Paul Poulton comments on the labels we use

Paul Poulton

Who would have thought that the election of two prominent Church leaders, the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury would have brought with it an air of optimism? The two appointments have placed a smile on the face of both those who are genuinely interested and those who want to laugh at troubled institutions from a bygone era struggling to be relevant in the modern world. Opportunities to scoff came thick and fast - Would the smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel be black or white indicating a new Pope had been chosen, or was it the Cardinals burning evidence? But among the comedy and the reporting by the news media and the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics and 85 million Anglicans greeting their new leaders, a quiet hopefulness seems to have descended on us all.

Anyone born in the last twenty years may be tempted to think the hue and cry surrounding the appointment of a Pope is normal, but the reporting this time round has been much more extensive than in previous papal elections. The journalists, always looking for a story, want to know exactly where the new leaders stand on issues such as gay marriage, women bishops, contraception and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq etc. The media like to put people tidily into a box and I guess we are all more relaxed when we have people summed up in one neat sentence. It's easier to dismiss what people say if we know they have an agenda - "Oh, she's only saying that because she's a postmodern feminist," or "It's alright for him to say that, he's one of the fat cats," or "Well, what would you expect from a conservative evangelical?" The problem is that human beings don't fit easily into a pigeon-hole, we are too big, we have too many idiosyncrasies, features and personal traits, we need room to manoeuvre. And yet it's so easy to box ourselves in. Some Christians have ready-made labels for reporters to use, in fact, we have a heap of them. Some Church denominations are even happy to flag-wave their set of 'fundamental beliefs'. They have everything neatly set out and you may not be able to become a member of their church if you don't sign up to their view of exactly how they see things. Recently the regulator for charities in England and Wales explained that although most churches receive charitable status it refused to give a Christian congregation in Devon that status (and the subsequent tax benefits), because of the church's doctrine of separation from the rest of society.

However, when we read the Bible we find that it's far from a trimly laid out set of doctrines. In fact that could be part of the reason why churches differ on doctrinal issues. The Bible has stories, poems, letters and histories. If we had a time machine and commissioned some of our best modern writers to go back and help the early biblical writers to come up with a well laid out book, then we would know in graphic detail exactly what Jesus looked like, we would know precisely how long ago God made the heavens and earth and the prophecies would be a lot less cryptic, especially Revelation. But the Bible is what it is, it's not a scientific text book, it's not a glossy magazine and it's not a denominational statement. When we read it with an open heart we find that it has been breathed upon by the Holy Spirit and that God says, "Let me tell you a story and see what you think". When we do that we find ourselves challenged, and when we respond to the challenge we find ourselves filled with hope, faith and love.

Attempts to put God in a box are thwarted; it is a little like CS Lewis says in the popular Narnia stories, Aslan is not a tame lion. We like creeds and statements of faith but there is a price to pay for them. A church-split known as 'The Great Schism' between the Eastern and Western church came because the Nicene Creed said the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, which the Eastern Church were happy with. But the Western Church thought the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son. As a result of this we now have the Greek and Russian Orthodox Church on one side and the Roman Catholic and Anglicans on the other, each with their version of the Nicene Creed.

It's easy for people to put labels on us and we sometimes label ourselves, but the picture is often too large to be put on a tiny label. You may or may not be an Anglican or a Catholic, but if you follow Christ then I hope you will join with me in praying that the two new leaders do help to bring reconciliation, justice and hope in the name of Jesus.