I talked to a cousin of mine this evening, and the talk turned to religion. My cousin left the Catholic Church a long time ago, at least in the spiritual sense. He and his family now belong to the Methodist Church and are very, very happy there. The reasons are myriad and I will not delve into them out of respect to him. I have wanted to ask him about this for years, but we don't talk very often and when we do, it's normally not the time or place for such conversations. Tonight was different, and I'm glad it was.
What I took away from tonight was one question he asked of me. He said, "Do you remember how the Church started?" I responded, "Sure. Jesus picked the 12 apostles and then after he died they went out preaching the Gospel." He said, "That was how the apostles got started. The Church started when Jesus told Peter that he was the rock on which the Church would be built. Do you remember what else he told Peter?"
"No."
"He didn't tell him anything."
Stop and think about that for a moment. Until tonight, I never had, either. Jesus could've told Peter anything and it would've been incorporated into Christianity---say this prayer, follow these rules, etc., etc. But he did none of that. He pretty much said, "Pete, you're in charge here." All Jesus left was the example of His life.
I can't pretend to know why God just didn't spell it out for us. However, I think I may know: He needs us to choose Him freely. If all were made clear, our faith would lake depth, for it would be backed up by facts. In short, our belief must be an exercise of free will.
Posted by Matthew at February 11, 2004 11:30 PM