We may well know people who are professing Roman Catholics. They may be friends, colleagues, family members, neighbours.
They may be practicing or just nominal. They may be disconnected from their church or serious about their loyalty to it. They may be interested in starting a ‘spiritual’ conversation or indifferent towards religious things. They may be consistent with what they profess to believe or have their own ‘fruit salad’ type of belief system where elements of Roman Catholicism are combined with Eastern religions or secular practices. That is to say that Roman Catholics can be very different people. How can we communicate the gospel to them?
Lessons I’ve learned
Here are two tips (with two more coming in my next article) which could be of some help in engaging Roman Catholics with the gospel. They are neither a four-step process nor a recipe for success. Rather, they are lessons that I have learned over the years in sharing the gospel with Roman Catholics.
Practical Tip #1: Don’t assume or rely on common language.
Roman Catholics share much of our vocabulary, but they understand it differently. For example, if you think of words such as salvation, cross, sin, and grace, they are all the same terms that the Bible uses, but Roman Catholics understand them very differently. Salvation is thought of as an open-ended process where our works and the merits we gain are necessary for it to be received. The cross is understood more as the Eucharist celebrated by the priest than the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. Sin is seen more as a sickness than spiritual death. We could go on and on. The point is that the same words have different meanings.
Instead of relying on an alleged common ground (that is more rhetorical than real), let the Bible define your language and lead your conversation: engage your Roman Catholic friends in Bible reading, Bible study and Bible conversations as much as possible. Don’t approach them with an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ attitude, but invite them to be exposed to Scripture and pray that the Holy Spirit will open their hearts.
There may be ‘fears’ of the Bible as a ‘dangerous’ book (remember that the Bible was a forbidden book for Catholics up to 60 years ago) and ‘scepticism’ around it (absorbed via modern critical readings) as if it were an obscure book, but the word of God is powerful to break through into people’s hearts.
Practical Tip #2: Be prepared to wrestle with the exclusive nature of the gospel.
As you read or share Scripture together with your Catholic friends, all kinds of interesting conversations will come up. Usually, they will revolve around the sharp edges of the gospel.
For example, Roman Catholics may have a high respect for the Bible, but for them it’s not the ultimate authority. When confronted with something the Bible says that contradicts what their church teaches, they will rather question the authority of Scripture than the authority of the Roman Church. Moreover, Roman Catholics do commend believing in Jesus, but faith in Christ is not sufficient to be saved: something more needs to be done by men and women. Additionally, Roman Catholics often show a kind of love for Christ, but they also rely on other sub-mediators (e.g. Mary, the saints) who detract attention from Him. In other words, what is at stake with them is the rejection of the Scripture Alone, Faith Alone and Christ Alone principles of the Biblical faith.
The issues at stake are not so much faith in general or grace in general. They are part of the Roman Catholic vocabulary as generic names. It is when faith is understood Biblically as the only means to receive God’s salvation, and grace is understood Biblically as the only ground to be saved, that the difference will be seen. Be sure to clearly present the ‘faith alone’ and ‘grace alone’ teaching of the gospel.
