You may have seen the news recently that the Pope threw into question Trump’s Christian faith. You can read all about it here.

Flying back to Rome from Mexico, the Pope critiqued Trump’s plan to build a giant wall between Mexico and the U.S.:

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”

Was Pope Francis out of line? One of my facebook friends seems to think so, posting this meme:

The point is valid. If we start to question the validity of someone’s faith, firstly who made us judge, and secondly where do we draw the line? It’s not as if any of us are firmly in the camp of being a “good Christian” ourselves!

But as insignificant as my view is, I have to side with the Pope. Here are a few reasons why:

1. He’s the friggin’ Pope! While I’m not Roman Catholic, if the Pope says something there’s probably good reason to at least pause and think about it. He’s not exactly…well…Donald Trump.
2. The idea that my Christian beliefs are between me and God alone is actually a product of the secular world we live in. The secular world seeks to restrict religious belief to the private sphere of life. Each person is allowed to believe what he or she wants, but God help them (no irony intended) if they try to impose their beliefs on someone else!
   But as Christians there are things that we believe in. This is a communal faith. And as individuals we belong first and foremost to the community of faith, the Church. It’s not an “anything-goes” religion.
   We uphold the primacy of scripture, we declare the creeds, and proclaim our confessions of faith. While there is significant grey area as to how we understand some of those claims, there is at least a doctrinal framework. Far from being restrictive and stale, scripture gives us a whole new language in which to live into God’s reality of love and reconciliation.
3. According to our society, religion has no place in speaking about politics or economics or the environment. While I agree that mixing politics and religion can go very, very nasty, the claim that the Christian faith must be limited to private spirituality is incredibly narrow and unbiblical.
   Jesus Christ came to establish a new community in which there is neither slave nor free, Jew nor gentile, male nor female. In Christ Jesus we are one. That is big political implications!
   You only need to read Matthew, Mark and Luke to see how Jesus challenged the political and social hierarchies of his day. The radical community of Christ can’t help but challenge the power structures of our world.
4. So was Pope Francis’ claim about building walls and not bridges really grounds for questioning someone’s Christian faith?
   Well, if Jesus came to establish a new community in whom the old divisions between peoples are broken down, then at the very heart of the Christian faith is reconciliation and love. Walls divide, separate, create otherness. Meanwhile bridges unite, overcome barriers, bring us together.
   Obviously this doesn’t mean all walls are “unChristian” and all bridges are “Christian”! But they are powerful symbols of how humans relate to one another.
   If someone thinks only about building walls, then they are thinking only about dividing, keeping people out (or in), separating, creating suspicion and fear. That is truly the very antithesis of what Jesus came to do.
   I don’t pretend to know all the ins and outs of American politics and immigration issues with Mexico, but I do know that perfect love drives out fear and as followers of Jesus we must commit to this in sphere of life.

I realise my view is but one! What do you think? Was the Pope right to make those comments? What about Trump’s response?

Comment below with your thoughts!