lord it over us.” But in speaking these evil words against Moses, they are ironically revealing the truth about their own motives—namely, they want power. Their words have a devastating impact upon many lives.
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“We would not slander our neighbor if we possessed real healing, authentic charity, or interior justice.”
The Ten Commandments that God gives to Moses on Mount Sinai include a warning against speaking evil. The commandment states, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exod. 20:16). The fundamental component of harmful speech against another person consists in the lie about the person. We distort what someone else has said or done, or we accuse someone without a sufficient basis for the accusation. We falsely impugn the reputation of someone else. In what must ultimately be seen as a kind of hatred of the other person, we do not care that we are either deliberately lying or that we have no secure knowledge to back up our criticism. In the words of the Ten Commandments, insinuating something that harms another person’s reputation unjustly is a case of “bearing false witness.”
Exodus 23 presents another set of laws against distorting the truth with our speech. Here the Law states: “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice. . . . Keep far from a false charge” (Exod. 23:1–3, 7). In the decisions of the communities of early Israel, great weight was given to the reports of neighbors against neighbors. The perversion of false speech might be seen in our day in the workplace, when employees speak falsely of other employees in order to carry out a grudge, to get promoted ahead of someone else, or simply to enjoy the diversion of repeating unverified rumors. In all these ways, the Bible reminds us that false reports cause true harm.
Israel’s proverbs, which provide instruction for everyday ethics, are filled with warnings against speaking evil about another person. For example, Proverbs 6 describes how “a villain” will exhibit “crooked speech” and, often through insinuation, will be continually devising evil and “sowing discord” (Prov. 6:12, 14). In addition to the discord that the wicked person stirs up through speech that bends the truth, there is a further harm when people reveal secrets without due cause. Proverbs advises us to stay away from a “gossip” who “reveals secrets” (Prov. 20:19). The more we speak with untrustworthy people, the more we become entangled in their harmful speech.
Proverbs makes clear that the source of evil speech is the broken and sinful human heart. We would not slander our neighbor if we possessed real healing, authentic charity, or interior justice. This biblical truth affirms a popular saying from the field of psychology: “Hurt people hurt people.” Proverbs therefore warns that evil speech will bring about not only the harm of the person spoken against but also the harm of the one who speaks. Proverbs 10:31 cautions, “the perverse tongue will be cut off.” Proverbs 12:13 states, “The evil are ensnared by the transgression of their lips.” We need to ask for the Lord’s healing of our inner woundedness so that our outer speech reflects inner peace. Proverbs is well aware that evil speech brings harm as well to those whose reputations are sullied. Thus, Proverbs 12:18 compares “rash words” to “sword thrusts” in contrast to the healing words of the wise. Evil speech breaks down the bonds of love and justice.
“Our tendencies to lie and to cover up our betrayals may fool human beings but do not fool God. Such language therefore not only fails to love our neighbor but also lacks awareness of the God who will judge us and who will extend to us his mercy if we turn to him with repentance.”
False speech may be motivated by the desire to gain power and influence. Israel’s history includes not only many faithful prophets but also many false prophets. A notable instance comes in Jeremiah 28 in the story of the false prophet Hananiah. After a limited first exile of some leaders to Babylon, the prophet Hananiah shared a prophecy that was pleasing to the remaining rulers of Jerusalem and thus put him in good stead with them. Jeremiah later confronted Hananiah: “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you made this people trust in a lie” (Jer. 28:15). In validation of his word, Jeremiah prophesied that Hananiah would die that very year—and he did. The story of this false prophet demonstrates the temptation to manipulate speech for the sake of securing favor and personal gain.
It is not accusation against another person, in itself, that is forbidden. After all, an accusation can be truthful. For instance, Jeremiah’s love for the good of God’s people made it right for him to answer Hananiah with sharp words. Hananiah was proclaiming exactly what the political rulers wanted the people to hear. Jeremiah found himself in a situation of leadership rooted in lies and chose to risk personal harm by speaking the truth.
