EVANGELICALS + DEVOUT CATHOLICS = AMERICA’S HOPE
J. Grant Swank, Jr.
What do Protestant evangelicals and devout Roman Catholics have in common?
It is Christ. Christ as God is the foundation upon with both base their entire lives.
I as an evangelical Protestant minister often attend morning Mass at a Catholic sanctuary several minutes from my home. While there I hear Scripture, enter into prayer, heed prayer requests from parishioners and listen to a homily that provides daily devotions for my soul.
There are some Protestants who simply will not enter into a Catholic worship context. There are usually theological differences that block those Protestants from entering a Catholic Church.
It is the same with some Catholics. There are traditional Catholics who have been taught not to worship with Protestants and so they don’t.
However, knowing the theological differences between the two groups, I still know what it is that draws me to a Catholic worship. It is primarily the high regard for Christ as God. With that as my base line for Christian doctrine, I worship and so am spiritually fed.
(On the other hand, if I were to know that the nearby Catholic Church was delinquent concerning allegiance to the Bible as God’s Word or compromising morally with Christian ethics, I would never attend it. The same goes for worshiping in a theologically liberal and morally compromising Protestant sanctuary.)
I often think that many more Protestants and Roman Catholics would benefit in soul if they put aside what they know to be legitimate doctrinal disagreements. They do not need to compromise one of those disagreements. All they need to do is be true to the differences while at the same time being true to worshiping Christ as God.
The facts are that there are numerous doctrinal disagreements within Protestantism. For instance, there are those who believe in eternal security, that is, that one cannot lose his salvation. There are those vehemently in disagreement with those espousing eternal security. The same can be said for predestination and speaking in tongues. And so one could add to the list.
However, when evangelist Dr. Billy Graham begins a weeklong crusade, one can count on all stripes of Protestants to be there. Those same Protestants represent all the differences in doctrine that can be found within Protestantism.
In fact, one can count on Roman Catholics to be there, including some of their clergy. That means that those Catholics along with the Protestants worship Christ as God under one roof, in one splendid worshiping event.
Therefore, I have come to the encouraging conclusion that these evangelical Protestants and devout Roman Catholics are the backbone for spiritual support in America.
Both groups hold not only to Christ the Savior as God, but also regard the Bible as divine revelation, believe that salvation is through the sacrificial death of Christ upon Calvary, hold to a heaven and hell, a devil, sin, and the need for sincere repentance of sin in order to discover divine mercy.
That is quite a common Christian doctrinal baseline by which the Holy Spirit then honors those who cling to such a stalwart faith. After all, it is this Holy Spirit who will or will not bless a nation, all according to the inhabitants’ obedience or lack of regarding the Lord’s commandments inscribed in Holy Scriptures.
Both evangelical Protestants and devout Roman Catholics seek daily to live out their witness. They are not fly-by-nights. They are real life, real time believers who take their surrender to Christ seriously. They would live or die for the cause of Christ.
They are not hesitant to commit themselves therefore to the social-moral issues that are endorsed by Scriptures; therefore, these believers are pro-life, pro-biblical definition of marriage and family life as well as sexuality.
They are for uplifting the fallen, caring for the sick, taking in the lonely, befriending the forsaken, and testifying to the saving grace of Christ as God.
The United States will continue to be as strong as these two groups of believers. It will grow weak as these two groups diminish or whittle away at their beliefs and convictions in everyday living.
What do Protestant evangelicals and devout Roman Catholics have in common?
It is Christ. Christ as God is the foundation upon with both base their entire lives.
I as an evangelical Protestant minister often attend morning Mass at a Catholic sanctuary several minutes from my home. While there I hear Scripture, enter into prayer, heed prayer requests from parishioners and listen to a homily that provides daily devotions for my soul.
There are some Protestants who simply will not enter into a Catholic worship context. There are usually theological differences that block those Protestants from entering a Catholic Church.
It is the same with some Catholics. There are traditional Catholics who have been taught not to worship with Protestants and so they don’t.
However, knowing the theological differences between the two groups, I still know what it is that draws me to a Catholic worship. It is primarily the high regard for Christ as God. With that as my base line for Christian doctrine, I worship and so am spiritually fed.
(On the other hand, if I were to know that the nearby Catholic Church was delinquent concerning allegiance to the Bible as God’s Word or compromising morally with Christian ethics, I would never attend it. The same goes for worshiping in a theologically liberal and morally compromising Protestant sanctuary.)
I often think that many more Protestants and Roman Catholics would benefit in soul if they put aside what they know to be legitimate doctrinal disagreements. They do not need to compromise one of those disagreements. All they need to do is be true to the differences while at the same time being true to worshiping Christ as God.
The facts are that there are numerous doctrinal disagreements within Protestantism. For instance, there are those who believe in eternal security, that is, that one cannot lose his salvation. There are those vehemently in disagreement with those espousing eternal security. The same can be said for predestination and speaking in tongues. And so one could add to the list.
However, when evangelist Dr. Billy Graham begins a weeklong crusade, one can count on all stripes of Protestants to be there. Those same Protestants represent all the differences in doctrine that can be found within Protestantism.
In fact, one can count on Roman Catholics to be there, including some of their clergy. That means that those Catholics along with the Protestants worship Christ as God under one roof, in one splendid worshiping event.
Therefore, I have come to the encouraging conclusion that these evangelical Protestants and devout Roman Catholics are the backbone for spiritual support in America.
Both groups hold not only to Christ the Savior as God, but also regard the Bible as divine revelation, believe that salvation is through the sacrificial death of Christ upon Calvary, hold to a heaven and hell, a devil, sin, and the need for sincere repentance of sin in order to discover divine mercy.
That is quite a common Christian doctrinal baseline by which the Holy Spirit then honors those who cling to such a stalwart faith. After all, it is this Holy Spirit who will or will not bless a nation, all according to the inhabitants’ obedience or lack of regarding the Lord’s commandments inscribed in Holy Scriptures.
Both evangelical Protestants and devout Roman Catholics seek daily to live out their witness. They are not fly-by-nights. They are real life, real time believers who take their surrender to Christ seriously. They would live or die for the cause of Christ.
They are not hesitant to commit themselves therefore to the social-moral issues that are endorsed by Scriptures; therefore, these believers are pro-life, pro-biblical definition of marriage and family life as well as sexuality.
They are for uplifting the fallen, caring for the sick, taking in the lonely, befriending the forsaken, and testifying to the saving grace of Christ as God.
The United States will continue to be as strong as these two groups of believers. It will grow weak as these two groups diminish or whittle away at their beliefs and convictions in everyday living.
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