Pope Francis recently sent a video to a conference of Pentecostals. Perhaps somewhat surprising, because the Catholic Church has had a somewhat stormy relationship with the Pentecostals, his message was a plea for unity. [1]
As Pope Francis acknowledges, we Christians come from very different cultures and backgrounds. We have very different ways of looking at the world. We emphasize different teachings of Jesus or we interpret what Jesus said in different ways. For some reason we Christians seem to want to emphasize our differences more than we want to acknowledge the beliefs we have in common. Should not our faith transcend our differences?
Pope Frances is correct when he states the disunity in the Christian faith is because of sin. That sin is primarily the sin of ego. Every branch of Christianity thinks they possess the correct interpretation of the Bible. How can we be this confident knowing the Bible teaches we are finite and sinful creatures?
The dictionary defines a Christian as one who believes in the teachings of Jesus. One of Jesus’ teachings was that we Christians were to be as one just like Jesus and God are one (John 17:20-23). When will Christians follow this teaching of Jesus? Cannot we celebrate the fact that we all are brothers and sisters in Christ even if we disagree on some points of theology?
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[1] Rachel Zoll, Associated Press, “Pope reaches out to Pentecostals”, Tulsa World, March 30, 2014, p. A12.
