Being More than a Card-Carrying Catholic

Jerry, a Protestant friend (and former Asbury Seminary professor of mine) is a little annoyed that some of his former evangelical students and/or colleagues have become Catholic. He recently remarked in a Facebook post, “It is too bad Roman Catholics are not more interested in converting people to Jesus than they are in converting people who already love Jesus to Rome.”

Knowing him as I do, part of his frustration is driven by the large chip on his shoulder about the claims of Catholicism to be the “one true church,” as he sarcastically puts it. Nevertheless, he makes a point that should challenge us in our call to evangelization.  

 In the past, I have written about  so-called gospel “reductions,” impoverished substitutes for the good news of Jesus Christ and his saving love. One such reduction is Christianity as outward discipline, exterior practice devoid of interior transformation, lived only as a moral and ritualistic code. Another reduction is Christianity as right knowledge, in which the information about theology, spirituality, liturgy, etc. becomes an end in itself rather than a path toward a deeper intimacy with Jesus.

  Jerry’s critique serves to warn us of another dangerous reduction; the Gospel as right pedigree, the idea that simply being a card-carrying Catholic is the goal of the Christian life. This reduction can manifest itself primarily in two ways. The first manifestation is evidenced by the prevalence of nominal Catholics who find a false sense of security in their religious identity.

  Several times a year, headlines refer to the latest survey of beliefs and practices among self-professed Catholics, and the numbers are never good, with a majority of Catholics either not attending Mass weekly or rejecting dogmatic Church teaching regarding the moral life, or even the real presence of Christ the Eucharist.

  Every Catholic, whether cradle or convert, should heed John the Baptist’s rebuke to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9).

  The second manifestation of the “Gospel as right pedigree” reduction is more common among converts and reverts to the faith, i.e. those who know why they are Catholic, and are passionate about it. We are the ones who can be most guilty of the reduced evangelization that sees becoming Catholic as the end goal of our mission to those outside the Church.

  I speak from some experience here. My first great conversion was to a living faith in Jesus Christ as a 16 year old in 1982, an encounter with God that forever changed the arc of my life. My second great conversion (besides the ongoing conversions that should mark our growth in holiness) was to Christ’s Church, as a 39 year old in 2005.

   Having been an evangelical Protestant Christian for most of my life, the majority of my friendships at the time I became Catholic were with other evangelical Protestants, who then became the targets for hearing about my second conversion to the Catholic Church. And as you might expect, a former Protestant can be even more obnoxious than a former smoker.

   Of course, there is nothing wrong with wanting everyone to be in communion with the Church founded by Christ upon the apostles, and which represents the fullness of the Christian faith. I used to see myself as a “Christian who happens to be a Methodist,” but as a Catholic my church identity is no longer peripheral, for Christ cannot be separated from his Church.

   Furthermore, all those who are saved are saved through the Catholic Church—whether they know it or not—and the graces of the Church’s sacramental economy, especially the Eucharistic encounter, supply the best help that exists on the path to knowing and loving Jesus.

   But the point of evangelization is not simply becoming Catholic, and on this point, my friend Jerry is worth hearing. For if we’re not careful, our evangelization, which is meant to proclaim Christ’s saving love, can devolve into apologetic debates about Catholicism that are more motivated by a desire to “win” and self-validation than to lead someone to knowing Jesus.