Apologetics for the Masses - Issue #208

General Comments

Hey folks, I want to tell you about a website that a friend of mine runs. It is: www.rcspiritualdirection.com. It’s run by Dan Burke who is the top dog over at the National Catholic Register. If you’ve ever been interested in spiritual direction, they have lots and lots of excellent resources for you at this site. Maybe you have a spiritual director, or maybe you’ve wanted one but don’t know how to go about the process, or you are just looking for some resources that will help you grow closer to God…you need to check out this site.

Introduction

Okay, this week I am going to share with you a talk I gave at a recent men’s conference here in the Diocese of Birmingham. I was the “warm up” act for Tim Staples and Curtis Martin, and I only had about 15 minutes. So, I gave a truncated version of the talk I’m going to be giving this Wednesday night at my parish – St. Peter the Apostle in Hoover, AL. The talk is entitled, “Does God Want Everyone to Be Catholic?” I am getting it recorded in audio and video, so I will let everyone know when it, and the talks on the following two Wednesday nights, are available.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Good evening. I want to start off tonight by asking you a question. A question that I hope will make you think a bit. I believe it to be a very, very important question. And please, don’t answer out loud, just think about it – here’s the question: Does God want everyone…to be Catholic? Think about that for a minute or two.

Does God want everyone to be Catholic? I am willing to bet, for many of you, that question has never ever entered your mind. But it needs to, because it is such an important question. The answer to that question will determine some very important things.

And, I know there are some folks here tonight who are not Catholic, and I don’t want to exclude you, so I want you to think about that question in terms of your faith tradition. Does God want everyone to be Baptist, or Evangelical, or Methodist, or Episcopalian, or whatever your particular faith tradition is?

So, even though I am focusing tonight on the Catholic Faith, because the majority of folks here tonight are Catholic, I invite you to focus that question on your particular faith tradition.

Now, why is this such an important question? Well, we can see why by examining the possible answers and seeing what ramifications each one of those answers holds. There are only two possible answers: “Yes,” God wants everyone to be Catholic; or, “No,” God does not want everyone to be Catholic.

First, let’s look at what it means to answer that question in the positive: Yes, God wants everyone to be Catholic. I believe, personally, the answer to that question is indeed, yes…I believe that God does indeed want everyone to be Catholic. That’s why I do what I do! And I think it is imperative that every Catholic should believe that. And, again, not to leave anyone out, I think it imperative that every Baptist, Methodist, Evangelical, etc. should believe that God wants everyone to be a member of their faith tradition.

Why?! Why do I say that? I say that, because truth matters. If you believe you have the truth, then wouldn’t God want everyone else to have that same truth? The Bible tells us that Jesus established a church. And what does the Bible tell us about the Church founded by Jesus Christ? In 1 Tim 3:15, the Bible tells us that this Church is the pillar and ground of the truth. In other words, it is the upholder and foundation of the truth. The Bible also tells us, in Ephesians 1:23, that this Church founded by Jesus Christ is the Body of Christ and is the “fullness of Him Who fills all in all.” The Church is the fullness of Jesus Christ – the Bible is very clear on that. And Jesus Christ says in John 14:6 that He is the truth. So, if the Church is the fullness of Jesus Christ, as the Bible says, and Jesus Christ is the truth, as the Bible says, then the Church founded by Jesus Christ contains the fullness of the truth that has been given to us by Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the Bible tells us, in John 16:13, that Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to guide His Church into all truth.

So, this Church that the Bible tells us was founded by Jesus Christ; this Church that the Bible tells us is the pillar and ground – the upholder and foundation – of the truth; this Church that the Bible tells us is the fullness of Jesus Christ – the fullness of the truth; this Church that the Bible tells us is guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth; this Church must teach us what?! Error?! No! This Church must teach us truth…it cannot teach us error. The Church founded by Jesus Christ must teach the truth…the fullness of the truth. It cannot teach error!

