To reach Roman Catholics, they must be personally convinced they are lost. Sadly, in Evangelical circles there is a growing trend to accept Catholicism as a viable Christian church. Key evangelical leaders write with sympathy and respect of the Vatican and current pope. Was the Reformation a mistake? Has the Catholic church changed in its basic doctrine since then?
As a former Roman Catholic and a missionary to Catholic people in Ireland, I can answer those questions with a resounding, No! Catholicism teaches a false gospel, another gospel, and is under the curse of God. “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8).
Many Catholics remind me of Cornelius, as described in Acts 10:2, “A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.” They can be very sincere religious people, but, like Cornelius, they need a Peter to come along who “shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved” (Acts 11:14).
The first requirement in being an effective witness to Catholics is being convinced that, without Christ as their one and only hope of salvation, they are lost. Along those lines, I would add a note of caution: do not be fooled by shared terminology.
My mother-in-law is a very devout Catholic, but if you were to ask her if she believes that Jesus died on the cross to pay for her sins, she would answer with an emphatic, Yes!
Does this mean she is saved? After all, she believes in the death of Christ. However, the gospel is faith alone in Christ alone. I always follow up my initial question, with a supplementary one, “What if you never went to mass again. Would you still go to heaven when you die?” To this my mother-in-law would reply in the negative. So is she trusting in the finished work of Christ for salvation or by attending Mass? Don’t be fooled by initial answers; probe deeper.
We should recognize that there are various types of Roman Catholics, each requiring a different approach. First, you have the traditional Catholic, entirely committed to the Roman Church and its teaching. Many of these would attend Mass on a daily basis. They are often the most difficult to reach, as they are very defensive and wary of people from other religious backgrounds. This person will require time to build their trust, and needs much prayer on how to approach biblical subjects.
One of the key questions I am often asked by traditional Catholics is: What do you think of the blessed virgin Mary? I always try to be positive in answering, and would say that I believe everything the Bible says about her. At this point, if you were to criticize the Catholic view of Mary you could lose your contact.
The second group are nominal Catholics, attending Mass less frequently–sometimes only at Christmas and Easter. But they would still have their children baptized as Catholics, get them confirmed, married, and buried in the Church. If you were to knock at their door, the first statement they would make would be, “I am a Catholic”; in other words, leave me alone.
I usually answer by saying truthfully, that I am a Catholic, too. This often will take the person at the door by surprise and allow further conversation. I explain that I belong to the Universal Church of Jesus Christ as does everyone that trusts alone in Him for salvation.
Incidentally, I personally avoid identifying myself as a Protestant. This can be quite an offensive term to Catholics, especially in Ireland. After all, Protestant is not a biblical term, so why cling to it? We are simply believers in the Lord Jesus.
The third group, often the most open, are the Catholic Charismatics, a growing segment of the Catholic Church. These often have an interest in the Bible and are open to getting involved in home Bible studies. We have had several who had many questions concerning Charismatic teachings and are open to study 1 Corinthians 12-14, verse by verse, with us. This has proved very fruitful and has resulted in a rejection of Charismatic error and an interest in the marvelous gospel of the grace of God.
Key elements to emphasize while witnessing to Catholics: your personal testimony and assurance of salvation–two concepts foreign to the Catholic. Tell them your personal experience, how you became convicted of sin and how you were brought to see your inability to save yourself. Finally, tell them about the finished work of Christ, how He died as your substitute and took the punishment you deserved.
As I have witnessed to Catholics in Ireland (and produced a gospel magazine there), I have been amazed at how fascinated Catholics are by personal testimonies. The Roman system does not emphasize this personal encounter; it is a system of dead ritual.
Assurance of salvation is also foreign to Catholics because their salvation is based on the formula:
Faith + Works = Justification. The problem is–how many works are enough? