Harrison Butker's Viral Commencement Speech & Christian Parents
Butker boldly encouraged his audience to be authentic and unapologetic about their Roman Catholic (RC) faith and the beliefs and practices that flow from it. I have nothing personal against RCs. In fact, several of them have blessed my life in huge ways through their writings, among them J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, and John of Damascus. I know RCs who are devout and respectable conscientious people of faith in Jesus Christ. I certainly respect the spiritual discipline of many.
However, despite widespread RC claims to be the original church, I'm convinced Roman Catholicism clings to vital truth mixed with well-intentioned but unbiblical teachings and practices that developed over centuries of drift in the Christian church that began as early as the mid-1st Century AD (see 1 Tim. 4:1–5). Notably, the apostle Paul spent the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians developing the doctrinal bases of Christian unity which comes to a climax in 4:6 where he says, "I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another" (ESV). A key thread in the doctrine is the role of leaders in maintaining Christian unity. Paul forbids going "beyond what is written" in our relationships to each other in the church, including our leaders. There is no way to justify the hierarchical structure of Roman Catholicism with its pope, cardinals, bishops, and priests—all separate clergy from the majority laity—without looking to sources of authority "beyond what is written." All baptized believers are priests and priestesses under the high priesthood of Christ (1 Pet. 2:5, 9), and though we don't all have the same roles or ministries, none are more priestly than others. The doctrine of separate clergy and laity in the church is not apostolic. Therefore the RC is not practicing the Faith consistent with the idea of being the "one holy catholic and apostolic church." RC doctrine must be resisted and corrected by Christians with a better understanding of Scripture. I pray my RC friends can receive this, abandon the errors of that institution, and will that it "die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large; for there is but one body, and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling."
Nevertheless, I agree with Butker's sentiment. One of the most vital needs in today's reawakening church that has largely been "asleep in Zion" for a generation while the West crumbled and the East languished in slavery is restored dedication to the original truths and nature of the Faith. We need to "seek the ancient paths" (Jer. 6:16) to rediscover the universally powerful and effective practicality and simplicity of the one Faith as preached by the apostles. Harrison said, "As members of the church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and, ultimately, privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic." As long as we define the word "catholic" in its original sense (as referring to the one, universal church and not the unscriptural Roman institution), I agree. But what he meant was "Roman Catholic," mistakenly believing it to be the church founded by Jesus when it is actually the result of what were centuries of slow drift away from the church Jesus founded. You don't need to be a church historian to prove this to yourself. Just read the New Testament and see if you can find all RC doctrines. You can't, and as shown above, you'll find RC doctrine contradicts it in some instances.
The word of God is the seed of the church (Luke 8:11), not the other way around, as many RCs claim. The Word gave the church the completed Bible long before the original catholic church was misled by the bishop of Rome. I mean nothing but love here, but love "does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth" (1 Cor. 13:6). We must teach this to our children! For what you deem it worth, here's how I would word the statement: "As members of the church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and, ultimately, privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Christian."
Butker criticized voices from within Christianity, especially from compromised and cowardly “leaders” who urge Christians to be silent about the sins of the world around us and go along to get along. He said, “The cultural elite want to see... Christianity private, hidden away, and harmless.” This is true, and an important statement. Jesus wasn’t silent about sin, and though merciful towards sinners, He never did and never will go along to get along. Neither can His people. One of the most difficult tasks Christian parents have is training their children to stand up for the truth without becoming proud (1 Cor. 8:1; 1 Pet. 5:5–6), discourteous (Titus 3:2), or quarrelsome (2 Tim. 2:24), and so fall into the condemnation of late 1st Century Ephesus (Rev. 2:1–7).
Attempting this was a prayerful journey of trial and error and numerous course corrections for my wife and me as we raised our boys. Thankfully, by God's grace, they are both now grown men, sound in the Faith and full of love for God and His truth. Both are active in the church and one is in vocational ministry serving a local church. We will never cease praying for their growth, and now that one of our sons is married and raising our first grandchild, personal concern for yet another generation has been added to our prayers and work.
Christian parents and all our allied brothers and sisters in Christ, as we teach our children the truth and explain that many in the world have been misled and need correction, many times, they will naturally start engaging their peers at school and in their neighborhoods, and the discussions can get hostile. Don't be hard on a kid trying to preach the word and defend the Faith if he makes mistakes in the process of learning. We all do! Correct their mistakes with a compliment for the effort and encourage them to keep on with what they're doing. In most cases, they'll figure it out after a few failures. Above all, make sure your children know it is our duty to preach the gospel to every person whether they want to hear it or not (Mark 16:15). The will of the King will be heard even if disobeyed!
Summarizing, Butker made six points that are worthy of consideration. As mentioned, (1) he urged bold and unapologetic faithfulness to original Christianity as he understood it. (2) He stressed the importance of living out one's vocation, particularly highlighting the significance of vocations as married individuals and their corresponding roles within the family. (3) He criticized modern Church leaders for lacking courage and boldness to teach and uphold these things. (4) He affirmed the need to restore traditional roles and values that rebellious culture has attacked relentlessly for decades, and, in so doing, he highly praised the roles of wives and mothers. (5) He expressed concern about modern cultural norms and pushed back against compromising Christian beliefs with those of the rebellious world. Finally, (6) he called on men to take responsibility in their homes and communities, asserting that their leadership is crucial for societal stability. Every believer should agree with and affirm all six points when they're correctly interpreted.
Many people, including, sadly, many Christians, live unaware of the spiritual war raging among us. They are still "asleep in Zion." Paul's admonition is appropriate, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Eph. 5:14). The Lord's admonition to the Twelve is just as appropriate: "Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together" (John 4:35–36). There are spiritual forces of wickedness (Eph. 6:12) that work in our world through politics, media, false religion, and individual rebellion against God. Just because we can't see them with our eyes doesn't mean they aren't real and a serious threat. They seek death and eternal ruin for every one of us and our children and the long continuation of the world’s resistance to the will of God because that is the only thing keeping them from their final destruction in hell (Matt. 25:41; 2 Pet. 3:11–12). There is, however, something we can do about it.
We must boldly embrace, practice, and proclaim original Christianity. That means pure biblical Christianity, not something mixed with centuries of church tradition. We must teach our children what Scripture says about faith in Christ and what obedience to Him really looks like, including how to establish and organize churches everywhere in the world. We must warn our children against the teaching of Cultural Relativism, which they will encounter in public schools and many private ones and likely even some homeschool curricula.
Remember Ephesians 4:4–5! "There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Look up the word "accursed" in the ESV or NKJV New Testament and reverently orient your family's mind around the one system of truth as taught in the Bible. The Bible is the truth (John 17:17). When push comes to shove, it's the only stable source of truth in this life. We judge everything by it. Whatever actually contradicts it is unquestionably wrong.
All Scripture quotations are from the ESV unless otherwise noted.
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