Jeremiah shows us that unwelcome speech may be for the good of the community. On another occasion, the prophet Jeremiah obeyed God’s command to tell the truth about the people of Israel. Standing in the court of the temple, Jeremiah proclaimed the evil that the people were doing in order to give them a chance to repent. But instead of repenting, “the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, ‘You shall die!’” (Jer. 26:8). They imprisoned him in the depths of a cistern for his prophetic truth-telling about their evil. Jeremiah’s challenging words were an expression of great courage and great love. Had the people listened to Jeremiah, the final stage of the exile of the people of Judah may well have been avoided.
Jeremiah could have made his own the words of Psalm 27:12: “Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence.” Likewise, the Psalmist in Psalm 35 is fighting for his life; his enemies are stealthily hunting him, seeking to destroy him. They are “malicious witnesses” who encourage others to slander him, as soon as he appears weak in any way (Ps. 35:11, 15). The Psalmist eloquently depicts a campaign of evil speech: “For they do not speak peace, but they conceive deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. They open wide their mouths against me; they say, ‘Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it’” (Ps. 35:20–21). Such persons employ lies in order to destroy a person whose power they want and who are made vulnerable by present weakness.
As there are false prophets, there are also false leaders. The book of Daniel tells a story of how false leaders use devious speech to prey upon others. There was a faithful woman named Susannah who would take walks each day in her garden. Two nearby elders of Israel made plans to force themselves on her. When they secretly entered her garden, they threatened her with false words: “If you refuse, we will testify against you that a young man was with you” (Dan. 13:21). Susannah refused, and the elders called the assembly of the people together and falsely accused her of adultery. When Susannah cried out to God for deliverance from these false witnesses, God roused a young man named Daniel who had the people examine each of the elders separately in order to catch them in their lies. Having discovered the false accusations of the elders, the assembly then punished the two elders with the very punishment that they had corruptly tried to impose on Susannah. Although God does not often intervene miraculously, God is always on the side of truthful speech. He condemns those who abuse and intimidate others through false speech.
“It is not accusation against another person, in itself, that is forbidden. After all, an accusation can be truthful.”
The Power of the Tongue
The Letter of James has strong words against speaking unjustly against our neighbor. James states, “If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless” (James 1:26). If we speak out of hatred or unrighteous anger, we can only do harm. Such words, lacking truth, harm our relationship with God and neighbor. James teaches, “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:19). How often we are not “quick to listen” but instead quick to anger, quick to criticize, quick to speak ill of others either behind their backs or to their faces.
James compares our tongues to the rudder of a ship. Just as a small rudder steers a large ship, so also can a person’s small tongue steer the course of events with tremendous impact upon people’s lives. He compares the tongue to a little fire that can set ablaze a great forest. He warns that, in our speech, we do not easily avoid lies and false insinuations. Therefore, as he says, “The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). This may seem to be a bit strong!
Fortunately, James helps us to understand his rationale more clearly. He observes that human beings have immense abilities for taming creation. We have tamed some animals and birds; we have even tamed the ocean so as to be able to make good use of it. But taming our own tongue is much more difficult. As he points out, we use the tongue—speech—to “bless the Lord and Father” while at the same time we may be using this very same instrument to “curse those who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9). There is indeed something gravely wrong here. Why cannot the instrument of praise—namely, our tongue or speech—be kept pure? James uses images drawn from nature to help us see the problem more acutely. He asks rhetorically, “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh” (James 3:11–12). The point is that, if indeed our mouths are both praising God and slandering human beings, then our mouths are not pure because our hearts are not pure.
In contrast to words that lash out in unjust anger and hurtful criticism, James exhorts Christians to seek wisdom first in order to have speech grounded in the truth. He writes, “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy” (James 3:17). Such wisdom from above opens up a new perspective on our speech since we are invited to see situations as God sees them and not merely as our egos initially react to them. Such peaceable and gentle wisdom allows us to be straightforward in our communications with others. Thus, we become more open to reason and full of mercy. Taking care with words is crucial for the well-being of persons and communities. He calls upon those who speak to do so with humility, calling upon God’s transformative gift of wisdom.
Jesus likewise emphasizes frequently the importance of our inner dispositions in shaping our communication with one another. He helps us to understand that we have a hard time perceiving the world as it is, when he teaches in his Sermon on the Mount: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matt. 6:22–23). Jesus is not talking merely about physical eyes or physical sight but about moral perception, our ability to perceive truth and goodness. When anger or pride blinds us to truth, we will be “dark” interiorly—that is, in terms of our openness to and expressiveness of the light of truth.
