This may sound like a silly way to start but when I was younger, I always wanted to be either Jewish or Catholic. That was way before I really had any idea of what either of those meant. I grew up in a pretty boring Presbyterian to Baptist to Christian Science (for a very brief time) back to Baptist household; eventually to Assembly of God; which is where I am (sort of) today.
I always felt like we had no tradition in our church. We did the same things every week in exactly the same way, sang the same songs, went through the same routines but it never felt like it meant anything.
I didn’t (knowingly) meet a Catholic until I was in High School. And this changed my mind about being a Catholic. He was rude, profane – in general not someone I wanted to be like and since he was the only one I knew …
Then comes college and I meet and become close friends with someone Jewish. Somehow as different as we were, we always got along and are friends to this day (more than 30 years).
My reasons then and sometimes even now for that youthful desire was for some history, some sense of tradition, some sense of … for lack of a better term; respect.
Both religious traditions seemed to have all of those things going for them, which the protestant churches I belonged to didn’t. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been in some great churches with great ministers, great friends, and in many case those churches provided great support emotionally and morally and spiritually when I needed it. Yet in many cases each of them also disappointed me greatly in those same areas and more.
I’ve seen ministers up close fall into moral dis-repute (so many ways to say sexual sin but maybe that is a new one). I’ve been involved in ministries where “many souls were saved” and yet the same pious folks were so caught up in money or power or something that the “ministry” often became nothing more than a business of souls. No heart.
During all this I’ve probably become more liberal than many of my current AG brethren and sister-en. I have of course met many Catholics and Jewish folks since my high school days. What I’ve learned is that there are a goodly number of nice folks and jerks alike.
Getting back to the Christian to Catholic point of this response, I was in a discussion with a co-worker who once blurted out in a lively discussion “Can a Catholic really be a Christian?” Of course they can. But just like professing to be a Christian doesn’t always make somebody (act like) one , every Catholic is not automatically a Christian either. My belief is simply that espoused in the Gospel of John – we must believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ, the atonement through his blood sacrifice for us and accept that. Beyond agreeing with that core, I’m not going to argue much with you about particulars.
I’m reminded of a cartoon once that had two people sharing their specific doctrinal positions and after agreeing that they shared the same beliefs on everything they got to something like “pre-dispensationalism” or some such heavy duty word I don’t even pretend to understand. At this point they realize they are now on opposite sides of the fence. One turns to the other and says “heretic!”
I’m also reminded of a sermon by Charles Stanley where he drew a circle. Inside the circle were those core things I mentioned earlier that I think are essential to the Christian faith. Then he started listing lots of other things and each time he listed something he made a dot. Each dot was falling outside the circle. His point was that we will disagree on most of those things outside that circle. We need agreement on the core values.
So where am I? Some of the things in the Catholic tradition bother me. But I see all those things as outside the circle. I don’t agree with everything taught in the Assembly of God church I attend. But I doubt I’d agree with everything taught at any church. We have to find a place where we can be challenged, fed spiritually, find like-minded friends and hopefully go out into the world and make a difference.
I don’t think a label makes all that much difference any more. Hundreds of churches now claim no denominational affiliation and many even within my own AG world don’t advertise their affiliation.
I think there is much to be admired in the Catholic tradition. The reverence for the sacraments. I think many of us take them too lightly. The Catholic church’s consistent pro-life stance is to be admired and copied.
There is plenty wrong with fundamentalism, Catholicism and dozens of other –isms. But the problem often rests with those who practice those –isms and take portions (or all) to some extreme.