What we think is the right road
The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Whosoever would be a man, must be a nonconformist." Today, we would add "...or woman" to Emerson's advice, while still mostly agreeing that, of course, everyone should be left to his or her own devices. After all, my body (and mind) are my own to do with as I please, when I please. Except for popular legislation, nothing can tell me what to do or how to act. I am the judge of myself.
But it's the wrong road
Among the mistakes made by many well-intended Christian apologists is the proposition that if we can cite the "right" Biblical chapter and verse, its persuasive power will convert any reader or listener, for God's word is – truly – "sharper than any double-edged sword" (Heb 4:12). The problem, though, is that if one doubts the divine validity of that Scriptural passage, then its value will be thwarted – at least in the mind of the doubter.
So we who seek to convert the doubters are mistaken in merely quoting the Bible. Still, the Bible is constantly corroborated by what has transpired in history – and in our own lives. For example, so often we or our leaders think that we have the answers to various enduring problems, only to discover that we were mistaken or gullible (see Ps 81:11-12).
In 2 Chronicles, the Israelites pray to God: "We do not know what to do, but we look to you for help" (20:12). That conviction is amplified in the New Testament, which teaches that "there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; there is one God and Father of all mankind, who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all" (Eph 4:5-6 GNB). Our ultimate goal is not independence, or autonomy, or "doing it my way." Our ultimate goal is union with Christ, in and through His Church.
Other paths lead to chaos and corruption.
Emerson was terribly wrong about our having to be nonconformists. Quite the reverse: we must be conformists. "Do not model yourselves on the behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, modeled by your new mind" (Romans 12:2 JB). The "new mind," of course, is that of Christ (1 Cor 2:16), to which we must conform, to which we must "configure" ourselves. Such moral conformity, configuring or modeling is accomplished by and through the grace of God, with which we cooperate (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 1460, 1505 and 1847).
The logic is this: God exists and has given us His divine Son, who, in turn, has given us the Church as Mother and Teacher. We are fulfilled by conforming our lives to that divine teaching. The poet Dante Alighieri, whom Pope Francis wishes us to read this coming year, captures this with his words: "In His will is our peace." When we configure ourselves and our societies to His will, we have peace. And happiness. And meaning. When we dismiss, distort or deny that teaching, we have misery and a culture of death.
In short, if you want happiness, follow Christ. Conform to His way and to His will.
Is any of this, though, susceptible to empirical testing? That is, can we prove it by factual evidence? I think so. A Pharisee named Gamaliel once said this about the new Christian Apostles: "If what they have planned and done is of human origin, it will disappear, but if it comes from God, you cannot possibly defeat them" (Acts 5:38). Which institution existing today will be here – if the world endures – 1,000 years from now? Which institution existing today has taught, is teaching, and will teach an unchanging core of truth addressed to the nature and destiny of all human beings ever to walk the earth?
In Chapter 14 of Hebrews appear three sentences which flesh out the bones of this short argument. First, we have no permanent city here (v. 14), but we look always for our ultimate destiny, which, please God, lies with Him in Heaven. Second, Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (v. 8). Jesus is not a truth, or some truth, or temporary truth; Jesus is the full truth, now and always. Third, "Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you from the right way" (v. 9).
The chief "strange teaching" is that we should conform to nothing and to no one, except to our own prideful selves. That way lies moral disaster, not moral destiny.
We humans want to follow the right path and the true leader. That path and that leader shine in (and above) the pages of history and, if we have the eyes to see, in the events of our own lives. It is to Him that we should conform.
Deacon James H. Toner serves at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro.