Faith signaling: What you see may not be what you get

Every four years, the light and glory of the Christmas season is followed by the less-edifying (and generally more aggravating) presidential primary election season. Back when I was still a political junkie, I looked forward to the contest — seeing diverse visions for the future openly debated on the national stage was exhilarating and following the “race to the White House” was something many Americans did with a healthy measure of enthusiasm.

There were significant differences between candidates, of course. And the results never pleased everybody. But hardly anyone felt a need to express hatred toward whoever came out on top or the voters who put them there.

All that has changed. The rancor and disrespect of the past few election cycles has turned what was once a noble electoral process — the envy of the whole world — into a grotesque caricature of constitutional self-government. Today’s parties and candidates seem bent on wielding whatever influence they can muster against opponents in brutal and personal ways. Even worse, they do this while claiming to be people of faith animated by family values, or people of compassion moved by justice.

Catholics should not be fooled by cross lapel pins, rosary beads, or attendance at worship services and prayer breakfasts. As the primaries heat up, we should guard ourselves against uncritically supporting candidates who know how to present themselves on the political stage as devout Catholics or concerned Christians. We shouldn’t set ourselves up to be used by anyone in that way.

Faith signaling is no less vacuous than virtue signaling. The externals of political and social theater don’t necessarily indicate anything about the signaler. On the surface, we can’t really know whether what we are seeing is sincere or shrewd. As Jesus cautioned his disciples, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Mt 7:15-16a).

We must remember the words of Christ: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7: 21), and not let our consciences be bamboozled by an actor’s convincing performance. Gullibility isn’t one of the gifts of the Spirit, and prudence is not opposed to charity.

Faith signaling is not a substitute for faith. Not for politicians and not for those of us claiming to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

And we must focus on bringing forth “the fruit in keeping with repentance” John the Baptizer spoke about to those who heard him (Mt 3:8.) That begins when our church communities more deeply and more publicly acknowledge that looking like a devout Catholic is not the same as living like one. After all, God judges our hearts precisely because the externals can be misleading. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus shows us that we are incompetent judges. We cannot judge anyone accurately — not even ourselves. The elite Pharisee had convinced himself that he was righteous because of his deeds. In contrast, the socially reviled tax collector humbled himself, sought the mercy of God and went home justified because of his disposition.

Let us cultivate hearts that seek to continually grow in holiness. While we know that the path is long and arduously slow, the most compelling witness to the saving power of Christ’s death and resurrection is a changed life. None of us ought to remain what we were when he found us — the apostles and saints didn’t! They were transformed by grace, and we should be too.

So much of contemporary politics is framed as a desire for change. But our Catholic faith teaches us that change for its own sake is futile, and that the only authentic change begins internally before it expresses itself externally. So, how should we respond to public signals of faith in this season of presidential politics? Not with cynicism, but most certainly with a winnowing fan in our hands.

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