My Problem with Time Magazine’s 2013 Person of the Year, Pope Francis

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The annual tease is over.  The short list for Time Magazine’s Person of the year told us more about marketing than it did about serious journalism.  A list that included Presidents Assad and Obama, Jeff Bezos, Miley Cyrus, Pope Francis, Ted Cruz, Katherine Sebelus and Edward Snowden was a recipe for free publicity and spirited discourse.  Personally, I enjoy the build up leading up to the announcement, but this year I have a problem with the choice of Pope Francis as the Person of the Year.

Using most metrics, Edward Snowden and Pope Francis have impacted their worlds in ways that will reverberate well beyond 2013.  Snowden’s leaking of classified NSA documents has shaken world powers almost as much as Pope Francis’s simple life and conciliatory comments have shaken the religious establishment in the Vatican and beyond. 

I am a "recovering Catholic"

Before I explain why I have a have a problem with the choice of Pope Francis as the Person of the Year, I have to reveal that I am a “Recovering Catholic,” serving as the Pastor of Grace Chapel, an independent, non-denominational church in suburban Philadelphia. I came to faith as a university student after reading the Gospels and Epistles.  [A topic for another day!]

For the record, my experience with the church down the street did not scar me in any sense of the word.  It has been over 40 plus since I served as an altar boy, but  I still remember the humble and devout nature of Fathers Getz, Grimes and Sherman. 

As I read the Prophets in the Old Testament, the Gospels and the writings of the Apostles, I learned that humility and devotion do not make a person right with God.  In Ephesians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul said, we are made right or reconciled with God, in a way which is completely undeserved, as we place our full trust, confidence and faith, NOT in our relative righteousness, but in the substitutionary death of Jesus.   Jesus paid our debt… He cured our disease... He built a bridge to the Father.  Pick a metaphor explaining a right relationship with God that does not include a church or denomination or our good deeds and we move beyond symbolism towards substance.

"My problem is with Evangelicals"

My problem is not with Time’s selection of Pope Francis as the Person of the Year.  The choice will generate record sales and much discussion!  My problem is with how we as Evangelical Christians will respond to the selection. 

In the days leading up to Time’s announcement, I listened to a sermon by a young Evangelical Pastor. Early in this Advent message, the Pastor said, “I am a great fan of this new Pope.” This is one of many illustrations of similar comments which have recently filled blogs, Facebook posts and tweets.  We must remember and be careful to communicate that the root of Christianity is not morality. The root of Christianity is faith in the substitutionary death of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

My problem, or rather concern, is that Evangelicals have not developed the ability to acknowledge Pope Francis’s symbolic words or actions and, at the same time, distance ourselves from Roman Catholic traditions and Canon Law which are contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the writings of the New Testament authors, Peter, Paul, James, John and Luke.

"Good people do not go to Heaven."

It is truly refreshing and very rare, to hear any leader call for a simple life and model compassion and empathy.  But we, as Evangelicals must realize that “good people” do not go to heaven.  When the Apostle Paul met Jesus, he may have been the most religious person around. But Paul came to understand and teach, that our relative goodness can never make us right in God’s eyes.  The Apostle said, we are saved by grace, through faith and not by works. (Eph 2:8-9)

In my mind, Pope Francis will be the Man of the Year when he says, “I do not live the way I do to earn God’s favor or to help pay for my sins.  I live the way I do in response to God’s grace and mercy, which saved my soul.” Pope Francis may be this generation’s most religious person, but he will not be right in God’s eyes until his faith and confidence is in Christ alone. 

Pope Francis is walking on a "tightrope."

In the article announcing the selection of Pope Francis as the Person of the Year, the author said, “… in less than a year, he has done something remarkable: he has not changed the words, but he’s changed the music. Tone and temperament matter…”

The article speaks about the tightrope the Pope is walking.  For every statement like “who am I to judge” he reminds listeners that he is a “child of the Church.”  To every diplomatic, non answer to questions about celibacy, birth control, the rights of gays and the divorced to receive the sacraments and the potential of women priests, his Jesuit, defender of the faith” background is flashed.

So, let us acknowledge the Person of the Year.  But let us pray for wisdom and boldness to use this story as an opportunity to share the good news with people who wrongly believe that entry to heaven is gained by living a life of devotion, simplicity and empathy.