Faith and the Old Man
What's in a Title?
Photo By: FLickr/Flazingo Photos
Since my reversion in 2012, I have met some great Catholic men who were, and still are, inspirations to me and my journey with Christ. These are men whom I call upon in times when I need prayer or advice. These are men whom I refer to as my brothers with all sincerity.
At the same time, I’ve met some men who have that “holier than thou” attitude. Some have it because of their titles, others have it based on how long they’ve been Catholic, and some base it on which religious groups they are affiliated with. These are the types of men that I’d like to discuss in this article.
The New Evangelization starts with us Catholics guiding and helping each other with our faith journeys and educating each other about our wonderful faith. There are so many resources available to us to learn more about the Catholic Church, yet some of our brothers don’t utilize them,or don’t know where to find them. If you were on a deserted island with a few other people and you knew of a food source, would you share it with everyone, or would you only give them bits and pieces? Would you be that leader who would show them where it was and how it would benefit the group, or would you let pride and envy take over, and keep most of it for yourself, and let them starve to death slowly?
Proverbs 3:27 – Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Why would you want to withhold the knowledge that you have about your faith from your brother? Why would you not want to share the Gospel with him and feed him the word of God? Is it fear of them learning more than you eventually? If this sounds like you, then you are no better than the Pharisees.
2 Timothy 3:16 – “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” If your brother gets to a point where he does know more than you, “Praise Jesus” out loud for the gift that was given to him by the Holy Spirit instead of cursing him in silence.
Titles. Far too often people have the misconception that if a person has a title, then they are a very important person. I’ve met many men with many titles. Some men are strong leaders in their field and command respect by their actions yet some depend on their “title” and demand respect because of it. Some have titles that sound very impressive as a matter of fact, but that does not make them “the” expert in their field or a leader. So, what is the difference between the aforementioned men? What we are talking about here of course is pride. Pride…the mother of all sin. How it loves to rear its ugly head and give men that fake sense of security and that false hope.
Proverbs 26:12 – Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. The book of Proverbs is full of verses in regard to pride, but how often does a prideful man read his Bible? Scratch that, how often do men read their Bibles?
With titles come great responsibility. More often than not, titles are earned, not given out. Sometimes the title becomes more important to the person than it should be. Once again, pride at work with our egos. If this sounds like you, drop,the pride and ignore that voice in your head telling you that you are a “somebody”, that you are more than most. That is the devil talking and he’s leading you down a treacherous path. One man is no better than another. We were all made in the image and likeness of God and we are all sons of God.
Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Assuming that you know more than somebody else when it comes to the faith is a sin in itself. You are judging that person and placing yourself on a pedestal over them. You don’t know how much this person has to offer, so why have that preconceived notion that you know more? We all learn from each other, young and old, schooled and unschooled, we all have something to share with each other.
We are called to be leaders, protectors and providers. Not just for our families, not just for the world, but also for each other for each and every man out there. Lead your brother in the right direction. Protect your brother from those who lie to him about our faith and false prophets. Provide your brother with the tools to defend Mother Church and to do the work of God. We’ve done enough knocking each other down, let’s build each other up for the greater glory of God, men!
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About the Author
I’m a husband, a father, a son, a brother and a friend…I am a Catholic man.
November 2012 I had an “awakening” that set me off on a journey to learn more about my Catholic faith but most importantly, to learn how to have a relationship with God. Immediately I knew that I wanted to share that experience and the word of God with as many people as possible. Who they are and how I'm supposed to do it I’m not sure but, I trust that God is using me as an instrument to get his message out there.
The beauty of it all is that this is a never ending journey! This will be one of the places where I will share my journey, my trials and tribulations as well as my success stories. My goal is not to offend my brothers and sisters of other religious denominations but instead to hopefully shed some light about the Catholic Church and the true meaning of what it is to be Roman Catholic. I hope that you enjoy, God bless.