“The point is that, if indeed our mouths are both praising God and slandering human beings, then our mouths are not pure because our hearts are not pure.”
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Jesus warns against “evil intentions, . . . fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly” (Mark 7:21–22). All of these things deeply harm the persons who harbor them as well as those whom they afflict. It may seem that, on this list, slander or deceit or evil speech against our neighbor are among the least sins that we have to worry about. Certainly, speaking falsely about our neighbor or insinuating that our neighbor has done something of which he or she is actually innocent causes harm to our neighbor. But at least such speech is obviously far better than murder! Or is it?
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals the path of living rightly with God and neighbor. In a telling manner, the first moral teaching he addresses concerns evil speech. Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matt. 5:21–22). The tongue is assigned a foundational role in the new kingdom of God. Living well in the kingdom of God is incompatible with our all-too-habitual patterns of gossip, insults, and rash judgments. The inner desire to harm another person may well be quite strong in a person who lacks the power to do external damage.
Such a perspective helps us to hear Jesus’ teaching that speech is a matter for our eternal judgment. He teaches, “I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:37). Let us place this role of speech in judgment alongside Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats in which our eternal judgment is determined by what we did to the least of our brothers and sisters and so did to him. Who we become, and thus how we will be judged, is a combination of our deeds and words. Our words matter. They express who we are and indeed shape who we become. The renewed kingdom of God is a kingdom of rightly ordered actions and speech. After all, “the Spirit is the truth” (1 John 5:6) and believers are to be “walking in the truth” (3 John 4).
The Gospels powerfully disclose how harmful speech easily leads to harmful deeds against the most innocent among us. In the Gospel of Mark, for example, we find that the Jewish leaders, in seeking evidence against Jesus that could justify his execution by the Romans, succeeded in finding many who “gave false testimony against him” even though “their testimony did not agree” (Mark 14:56). Their words played a decisive role in the eventual Crucifixion of Jesus. Paul points out that, if the Jewish leaders had recognized the Lord, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8). We might well imagine that the Jewish leaders would have done better if fewer scribes and Pharisees had chosen to speak with Jesus only “to trap him in what he said” (Mark 12:13), rather than with a real desire to learn from him.
“Our words matter. They express who we are and indeed shape who we become. The renewed kingdom of God is a kingdom of rightly ordered actions and speech.”
Painful Speech
Truthful speech nonetheless may require painful speech. Paul tells the Corinthians that “there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine” (1 Cor. 11:19). Jesus himself says, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will members of one’s own household” (Matt. 10:34–36). Even though the Church is the inaugurated kingdom, the Church is also a fully human community, which means that truth often emerges from the midst of a painful debate, in which even families and friends may become divided. Responding to distortions of truth and love may well lead to pain and even division.
In his prophetic role, Jesus himself used painful speech to sharply correct some of the leaders of his people Israel—as well as some of the future leaders of his Church. With regard to the latter, for instance, Jesus commends Peter for recognizing him as the Messiah, but when Peter tries to persuade Jesus not to accept the cross, Jesus sharply rebukes him. Jesus tells Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Matt. 16:23). Peter does not turn away after Jesus’ sharp correction but continues to follow Jesus.
Jesus speaks sharply against the scribes and Pharisees of his day, many of whom do not listen to his words. Accusing the leaders of being “hypocrites” or “blind guides,” Jesus lists seven “woes” (Matt. 23). He accuses the leaders of focusing on their own power and prestige, valuing human things over divine things, pretending to be righteous, and so on. All this is unfortunately recognizable in religious leadership across the centuries—and not only among the clergy but also among laypeople who partake in leadership. Jesus’ speech is appropriately biting. We need to remember that our hearts lay open before God’s sight.
Due to human fallenness, false prophets and false leaders will continue within the Church. In 2 Peter, we encounter the grim news that “there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them. . . . And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words” (2 Pet. 2:1–3). As noted earlier, in Paul’s farewell address to the Christians in Ephesus, he warns that “savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them” (Acts 20:29–30). We cannot assume that all Christians will be genuinely “filled with the Holy Spirit” and speak “the word of the Lord with boldness” (Acts 4:31). But this news should not make us live in paranoid fear as though such false teachers can be greater than Christ. We must simply keep our eyes on “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2), trusting that he will guide his Church through trials.