Does God want everyone to be Catholic? As I just mentioned, the Church founded by Jesus Christ contains the fullness of the truth that He has made known to us about Himself. What does the Catholic Church claim about itself? Well, it claims that it contains the fullness of the truth given to us by Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that the Church founded by Jesus Christ contains the fullness of the truth, and here is the Catholic Church claiming to contain the fullness of the truth, and claiming to have been founded directly by Jesus Christ. If whatever church you are in doesn’t at least claim these things for itself, then you have some thinking and praying to do.

And, as a Catholic, I believe what my Church teaches about itself. If I didn’t, why would I be Catholic? But, even if the Catholic Church is right, and it is the Church founded by Jesus Christ, and it does contain the fullness of the truth as given to us by Jesus Christ, does that necessarily mean that God wants everyone to be Catholic? Well, in 1 Tim 2:4, the Bible says this, “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” God DESIRES that all men come to the knowledge of the truth, the Bible tells us, and if the fullness of the truth resides in the Catholic Church, then it does indeed follow that God DESIRES all men to come to the Catholic Church, where the fullness of truth resides.

Now, do you understand the ramifications of answering, “Yes,” to the question of whether or not God wants everyone to be Catholic? If God wants everyone to be Catholic, so that they can share in the fullness of the truth that is Jesus Christ, what does that mean for you? It means you’ve got to get into the game, gentlemen! We can no longer be content with thinking something like, “Well, my son – or daughter, or brother or sister, etc. – is no longer Catholic, but it’s okay, because at least he’s still going to a Christian church.” No! Your son or daughter or whoever does not currently have the fullness of the truth. And Scripture says, in John 8:32, “And you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free!”

Your son no longer receives the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. And Scripture says, in John 6:54, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” God wants your son to be Catholic…God wants your son to share in the fullness of the truth that is Jesus Christ…God wants your son to receive Him in the Eucharist. What are you going to do about it?!

And we can no longer be content with thinking about a friend or a co-worker, “You know, Jim’s a good guy, he loves the Lord, it doesn’t really matter if he’s not Catholic.” It doesn’t really matter if he doesn’t have the fullness of the truth? It doesn’t really matter if he doesn’t receive Christ in the Eucharist? It doesn’t really matter if he doesn’t receive the graces of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and of all the other Sacraments? If Jim is such a good guy without the fullness of the truth, imagine what kind of incredibly holy guy he could be with the fullness of truth! God wants Jim to be Catholic…God wants Jim to share in the fullness of the truth that is Jesus Christ…what are you going to do about it?!

The truth matters, gentlemen. And we need to respond accordingly. God is counting on us to spread the Word. God is counting on us to share the truths of the Catholic Faith with those around us.

This is why, if you are Baptist you should believe that God wants everyone to be Baptist. Or if you are Evangelical, you should believe that God wants everyone to be Evangelical. And the same is true no matter your particular faith tradition. Because the truth matters. Why are you Baptist? I assume you are Baptist because you believe the Baptist faith has the fullness of the truth. If it does, wouldn’t God want everyone to share in that truth? Why are you Evangelical? I assume it’s because you believe the Evangelical faith tradition has the fullness of the truth. If it does, wouldn’t God want everyone to share in that truth. The same is true whether you are Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian or whatever your particular faith tradition – if you believe it has the fullness of the truth, then you should believe that God wants everyone to share that same fullness of the truth.

Now, let’s look at the ramifications of answering in the negative: “No,” God does not want everyone to be Catholic. If you are a Catholic, and you answer, “No,” to that question, then you are, in essence, saying that truth doesn’t matter. Think about it. Your Church has the fullness of the truth given to us by Jesus Christ, but you don’t think it’s all that important that other people have that truth. As it says in John 8:32, “You will know the truth and nobody else really needs to.” No! “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” God wants everyone to know the truth and to be set free.

