Is the pope Catholic? Of course – and there's a tendency among some of the more alarming evangelicals to assume that because of that, he's on the side of the antichrist and we shouldn't really count him as a Christian leader at all. Others, it's true, veer the other way and can't really see much difference between Catholics and Protestants any more; the gap is far, far less than it was, but it hasn't been closed yet.
The former view is nonsense, as anyone who reads his latest exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, ought to realise. It's subtitled 'On the call to holiness in today's world' and it is full of wisdom. These are the words of someone who has immersed himself in the life of the spirit, without ever losing touch with the cares and concerns of ordinary people, which it would be very, very easy for him to do. And a good part of what he says to Catholics could be said to evangelicals too.
1. He says: 'We are never completely ourselves unless we belong to a people. That is why no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual. Rather, God draws us to himself, taking into account the complex fabric of interpersonal relationships present in a human community. God wanted to enter into the life and history of a people' (paragraph 6).
There's a tendency towards individualism among evangelicals that isn't always acknowledged or confronted. We demand a personal commitment of faith in Christ, perhaps with a particular form of words (the 'sinner's prayer'). Our spiritual nourishment can be quite individualistic, too, as we encourage people to develop their own 'quiet time' with God, with personal prayer and Bible reading. Influential broadcasting and online media play a part, too, enabling us to pick and choose what we hear and who we'll listen to.
Personal commitment and personal prayer is absolutely necessary and we can learn from all sorts of sources. But Francis is pointing out the risk of becoming detached from community, and it's a risk evangelicals face too.
2. He says: 'Could the Holy Spirit urge us to carry out a mission and then ask us to abandon it, or not fully engage in it, so as to preserve our inner peace? Yet there are times when we are tempted to relegate pastoral engagement or commitment in the world to second place, as if these were "distractions" along the path to growth in holiness and interior peace. We can forget that "life does not have a mission, but is a mission"' (paragraph 27).
Evangelicals are activists by nature. We tend to feel uneasy if we don't have something to do – a church outreach programme, a definite plan for evangelism and witness, perhaps. This reflects a certain understanding of church life, which is that it's about progress and achievement, doing things that we can measure. But this is a very thin understanding of Christian discipleship, which in fact is densely textured, made up of all the ways in which we interact with those around us and with God himself. When the pope quotes Xavier Zubiri and says, 'life does not have a mission, but is a mission', evangelicals should listen.
3. Pope Francis warns against 'two false forms of holiness that can lead us astray: gnosticism and pelagianism'. They are ancient Christian heresies that are alive and well today. Gnosticism is 'a purely subjective faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and feelings' (paragraph 35). Gnostics are all about understanding doctrine. There's no room for mystery. 'When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road. They may well be false prophets, who use religion for their own purposes...'
This speaks straight to the evangelical tribalism that's done so much to damage the brand. When Arminians and neo-Calvinists, complementarians and egalitarians, charismatics and cessationists are so dismissive or aggressive towards each other, it's because they've fallen into the sin of gnosticism: faith is reduced to a set of beliefs or a form of words that they know and others don't.
4. Pelagianism (named after the theologian who battled with Augustine over the concept of free will) is another temptation for evangelicals too. It stresses right behaviour rather than the grace of God. 'Now it was not intelligence that took the place of mystery and grace, but our human will', says Francis (paragraph 48). And, as he puts it, they 'ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style'.
Translate this into the evangelical world, and it speaks straight to different sub-cultures that define our different tribes – the sort of worship service we're used to, the songs we sing, the 'leaders' we look to.
5. Francis says: 'The other harmful ideological error is found in those who find suspect the social engagement of others, seeing it as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist... We cannot uphold an ideal of holiness that would ignore injustice in a world where some revel, spend with abandon and live only for the latest consumer goods, even as others look on from afar, living their entire lives in abject poverty' (paragraph 101).
This is for every Christian in every time, including evangelicals – if we retreat into singing our songs and praying our prayers rather than helping to change the world, we will be judged for it.
6. Francis warns against the 'networks of verbal violence' characteristic of the internet. Catholic bloggers and tweeters can be very fierce, certainly – but so can evangelicals. It's very common to see savage online attacks on people with differing views, justified in people's minds presumably by the thought that they are defending the 'truth'.
However, the pope says: 'The result is a dangerous dichotomy, since things can be said there that would be unacceptable in public discourse, and people look to compensate for their own discontent by lashing out at others. It is striking that at times, in claiming to uphold the other commandments, they completely ignore the eighth, which forbids bearing false witness or lying, and ruthlessly vilify others. Here we see how the unguarded tongue, set on fire by hell, sets all things ablaze' (paragraph 115).
Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
