The Caution of Converting
The long-awaited news broke recently when Trump announced his vice-presidential pick as JD Vance. As a junior senator from Ohio, he won his Senate seat by promoting traditional conservative values. Vance is a Marine veteran and one of the up-and-coming young faces in the Republican party. He claims to follow Catholicism and recently converted to it. If elected, he’ll be only the second Catholic VP. In an interview some years ago, he explained that he grew up Christian but never was devoted to his denomination. He didn’t become more interested in faith until later in life. He described starting with a ‘clean slate’ and looked to the church that appealed most intellectually. [1] Later, he went on to explain his love for the Catholic church’s age, which also attracted him to it. These points that attracted JD Vance to the Catholic church are some of the most common points given by those who convert from evangelicalism to Catholicism. But are they true?
The Reformational Response
The Reformation answered these arguments and many more with a resounding No! These claims are not valid. In fact, the Reformers sought to demonstrate that they desired to draw the Catholic church back to the true church. The Catholic church isn’t old, but it’s a newer church. The original church goes back to the Scriptures. The Reformers argued that it returned to God’s first covenant in Genesis. Then, the church continued and grew throughout the Old Covenant and into the New. The Catholic church broke away from this true church between 600–800 AD. The Reformation aimed to get back to the original church. The Protestant church didn’t split from the true church but carried on the true Gospel. The Protestant church is the aged church.
This false claim on behalf of the Catholic church aligns with the boastful and wicked in Psalm 75:4–5. They claim to be the original stable church. However, God calls them to not boast in these things, for He will judge them (Ps. 75:2). They might claim stability, but only the Lord is the unchanging one (Ps. 75:3). A quick summary reading of their history reveals that they are anything but stable. They’ve tottered in so many directions. Today's Catholic church looks totally different from the one in the 1500s. However, the common theme is the presence of a false Gospel.
The Cursedness of the Catholic Church
The Vatican teaches grace infuses nature into a person. Protestants believe grace comes through faith alone. The Catholic church believes that the church and Christ make up the ‘whole’ Christ. Protestants hold to the church as the Bride of Christ. The church doesn’t complete Christ in any form. Christ isn’t Jerry Maguire. We are utterly dependent on Christ. The Catholic church believes Christ needs to be crucified again and again, as seen in the Eucharist. The Protestant church trusts that Christ’s sacrifice was once and for all. It is finished according to Jesus. These are just a few ways they believe in an entirely different gospel. For this, Psalm 75:6–8 pronounces judgment on them. The wrath of God will be poured out upon this false Gospel.
The Full-bodied Flavor of the Protestant Church
“When it comes to church, we care more about how the children’s ministry will cater to our children versus if the entire family will be instructed deeply from the pulpit.”
How can someone go from a place of truth to a place of lies? As Evangelicals, our first reaction ought to be one of self-examination. What did Vance’s experience in those particular evangelical churches teach him? That the church pursues after ‘newness’ and throws aside our minds. Sadly, this tends to define many of us. We don’t meditate upon the Scriptures deeply. We seek entertainment and quick fixes rather than mining the depths of the Word. When it comes to church, we care more about how the children’s ministry will cater to our children versus if the entire family will be instructed deeply from the pulpit. We want fast and upbeat music versus songs that lead us to know God deeply and to lament our sins. However, when these are the aims, we miss entirely the richness in our churches. This richness is defined by the Word of God and its depths. Instead of asking what the Bible has to say about how we worship, live, and interact with one another, we resort to psychology and worldly methods to ‘fix’ ourselves. Instead of reading and studying giants of the past who taught the Word and whose shoulders we stand on, we turn away from their influence and say, “we only need the Bible.”
Meanwhile, we turn on Netflix and allow ourselves to be educated by the latest movie or TV show and act accordingly. The Bible is the only source of authority, but God has used men and women throughout history to teach, communicate, and live out His Word. We benefit greatly from reading and learning from their lives. Through the Word and the Sovereignty of God in church history, we have a full-bodied wine at our disposal to enjoy. Instead, we decide we want something equivalent to warm grape juice. This ought to be a wake-up call for evangelicals to get into their Bibles and learn something about the church's history.
A Warning to the Wobbly
So then, as we hear of leaders and people we look to in government, let us not follow their paths into ultimate destruction. While we can agree and support political policies and political stances and even vote for those who are Catholic, we must do this with caution. Above all, let us not be the ones influenced by falling prey to the hearty approval of Catholicism, but let us be influencers in showing a better way, the more accurate way, the Gospel. God’s wrath will be poured out on all who uphold a false gospel. Let us love them enough to proclaim this very truth. Let Christ’s love for us and our love for them strengthen us to proclaim truth to them. Let us warn them of God’s judgment to come. Let our own hearts be bolstered in the Word of God. Let us warn those flirting with the Catholic church and caution those in it.
[1] https://www.theamericanconservative.com/j-d-vance-becomes-catholic/