Aug 01 2008
Fridays with the Church Fathers: Beacons of Light
From a homily on First Timothy by St. John Chrysostom (d. 407).
Christ has put us on earth to act as beacons that give light, as doctors who teach, so that we might fulfill our duty as leaven…. It would certainly not be necessary to preach doctrine if your lives were so radiant, nor would it be necessary to have recourse to words if your works gave testimony. There would not be a single pagan if we conducted ourselves like true Christians.
These are serious words. They are so clear that there is very little one can say about them. At first, our tendency might be to smile, as if the St. John had extended himself a bit too far — particularly in the last sentence. Did he really believe that if Christians simply behaved as Christians the how world would convert? I have to admit, I think he did believe that.
Of course, there’s never been a time when every Christian lived like true Christians, so it’s hard to say if St. John is right. We do know, however, that Christians who do not behave like Christians are the source of scandal.
As Vatican II teaches: “For, taken as a whole, atheism is not a spontaneous development but stems from a variety of causes, including a critical reaction against religious beliefs, and in some places against the Christian religion in particular. Hence believers can have more than a little to do with the birth of atheism. To the extent that they neglect their own training in the faith, or teach erroneous doctrine, or are deficient in their religious, moral or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than reveal the authentic face of God and religion” (Gaudium et spes, 19).
One has to wonder what the world would be like today if, over the last forty years, we Christians had really lived as beacons of light.
