My wife and I were moved to tears on several occasions
through the two and a half hour showing of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. Yet it was one line that
stopped me in my tracks – “Shall we stop this bleeding?” Abraham Lincoln presided over the
United States during a period of immense struggle and loss. New research estimates that up to
850,000 American lives were lost in the Civil War, more than in any other armed
conflict in U.S. history.[1] We were literally shredding ourselves
to pieces. Lincoln’s soft-spoken
principles and longsuffering patience not only brought the country out of war
but sealed the fate of millions for freedom.
“Shall we stop this
bleeding?” The line drew my
attention to a situation in a Young Life area I had recently been called on for
consultation. A member of the
local Young Life committee refused to work with Catholics in the oversight and
support of the ministry. Citing
biblical references and centuries-old Catholic resources, this individual
pronounced that Catholicism’s works righteousness blatantly contradicted the
clear biblical witness of salvation by grace. Accordingly, the church (and Young Life) needed to be purged
of such doctrinal profanation brought about by the slippery slope of ecumenical
partnership.
“Shall we stop this
bleeding?” What this
individual would not accept, after repeated attempts by the local Young Life
staff, is that this issue has already been settled. Justification, the crux of all the disputes of the
Reformation, “the article upon which the church stands or falls,” has achieved
a common understanding. The 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification pronounced an official agreement between the Lutheran World
Federation and the Roman Catholic Church: “Together we confess: By grace alone,
in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we
are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while
equipping and calling us to good works”(JD, 15).
“Shall we stop this
bleeding?” The wound has been
mended, the sutures in place. We
are, in this most central issue, already one. Yet one careless word or one belligerent insistence on the
past can easily reopen the injury and render the church powerless to do its
work of making disciples of all nations.
I am proud to be a part of the “big tent” approach of both Young Life
and the Catholic Church who, despite our remaining differences, have chosen to
stand side by side in the fight to rescue young people.
“Shall we stop this
bleeding?” It is up to
you.
[1] Guy
Gugliotta, “New Estimates Raises Civil War Death Toll,” The New York Times (April 2, 2012), http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/civil-war-toll-up-by-20-percent-in-new-estimate.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
(accessed December 12, 2012).
