Fear God and Do What Is Right: The How of Leadership
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Over the last few years I have felt a heavy call from God to respond well to Jesus’ prayer for unity. At the hour of His Passion, Jesus prayed for His disciples. What did He ask the Father? Eternal life for us (John 17:2-3). Astounding. And what else? Perfect unity in the Church (John 17:20-26): “That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may know that you have sent me.” I have long desired the recovery of Christian unity, one Church, people from every nation (especially those I carry in my heart from the Middle East) worshiping our Lord together. That desire is a call to evangelism, and it is a call to unity.
I want a clear conscience, so in obedience I am following Christ into full communion with the Catholic Church. After nearly thirty years as a Southern Baptist (deacon, board member, longtime Sunday School and Bible teacher), and a year with the conservative Anglicans, we have spent the last seven months attending Mass and OCIA. Not in a million years would I have pictured this path. Day by day it has been so good as Kari-Lynn and I strive to follow Jesus.
There is a steadfast mercy in the ways of God: every time a man takes a step of costly obedience, the Lord Himself draws near to confirm the work and speak courage. Paul knew it after his testimony in Jerusalem, when the Lord stood by him in the night and said, “Be encouraged” (Acts 23:11). God's pattern of encouragement via our obedience never changes.
I am not trying to convince you of anything or justify myself. I simply ask you to consider how important the unity of the Body of Christ is, and what your part in that unity might be.
First, a word on who is truly Christian. My mother (now in her eighties) calls herself an honorary Catholic. She spent years as a social worker on native reserves in Canada, and I think she is right. Look at Scripture. Paul says, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35). Job puts it the same way: “The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding” (Job 28:28). When we set the emptiness and hypocrisy of those who claim the name of Christ while chasing greed, lust, and power against the Christ who washed feet and laid down His life, the contrast is stark.
Kari and I went to Mass last Sunday just outside the gates of the Greenbrier Resort at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Before Mass, the priest, whom we had never met, asked if we would carry the gifts. I weakly protested that while Kari is Catholic by baptism, I am still becoming Catholic. He would have none of it. He assured us we would do just fine, and we did. What an honor. His kindness and encouragement meant more than he will ever know. The Church also has many good men. Let us aspire to be good men, Jesus' men.
I move forward with quiet confidence in Jesus’ call to unity. There is a deep and unexpected joy in forsaking what is of protest and rebellion and stepping fully into the communion Jesus prayed for. I am not turning my back on my family or my friends; I am asking God’s full blessing on them. Here is the truth as I see it: a Christian is a baptized man who fears God and does what is right. Paul said he had one message for Jews and Gentiles alike, “the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21).
No matter our age, we are in the prime of our lives when we are at the center of God’s will, fearing God, obediently forsaking evil, and doing good. Be in your prime today.
What does that look like? It looks like friendship and fellowship, laughter, peace, and joy. It feels like God Almighty with us, and our children and grandchildren around us, the sacred family of God, one body, functioning as Jesus ordained.
It looks like confidence in God, genuine interest in the needs of others, and love for those whom God loves. All people. It looks like spiritual maturity that earns respect, even from those who hate us, not because of what we say, but because of what we do. We walk the walk. No boasting. Humble obedience to Jesus Christ. The prayers and acts of a righteous man need no advertisement, for the King sees how we “break the jaws of the godless oppressors and pluck their victims from their teeth” (Job 29:17). We are here to protect others. God forbid we tear others down or team with those who do. We are battle-tested men who rescue because we know the grace of the Rescuer, who calls us by name and saved us from this evil world (Galatians 1:4).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls all men to this unity. It states that the Catholic Church accepts as brothers in Christ “all who have been justified by faith in Baptism” and are therefore “accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church” (CCC 818). It continues: “The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter” (CCC 838). Yes, I know there are Catholics who hate Protestants. I will be no such man. I love all people, and I see evangelicals as my brothers and sisters in Christ, in large part the future of the Catholic Church in America. I have watched it firsthand: my OCIA class is full of young Christians in their twenties choosing full communion, as I have in my mid-50s.
Brothers, be rightly fearful and obedient to Jesus. Get back up if you have been knocked down by bad decisions or bad people. Forsake evil. Strive to conquer sin and grow in holiness. Pray, and ask others to pray for you. Pray for others.
Let’s simply do our best today in honest obedience to Jesus. I pray that your words today will be refreshing to everyone you meet, and that your smile and look of approval become a true means of God’s grace.
Through Jesus we are called to lead and to show others what to do. Do so unapologetically. I pray you are in the prime of your life, encouraged by the Spirit of Christ and confident in Christ beyond measure.
In Christ,
David
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