The Church May Be A Whore, But She’s My Mother
Detail of a Diego Rivera mural in the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City
Both Dorothy Day and St. Augustine are credited with saying something like, “The Church may be a whore but she’s my mother.” I appreciate the sentiment. Beyond simply decrying the infidelity of the Church, the author was acknowledging a relationship to her, regardless of her scandalous behavior.
It’s easy for me to call out the Church for her sins. She’s whored herself out to political power, economic power, even military power. Not that this is surprising given the fact that Jesus hung out with unsavory characters. Jesus had, after all, not come for the healthy but for the sick. Is it any wonder that the Church is full of morally sick people?
This is not to say the Church shouldn’t be called to account for her sins. But what the quote gets at is the fact that it’s easy to distance ourselves from church leaders who get into bed with unscrupulous people. And while I may call the Church to account, I have to acknowledge and repent of my own wrong-headedness. Otherwise I’m only a Pharisee condemning the Church for things like a political spirit or greed while conveniently silent about my own political spirit and greed. The fact is that I can’t deny being related to Christians with whom I’d just as soon separate from anymore than I can disavow any connection to family members who may not represent our family so well. You don’t get to choose your relatives.
Christians are part of a big, beautiful, dysfunctional family, and anyone who calls Christ their brother is a sibling of mine regardless of what kind of scoundrel either of us may be. We all know that two people brought up in the same household often look and act very differently. But there it is; that undeniable familial connection.
How about we quit trying to disavow any connection to our spiritually philandering relatives, throwing stones at them with everyone else as if they aren’t kin. It’s true. I’m related to those “bad” Christians. Sometimes I’m even one of them. We are imperfect copies of a perfect original.
We may not approve of all she gets herself into, but it’s time we learn to love our mother.
Hi, Scott. I appreciate the sentiment too. But I wonder if we take your analogy further, are there not times to set a boundary with even your mother? When her choices impact you in damaging ways? When she decides to mistreat and exploit you? Sure, we may always be related, but it doesn’t mean I need to keep showing up for thanksgiving dinner. Sometimes dysfunctional is simply toxic for the soul. Yes?
Hi Kristy. You are certainly right about ways that the Church and our relatives in the church can be abusive. Posture toward abuse is always boundary setting. I simply find it way easier to criticize the Church than to recognize my fraternal relationship to brothers and sisters with whom I profoundly disagree. I don’t know that I’m all that good at loving the Church these days. It is where I need to challenge myself.