God ensures that the Church, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and governed by the ascended Christ at the right hand of the Father, does not fail in speaking the truth of the Gospel. In “the faithful city” (Zech. 8:3) that Christ inaugurates, God promises that the people will “speak the truth to one another, render . . . judgments that are true and make for peace, . . . and love no false oath” (Zech. 8:16–17). We know that “the gates of Hades shall not prevail” against the Church built by Christ upon the foundation-stone of Peter’s faith and office (Matt. 16:18).
We should always heed Paul’s advice: “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29). Although there will be occasions when we must acquaint our audience with negative things about another person, such occasions and audiences should be chosen carefully and should be likely much rarer than our common practice. Otherwise a proclivity toward gossip and slander develops—a proclivity toward enjoying “evil talk” perhaps as a means of exercising power over others or simply trying to maintain illusory control over situations. But lest a Christian become so averse to speaking negative things that the Christian refuses to hold others accountable, Paul reminds us only several verses later that we must “take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Eph. 5:11).
Paul calls the followers of Jesus to a spiritual maturity in light of our knowledge “of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). We must strive to relinquish deceit and instead excel in “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). True love requires “speaking the truth” even when painful. By speaking truth to each other in love, we strengthen the bonds of charity that unite us in Christ. With respect to strengthening the unity of the Body of Christ, Paul exhorts us, “Therefore, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another” (Eph. 4:25). Truthful and loving speech builds up the Body of Christ.
“In his prophetic role, Jesus himself used painful speech to sharply correct some of the leaders of his people Israel—as well as some of the future leaders of his Church.”
Speech that Glorifies God
What is speech ultimately for? We have seen the corruption of speech in the name of domination and control of others. We have seen the call to truthful speech even to the point of challenging others. Let us consider here the role of speech in proclaiming the truth of God and glorifying him. Here we shift from considering speech about God to considering speech to God.
The Psalms guide Israel and the Church in faithfully addressing God. How should a creature properly speak to its Creator? To do so, the creature has to set aside its illusion of power and control and recognize that the Creator alone is God. Psalm 27 depicts the absolute trust that we should have in God. It begins, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1). Similarly, Psalm 121 describes the creature’s great desire for help from the Creator: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will come my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:1–2). Psalm 73 emphasizes that the Lord alone suffices: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:25–26). In praying these Psalms, the renewed community speaks from the truth of its position as humble creatures depending on God for everything.
The renewal of speech reaches its climax in the praise of God. Psalm 92 begins, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High” (Ps. 92:1). Psalm 117 begins, “Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples” (Ps. 117:1). The call of all of the nations of the earth is to praise the Lord. The role of the creature is to render thanksgiving and praise to God the Creator and Redeemer of the human race. Given the importance of giving praise to God, the last Psalm acts as a fitting conclusion to all of the Psalms by reiterating the power and beauty of letting our speech glorify God. In the six verses of Psalm 150, the expressions “Praise the Lord,” “Praise God,” and “Praise him” appear thirteen times! Fittingly, the Psalmist concludes, “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Ps. 150:6).
Praise of God is the supreme mode of speech and will remain in heaven. In heaven, gone will be the perverted desire to hide ourselves from the truth or to exploit others through false speech. Also gone will be the need to confess our sins or to call others to abandon theirs. The only thing left will be for intelligent creatures to sing forever of the glories of God.
The book of Revelation helps us to imagine heavenly speech. The first speech we witness is that of four spiritual creatures worshiping God: “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come” (Rev. 4:8). After praising God simply for who he is, the four creatures praise God for being the Creator: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11). Next, the creatures are joined by twenty-four elders, the prayers of the saints, and the voices of many angels to praise not only God the Creator but also the Lamb that was slain: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12). To show that the Lamb shares in God’s unique honor, all of creation cries out, “To the seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:13). Here is speech in its heavenly form, speech perfected, speech that sings the goodness of God the Creator and of the Lamb for all eternity. Here is truthful speech indeed.
“In a world that is often governed by our disordered passions rather than by justice and truth, speaking the truth in love may involve a cross.”
