Mark Wahlberg and the Sticky Wicket of Evangelization

Come sit in my living room...

Last week, I shared a post from Scott Hahn that featured an image of Mark Wahlberg standing behind a podium with a large crucifix. Above the image was an inspiring quote about his devotion to the Eucharist and the Mass. I typically wouldn’t share a post by a celebrity, especially a Catholic who lives inconsistently with his profession of faith. As a rule, I do not fangirl, and I am particular about sharing posts that can confuse others. Nevertheless…

I was inspired by the quote and moved by the fact that Marky Mark, of all people, has such discipline in this area of his life. In the early 90s, I saw him perform at a local venue. Not much praying going on that day! Arena of faithless, rudderless people seeking some kind of communion in places of desolation. So the quote struck me. And I posted the following… (photo)

I’m well aware of his inconsistencies and also of my own. I admire that he perseveres and that he expresses it in a world that is much less accepting than my own supportive bubble. Dr. Hahn’s Let all the faithful say, Amen! was a perfect summary of my own heartfelt response. And Thanks, Mark simple and fitting gratitude to a brother in Christ.

A Fair Objection

What happened next is understandable to a degree. I did share the quote of a man who openly dissents from Catholic moral teachings, promotes political platforms that I vehemently oppose, and makes movies where he canoodles with women who aren’t his wife for money and entertainment. So I can’t really blame people for being quick to point out the problem here…

This guy is not to be commended. He’s actually pretty bad news. By posting, you are contributing to the problem.

One man unfriended me because he thinks this proves I’m just another mouthpiece of the corrupt institutional infiltrators, pushing mediocrity, heresy, and a false sense of charity. Those of you who know me might get a chuckle out of that one. Not because I’m holy, but because I’m mouthy and not known for ignoring institutional abuses. But the internet narrative for any one of us shifts like sand. We are heroes today and savages the next. Anyway…

The objection comes from a place of both love and fear. I understand. We want to protect those we love. We know how easy it is to lose faith. We want to honor the Lord and defend truth. And somewhere in there is the hope of evangelizing men like Mark Wahlberg, but at the risk of making him target rather than brother. It’s all tricky. So let’s sit down…

Come sit in my living room

I thought about deleting my FB post to avoid confusion but settled on keeping it up. I don’t think sharing was wrong, only a matter of prudential judgement, which varies according to audience and purpose and perspective. My error was not in celebrating the words of a man who is striving imperfectly, but of sharing in a community which lacks the nuance and relational context of my living room.

If the people most upset with me were at my house for dinner, the conversation would have gone differently. We would have discussed the pros and cons of the public sharing like mature adults. Maybe it would get lively. Would a friend in my living room have accused me of “hero worship” or “swooning” over celebrities? I doubt it, simply because it’s such an obviously ridiculous assertion. Or if they had, it would have been born of passionate gum flapping and would have ultimately been modified in the course of discussion. Maybe with a belly laugh or two.

Best case scenario is if Wahlberg would also be in the living room for a generous, lively, and charitable discussion of life and faith. Without that, we are left only with remaining silent or talking about someone who has to sit on the virtual periphery and work it out in their own bubble.

At a certain point, we have to trust that God is involved. If He is, then we can let go of our death grip of control over evangelization. If He isn’t, well, it’s all futile anyway.

When we “evangelize” and defend the faith with ad hominem and emotionalism, we don’t end up drawing people to Christ with the Gospel message… only hammering them into submission (or out the door) with our aggression. That’s not the way.

Hey Brother…

Mark Wahlberg is a public figure with the ability to lead others into greatness or into poverty of spirit. My first response to those accusing me of elevating a bad man was to say “He is not a catechist, he is a brother in Christ. I’m not elevating a teacher in faith, I’m commending what is laudable in the man.”

That is not fully accurate. We are all teachers. We are all leaders in some capacity and some have a very big platform. We testify with our lives. He is responsible for his testimony. So I could have clarified better. But goodness… don’t the disclaimers get tedious? And aren't we all adults?

My tendency is to champion the striving underdog rather than to promote someone already on the mountain top. If I saw a Hollywood celebrity walking down my street, I think I would walk the other way just to be contrary. Just today I asked FB to “hide” all ads from Bishop Barron. That was only 3 days after I shared the post about a Catholic celebrity who is in open dissent but rocks a good Eucharist quote. Perhaps I’m just perverse in that way. Or maybe it’s a result of the grief of having seen so many great men fall and the eye opening joy of seeing many lepers healed…

• One great Catholic is put on a pedestal much too tall for any man… and falls.

• Another lousy Catholic inches his way forward with discipline and openness.

They may both gain or lose salvation. We will not know the full story of any man in our lifetime. The great cardinals of the Church are my brothers. Wahlberg is my brother. And in spite of my initial desire to expunge my post from the internet in order to avoid more conflict and to ease the conflict in myself over what ought to and ought not to be done…

I let it stand. Because it is fruitful to have the discussion.

Peddling Rot

Some people “follow” me online because they like that I do not tread lightly around the corruption in the Church. It is confusing in these times to find mentors and teachers who will not betray Christ and lie to us and deceive our children, so I am not shy about calling out the vipers who wear the garments of faith… or the poorly formed and wounded who are swept up in emotional rhetoric and become tools of malice.

Call ourselves Catholics and peddle rot? Well, we are all fair game for the scalpel of correction. Praise the Lord.

One of the most difficult aspects of engaging in public dialogue is discerning what is a personal attack and what is a discussion of ideas; learning over and over again the error of attacking people instead of ideas and forgetting that the person on the other side is sitting on a sofa in our virtual living room.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t ever use strong language to denounce what is evil (it can get pretty heated around here) but we should be able to discern when to set boundaries, when to shake the dust from our feet, when to point a finger at a public figure in order to protect the vulnerable, when to shut up, and how to do those things with a Christ-like spirit.

Anger can be righteous. Public rebuke can be necessary. And on the other side of things… There is a place for taking delight in the smallest movements of grace in the life of our brothers and sisters. And in our own lives. We are also the walking wounded, the poor, the scandalous, aren’t we?

As a mother, I feel this in particular. I grieve over the missteps of my children and I speak when I ought. But I also look for the smallest reason to rejoice and to commend…

Let our public testimony be dominated by hope and uplifting of others. If the Church is full of nothing but aggression, we might never have the courage to take off our shield of false piety and do the deep work. The Church should be respite for the embattled soul. This is nuanced and difficult but something we need to constantly pray about and work toward.

I hope Mark Wahlberg’s new movie gives glory to God (I did get teary-eyed watching the trailer) but I can’t and won’t recommend any of his others. If he was in my living room today maybe we could talk about all of it. Talk about Paul and Peter and the others. Men who fell and fell and fell… and died to everything… but rose up by the grace of God to find themselves giants.

But on the other hand, God doesn’t need me for that. He’s already working.

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“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give you light.”

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. ~Eph. 5

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