Because I work at a Christian retail store, when the opportunity arises, I visit other Christian retailers to see what they have to offer that my store might not so that I may refer my guests to them for those needs. Today I visited one of the Roman Catholic stores in town. This was the first time I had been in this specific store, but not the first time I had been in a Roman Catholic store. So, I expected to see the crucifixes, statues and books on uniquely Roman Catholic topics. What I was not prepared to experience was the amount of ornamentation.
The store, which was very large by comparison to not only my store but also to all the other Christian retailers in our metro area, was full of statues of various saints, saint medallions, first communion decorative items–Precious Moments galore–and crucifixes. The store’s selection of Bibles, books and music was anemic, not only in comparison to floor space dedicated to the decorative and ornamental items, but also in comparison to what much smaller stores typically offer. This served to remind me that the Roman Catholic faith is a shallow one. This experience only stressed what I’ve already observed of Roman Catholics who visit my store–unfamiliarity with the Bible, disinterest in exploring their walk with God, supreme interest in appearing religious and practicing the right rituals.
Like some mainline Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic church stresses appearance over substance. The church does not stress to its adherents the reading of the Bible, but rather the rites and rituals of being Catholic. Do not misunderstand me, there will be Roman Catholics in heaven, but they will be there in spite of the Roman Catholic church, not because of it. What a great travesty is being played out on the unaware Roman Catholic idolaters who in earnest worship their saint statues, pray to Mary and wear their good-luck saint charms.
An admission: I have a cross on a wall in my home and a couple of Bible verses on various walls throughout my home. The purposes for this ornamentation is to help me remember on whom I should be focused–God–and to encourage me in my daily walk. I also recently started wearing a cross, which is actually a conversation starter for evangelism. If the reasons for the Roman Catholic ornamentation are similar, then my apologies, but for most Roman Catholics I have seen no evidence of any further depth to the faith than symbolism.
I have an acquaintance who is Roman Catholic, about whom I can say that the foregoing is not true. His faith I have witnessed to be genuine and deep. While he admits that some of his thoughts are not in-line with Roman Catholic dogma, he still feels deeply connected to the Roman Catholic church. So it is obvious that some Roman Catholics, regardless of the damage done by the Roman Catholic church, do have a significant walk with God.
Beyond the idolatry though, there is great concern over the Roman Catholic doctrine of works, specifically that works are required for salvation. There could be no greater error in understanding salvation than to think that any path, especially one we work for ourselves, will lead to salvation, other than the final atoning sacrifice made by Christ on the cross.
In the past few decades there has been less interest among Protestant denominations in discussing the errors in Roman Catholic doctrine, and more interest in embracing Roman Catholics as brothers and sisters of the faith. While we should embrace them in Christ’s love, we should also in that love exhort them to find truth in the Bible, and repent of the idolatry.
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