Saints---Who Really Gets the Right to Name Them?

[HKHaugan]

A disturbing piece of news came out last week that brought to mind something that drove me immediately to consult Scripture. It made headlines in a number of news media. Two former popes were canonized as saints by a new pope. Some speculated that they were chosen because one represented the 'liberal wing' the other the 'conservative wing' of the Church. Be that as it may there is a deeper message coming through and it effects believers everywhere. There is a basic theme that runs through the process---man and his institutions are in control of determining who is good and who is not. It's like we can form a moral 'hall of fame' comprised mostly of former clergy, nuns and monks. They get statues made in their likeness. Churches are named for them and medals worn to observe their piety. They have festal celebrations and children are named after them.

What I am writing here is not an anti-Catholic diatribe. Rather a vaunted institution that has done marvelous things over the centuries exalting man's definitions over God's to encourage believers to emulate them. This in spite of the fact that the posthumous awards recognize many whose faith and humility in Jesus would find them grieved by the process if they were still alive. Even our culture is pockmarked with 'saintly' expressions like the wife who is a saint because she is able to put up with her husband or vice versa or someone is a saint if they handle emotional abuse calmly and so on.

There are seven very distinct reasons for concern. First, it places man's moral authority over that of Holy Scripture. Second, it places one denomination as spiritually and morally superior to others. Third, it places clergy as moral superiors to the laity. Fourth, it denies the equal dignity God intended for every believer. Fifth, it undercuts the security of the believer's confidence in the Cross of Christ as sufficient atonement for personal salvation. Sixth, it offers no support for personal moral confidence that Jesus provides through the Holy Spirit in a personal relationship with Him. Believers are asked to seek a saint's prayers to support theirs. Seventh, canonization is man's invention that leads to the development of a continuing tradition that separates our personal spiritual identity from God's definition.

Holy Scripture is the ultimate authority when it comes to defining what it means to be a saint. Clearly, Paul in his opening remarks to the believers in Rome and Corinth, addresses them as 'hagioi,' saints (Rom.1:7, 1Cor.1:2, 2Cor.1:1, Eph.1:1, Php.1:1). The Greek word 'hagios' means holy. When that word is used of God it means the One who is perfect, pure and complete. When used of humans it means 'holy ones,' those 'set apart to serve God.' Paul calls them 'ambassadors (2Cor.5:20).' Therefore, every one who believes in Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord is by definition, a saint and an ambassador. When someone believes in Jesus they are conscious followers of Jesus, His 'holy ones,' His 'saints.'

In the New Testament all believers make up the Body of Christ which is the holy people of God. In the Body of Christ no one is a moral superior to another. “All have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). There is no one righteous, no not one (Ps.14:3).” There is only one Body in Christ and that is the one made up by those who believe in Jesus, forgiven sinners working out their salvation with fear and trembling (Php.2:12).

There is no denomination in the Body. It is one in Christ. The Body of Christ is those who believe in Jesus beyond their denominational boundaries. No denomination within institutional Christianity has Him locked into their doctrinal structure. No human being has ultimate authority when it comes to moral definition. That belongs to the Lord and His Word alone. No human being has the authority to define what it means to be human, to be moral, to be immoral, to be good, to be evil. Nor can any human being define life's beginning and end. Only God's Word can do that. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit transcend any human structure.

Now, why all this strong concern? To say any less would be to denigrate what God has done through Jesus on the Cross. He has made each believer spiritual, personal and relational. Each has a unique relationship with the Lord that makes them equal in the Lord's eyes and brothers and sisters to one another. To imply that humans can define and spiritually segregate human beings and their morality is to assume divine status. Even the Apostles had questionable pasts when it came to standing up for Jesus before and after the crucifixion. They deserted Him, denied Him and hid in an upper room in fear. Then Paul openly confesses that he considered himself the chiefest of sinners (1Tim.1:15). Never in any of their comments do they consider themselves in any way superior morally or spiritually. In fact it is the Lord's forgiveness and love for them that causes them to humble themselves and seek to lift Him up and serve Him as the complete God and perfect man. Pentecost found them filled with His Holy Spirit who made them 'holy' by His Word for ministry and mission.

It was the gifts of the same Spirit that provided the power and enabled them to build the Body of Christ through leadership, evangelism, teaching, healing, preaching, prophecy and direction. It is the Spirit filled believer who stands out in Scripture and that is the status of every believer in Jesus. Who does Jesus lift up? Perhaps we need to listen to His view like: blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the merciful, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness---do we need to say more (Mt.5:3-13)? Every act of the anonymous believer in history who has made Jesus known through faith and love is saintly. Their names are written in the most important document ever revealed, the Book of Life (Rev.3:5). The old hymn says it so well:

“I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true. One was doctor and one was a queen and one was a shepherdess on the green, they were all of them saints of God and I mean, God helping to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear and His love made them strong, and they followed the right, for Jesus' sake the whole of their good lives long. And one was a soldier and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast: and there's not any reason, no not the least, why I shouldn't be one too.

They lived not only in ages past, there are hundreds of thousands still, the world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus' will. You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea, in church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea. For the saints of God are just folks like me, and I mean to be one too.”