Or, maybe you believe the Catholic Church is wrong when it says that it contains the fullness of the truth. Maybe you believe your church could well be wrong here or there in some of its teachings. If that’s what you believe, then why are you Catholic? Why would you attend a church that you believe could be, and probably is, teaching error in one or more ways? If you believe the church you belong to – whether you’re Catholic, or Baptist, or Methodist, or Evangelical, or whatever – if you do not believe that your church has the fullness of the truth; or you believe that it could possibly be teaching error in one or more instances, then as I’ve just shown from the Bible, you do not belong to the Church founded by Jesus Christ, because the Church founded by Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit does not teach error, period! Jesus’ Church will not lead you astray…ever! Jesus’ Church is the pillar and ground of the truth! Jesus’ Church is the fullness of Jesus Christ Who is the Truth! Jesus’ Church is guided by the Spirit of Truth into all truth! Jesus’ Church does not teach error!

So, whether Catholic or not, if you believe the answer to the question, “Does God want everyone to be Catholic?” – or to be a member of your particular faith tradition – is “No,” then you have a lot of soul searching to do and a lot of praying to do, because you are in the wrong place and you need to go looking for that church that is the “fullness of Him Who fills all in all.”

This is why the question: Does God want everyone to be Catholic? Is such an important question. Whether your answer is, “Yes,” or “No,” it requires something of you. It requires you to leave your comfort zone and do something. Either to reach out with the truth to those around you if you answered “Yes,” or to go looking for that church that contains the fullness of the truth if you answer “No.” There has to be a church out there that contains the fullness of the truth. If your church isn’t it, then you need to start looking for the church that is.

Now, let’s say that you’re convicted that the Catholic Church does indeed contain the fullness of the truth that is Jesus Christ and you believe that God wants everyone to be Catholic – what do you do? First of all, you pray. Then, you get to Confession. Then you start learning more about your faith. In other words, the first person you evangelize is yourself. And one of the best ways to do that is to get involved with a men’s group at your parish. If there isn’t already one, then start one. And, there is information in those books you’ve received about a men’s group – the Men of St. Joseph – that is a very easy type of group to start. Everything you need to start one of these groups can be found on the Men of St. Joseph website – menofstjoseph.com.

After you get hooked up with a men’s group at your parish, or even while you’re in the process, start learning more about your faith and about how to talk about it and share it. Read that book by Curtis Martin that you have in your hands. Get some of the materials that Tim Staples has to offer at his table. Go to catholic.com to get more of his and other folks’ materials. Catholic.com – easy to remember. If you get the One Voice, read my Apologetics 101 column in there each week. Basic stuff that will set you on the right path. If you don’t get the One Voice, call your parish and tell them to sign you up. Go to my website: biblechristiansociety.com and order the talks I have there. They’re free, guys! If you order the CD’s, there’s a $1 shipping and handling charge per CD, but you can avoid even that by just mailing in your order. Or, just download the mp3 versions from the website – no cost whatsoever. These talks will help you learn more about your faith and how to share it. In particular, there’s a talk called, “Apologetics for the Scripturally-Challenged.” Start with that and see if you don’t quickly learn how much fun, and how spiritually-rewarding, sharing your faith can be.

I’ll close with this quote from St. John Chrysostom: “Zeal for the salvation of souls is of so great a merit before God that to give up all our goods to the poor or to spend our whole life in the exercises of all sorts of austerities cannot equal the merit of it. There is NO service more agreeable to God than this one. To employ life in this blessed labor is more pleasing to the Divine Majesty than to suffer martyrdom.” Zeal for the salvation of souls, gentlemen. God bless!

Conclusion

So, how do you answer the question: “Does God Want Everyone to Be Catholic?” (Or, does God want everyone to be Baptist, Evangelical, etc. – whatever your particular faith tradition?)

And, what did you think of that quote from Chrysostom? Awesome! That is definitely now in the top 3 of my favorite quotes.

I hope all of you have a great week!

How to be added to, or removed from, the list

If this newsletter was forwarded to you by a friend, and you would like to be added to our distribution list, all you have to do is go to www.biblechristiansociety.com and click on the “Newsletter” page to sign up. It will take you about 10 seconds.

$RemovalHTML$