Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch. And in today's episode, we're talking about the death of pope Francis, and we're asking the question, now who's really in charge of the church? Of course, Francis was the current pope, the leader of the Catholic church who just passed away, really from old age, from complications with pneumonia and, stroke.

It was a tumultuous time with Francis as the head of the Catholic church. He, at times, seemed to be siding with liberals, at times, with conservatives. That's another way of saying, he made everyone happy and no one happy all at the same time, which which depending on your perspective, either was a commendable trait in a leader or one that showed the weaknesses of his leadership. He was definitely a headline generator. Although sometimes those headlines were from seeming reversals.

I mean, one day, he would be saying that the Catholic church could bless same sex couples, and then the next day, walking that back and saying no same sex individuals could receive blessing, but not couples. At times, he aligned with liberal causes, things about gender or sexuality or the poor and marginalized. And then other times, he would be demonstrably conservative, like when he said that women would never serve as deacons. A bit of a polarizing figure, a bit of a confusing figure who, in many ways, contributed to a an increasingly fractured church. And not all the headlines that he generated, by the way, were positive.

Some were dealing with some pretty negative things. So how should we think about Francis? How should we think about the church now that he's gone? How should we think about the whole idea of a pope in general? Well, obviously, wake up, look up approaches things from an evangelical perspective.

We're decidedly Protestant here at Wulu. So it feels like it's a good time to remind us who are listening as to why we are not Catholic and why we do not look to the pope as head of the church. The first and primary reason is because Christ alone is the head of the church. Colossians one eighteen makes this point clear. He is the head of the church.

Now on this, Protestants and Catholics don't disagree. No one is arguing the pope is above Christ. What is, what is the point that is being argued is whether or not we need between Christ and us any mediators at all, whether that's the pope or our local priest. We believe the Bible teaches that between ourselves and Christ, there need be no one. No apparatus, no system, no leader.

I can go directly to Christ. I can go directly to God in the name of Christ. It is Jesus who leads his church, certainly. God has given the church, as according to Ephesians four, pastors and prophets, evangelists, apostles, teachers, many different gifts, many different callings, but each and every one of them operating under the singular and sole leadership of Christ. He is the head of the church, and he mediates his leadership to the scriptures and through his holy spirit.

The problem when we elevate a man, any man, is that it creates confusion, because men are men. People are people. We do talk out of both sides of our mouths. We do give strong opinions without thinking. We do cause controversy.

And when there is a man at the head of the church, chaos and controversy will follow, not so with Jesus. But with anyone other than Jesus, it is inevitable. That's because, as men, we are so often people pleasers. One of the more fascinating things about Pope Francis was his relationship with the press. He developed quite a rapport with them.

And at times, I'm sure, not because he was evil, but because I'm a sinner and I know what it's like to be liked and I know what it's like not to be liked, At times, perhaps he was saying and doing things simply to enjoy the favor that came with them. And even if he was, would that make him any worse than the rest of us? We like to be liked. But Paul warns us in Galatians one that people pleasing is the antithesis of pleasing God. That's why Christ, the true head of the church, showed himself to be our one great and true leader in that the very crowds who were one minute praising him were next minute yelling crucify, and he remained true.

He never wavered based on popular opinion. The truth is that any human being often is soft on some sin and hard on others, weak on some points of doctrine, and strong on others. I think that's a fair critique, not just of Francis, but of any human leader. We have a leader. His name is Jesus.

He leads to the Holy Spirit and the scriptures. And oftentimes, when we're craving human leadership, whether it's through a pope, a priest, a bishop, a cardinal, or through a local pastor, podcaster, writer, or teacher, we are saying something not just about that leader, but about our own confidence in Jesus. The truth is the Christian church moves forward today at the same pace, at the same speed, with the same optimism as it did a couple of days ago when Francis was alive because the hope of the church, the true Christian church has never been and will never be any man or any pope. It will always and only be Jesus Christ. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up.

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Have an article you’d like Pastor Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!