Conclusion
Toward the end of his great prayer in the upper room, Jesus prays to his Father on behalf of his disciples: “Sanctify them in the truth” (John 17:17). He elsewhere tells his disciples, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). To be his followers, we need to be sanctified in the truth and we need to know the truth—the truth of his divine love, a truth whose profession requires humility. Through the Holy Spirit, we need to live this truth by obeying his commandment to “love one another as I have loved you”—namely, even at the cost of our own life (John 15:12).
Thus, the Catholic vocation in the world involves the countercultural refusal to malign and complain about one another. It also involves the equally countercultural willingness to witness to unpopular truths, when God calls us to do this. Above all, we must bear testimony to Jesus and the truth of divine love, divine justice, and divine mercy. We can begin by being willing to affirm the Gospel publicly, for, as Jesus says, “Whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God” (Luke 12:9). To acknowledge Jesus’ Lordship publicly cannot be done, however, if we are spewing hateful speech, since this would be a counter-witness.
In a world that is often governed by our disordered passions rather than by justice and truth, speaking the truth in love may involve a cross. Jesus, the crucified Lord, teaches that we should “have no fear” of the powerful persons who seek to suppress the truth, since “nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known” in the final judgment (Matt. 10:26). He assures us that we can trust the Holy Spirit to give us the words that we need in order to speak both boldly and charitably, while avoiding any prideful sense that we ourselves know everything (see Matt. 10:19–20). In living in this way, we show our allegiance to Jesus.
By contrast, the devil “does not stand in the truth” and “is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Speaking the truth in love, then, we show that we truly are no longer in our sins (see 1 Cor. 15:17). Evil speech may be able to add something to our worldly power, but by separating us from Christ and by harming others, it is ultimately a refusal to love whose consequences will redound upon ourselves and our communities. Since Christ has been raised and has poured out his Spirit, we are called to renounce the “father of lies” and no longer seek to destroy each other by means of denigration and detraction. We are called instead to testify in love with our tongue to the Lord who deserves all praise. Today, having received the healing power of Jesus Christ, we may choose to react no longer from our wounded nature but now to speak from the renewed image of God in us. Let us hasten to heed James’s call: “Do not speak evil against one another” (James 4:11).
This article is an excerpt from Wisdom of the Word: Biblical Answers to Ten Pressing Questions About Catholicism by Michael Dauphinais and Matthew Levering.
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1 Stephen Bullivant, Catherine Knowles, Hannah Vaughan-Spruce, and Bernadette Durcan, Why Catholics Leave, What They Miss, and How They Might Return (New York: Paulist Press, 2019), 28.
2 William V. D’Antonio, James D. Davidson, Dean R. Hoge, and Mary L. Gautier, American Catholics Today: New Realities of Their Faith and Their Church (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 67.
3 Christian Smith, Kyle Longest, Jonathan Hill, and Kari Christoffersen, Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults In, Out of, and Gone from the Church (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 185.
4 Mark Hart, Blessed Are the Bored in Spirit: A Young Catholic’s Search for Meaning (Cincinnati, OH: Servant Books, 2006), 3.
5 Matthew Levering, Engaging the Doctrine of Israel: A Christian Israelology in Dialogue with Ongoing Judaism (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2021), 194–261.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Scott Hahn
Dr. Scott Hahn is the Fr. Michael Scanlan Professor of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he has taught for over thirty years. Author or editor of over forty books, Dr. Hahn is also Founder and President of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology (www.stpaulcenter.com).
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Learn about the Catholic sensibility of Bishop Barron.
In this issue of Evangelization & Culture, you will see the Catholic faith through the unique lens of Bishop Barron. Explore some of Bishop Barron’s theological writings, as well as the saints, spiritual masters, and mentors who played a key role in his own spiritual and intellectual formation. Dr. Eleonore Stump unpacks the mind of St. Thomas Aquinas. Dr. Matthew Nelson reflects on the pivotal influence of Robert Sokolowski. Dr. Scott Hahn examines the inner logic of Sacred Scripture through Barron’s biblical hermeneutic. Finally, Bishop Barron shares his lecture given at Oxford University on St. John Henry Newman and the New Evangelization.
“I detest ‘dumbed-down Catholicism’ and ‘beige Catholicism.’”
BISHOP ROBERT BARRON