{"id":2691,"date":"2012-02-23T00:05:43","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T06:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joeljmiller.com\/?p=2691"},"modified":"2012-02-23T00:05:43","modified_gmt":"2012-02-23T06:05:43","slug":"the-gangster-the-cardinal-and-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2012\/02\/the-gangster-the-cardinal-and-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The gangster, the cardinal, and us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"the<\/a>
Cardinal Lamberto. Image from 'The Godfather: Part III'<\/figcaption><\/figure>In You\u2019ve got Mail<\/em>, Tom Hanks\u2019s character says that all of life\u2019s questions can be answered by reference to The Godfather<\/em>. Not quite, but close. For instance, just ask yourself why in a supposedly Christian nation things are so decidedly unchristian<\/em>. There is a scene in The Godfather: Part III<\/em> which provides an answer.<\/p>\n

The saga\u2019s main character, Michael Corleone, is speaking with Cardinal Lamberto, who would soon become pope. They are in a courtyard standing by a small bird bath or fountain. The cardinal retrieves a pebble from under the water. \u201cLook at this stone,\u201d he says, holding it out for Michael to see. \u201cIt has been lying in the water for a very long time, but the water has not penetrated it.\u201d He then whacks the rock on the side of the fountain, breaking it open to expose the inside. \u201cLook,\u201d he says, \u201cperfectly dry.\u201d The glistening water on the outside had not seeped in.<\/p>\n

Lamberto continues: \u201cThe same thing has happened to men in Europe. For centuries they have been surrounded by Christianity, but Christ has not penetrated. Christ doesn\u2019t live within them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as Lamberto finishes his observation, Michael suffers a diabetic attack and requires sugar before it worsens. Lamberto perceptively notes that Michael\u2019s heart is causing his real torment. Indeed, Michael is Exhibit B in the lesson. Raised in the church, Michael is nonetheless a murderer. Christ has not penetrated.<\/p>\n

And so with us I sometimes think. Christ is everywhere around us. But is he in us too?<\/p>\n

Three quarters of American adults identify as Christian. We like to say that we are a Christian nation. It\u2019s a loaded phrase with historical problems, but it makes for a powerful self-identifier. We should ask if it\u2019s true. There are some 335,000 Christian congregations<\/a> in this country. In some locales a seemingly endless number of steeples jab the sky, while other congregations cram into storefronts and still others occupy massive spaces like big-box retailers, hulking islands rising amid acres of blacktop parking. <\/p>\n

All of this is good, but it doesn\u2019t really answer the question: Has Christ penetrated? Despite the overwhelming number of self-professed Christians, only 12 percent of American adults claim faith as their top priority, according to research by the Barna Group<\/a>. Family, health, leisure, success, career, and wealth all rank higher. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just self-professed priorities that gauge our adherence. Acceptance of traditional Christian morality has declined<\/a>, as well, according to Barna. For one recent example \u2014 this one from the family research firm Child Trends<\/a> \u2014 births outside marriage account for more than half of all births to women under thirty.<\/p>\n

Enough with the dire news. There is hope and a way out. <\/p>\n

No one can look at the culture and just fix it. No on can cause Christ to penetrate deeper into our nation. That\u2019s delusional. In another context, C.S. Lewis denounced the idea of national repentance as a way to skirt personal repentance. But personal repentance is the only way. I can lament the statistics while also contributing to them (and in fact I have). What good is that except securing my own judgement? All we can do is open up and allow Christ to penetrate our own hearts of stone and transform them into hearts of flesh<\/a>. It just so happens that is a sufficient and efficacious beginning.<\/p>\n

Back to the courtyard: Lamberto asks Michael about making confession. It\u2019s been thirty years since he\u2019s last opened his heart. But Michael knows confessing isn\u2019t all. He must repent, which he won\u2019t do. Will we, each of us? We must. We can. Our Christianity glistens brilliantly on the outside. But the question is, when God breaks us open, will he find that Christ has truly seeped inside, or will he discover us to be merely dry and dead? <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In You\u2019ve got Mail, Tom Hanks\u2019s character says that all of life\u2019s questions can be answered by reference to The Godfather. Not quite, but close. For instance, just ask yourself why in a supposedly Christian nation things are so decidedly unchristian. There is a scene in The Godfather: Part III which provides an answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1270,"featured_media":2714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[76,103,123,355,403,451,468,578,675],"class_list":["post-2691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","tag-barna","tag-cardinal-lamberto","tag-churches","tag-jesus-christ","tag-lent","tag-michael-corleone","tag-morality","tag-repentance","tag-the-godfather"],"yoast_head":"\nThe gangster, the cardinal, and us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In You've got Mail, Tom Hanks's character says that all of life's questions can be answered by reference to The Godfather. Not quite, but close. 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