Is it a grave matter to reject the Pope? Is it tantamount to rejection of the Christ and will Jesus Christ reject such a person in response?
To reject Christ’s representatives is, by Christ’s own words, to reject Him. Luke 10:16 makes this point emphatically: “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Likewise, in John 13:20, Christ says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” These verses establish a spiritual continuity between Christ and those He sends. Moreover, 2 Timothy 2:12 warns, “If we disown him, he will also disown us,” emphasizing the danger of cutting oneself off from Christ through rejection.
The question then arises: is the pope one of those Christ has sent in such a direct way? This is where the issue becomes complex. The title “apostle” carried specific qualifications in Scripture. Paul’s apostleship, for example, was rooted in a direct encounter with the risen Christ and accompanied by the visible commendation of God through signs and wonders, with perseverance in mission among those to whom he was sent. Paul was cautious even about church-commissioned sending; in Acts and the epistles, divine affirmation by the Spirit through miraculous means was necessary. Furthermore, Paul did not claim a universal apostleship; he was sent to particular people at particular times. Even when he sent delegates like Timothy, he urged the churches to accept them—authority was not automatic by association alone.
By these standards, the role of pope does not seem to fit the biblical model of an apostle. A pope does not, as a rule, claim to have seen the risen Christ personally, nor is his ministry routinely marked by miraculous signs commending him before the people to whom he is supposedly sent. Nor does Scripture clearly support the notion that apostleship can be transmitted institutionally. Paul's own humility is telling: “It is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” Thus, papal bulls, canon law, or Church tradition cannot alone establish someone as an apostle in the Pauline sense. Apostolic succession may be a framework for continuity of teaching and oversight, but it leaves room for debate, especially regarding its necessity or divine endorsement. If rejecting a pope were the same as rejecting a directly-sent apostle of Christ, this would surely be a matter Christ clarified beyond ambiguity.
The broader matter of authority also must be considered. Scripture teaches submission to legitimate authority. Hebrews 13:17 commands, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls,” but this is written to members of a church, those who willingly place themselves under such leadership. A person is most clearly subject to the pope if they are already within the structure of the Catholic Church—such as bishops, clergy, and lay Catholics who have voluntarily entered that communion. Outside that communion, it is not self-evident that every Christian is bound to recognize the pope’s authority. Historically, there were times when the pope claimed universal jurisdiction over Christendom, but that era has passed with the fragmentation of Christendom and the dissolution of a singular Christian empire.
Submission to authority is still required in the secular realm, however, as Paul wrote in Romans 13:1-2: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.” For most Catholics today, and certainly for non-Catholics, their primary submission in civil matters is to national governments, not to the pope. For some, the pope holds a dual role, also being the head of the Vatican as a sovereign state, which further blurs ecclesial and civil lines of authority.
The rejection of a church leader, however, may signal more than personal disagreement; it can suggest rejection of the church itself. When such a church is truly Christ’s body, containing genuine disciples and manifesting Christ’s presence, then rejection of that church can take on a spiritual gravity. Christ said that whatever is done to His disciples—especially the least among them—is done to Him. So if Christ is evidently at work in a community of believers, filled with His Spirit and shaped by His Word, rejection of their leadership could imply a deeper rejection of Christ Himself. While rejection of dogmas like apostolic succession can be theologically debated, rejection of the living, active presence of Christ in a true church, and by extension of its leadership, becomes a much more serious matter, one that touches on reverence for Christ Himself.
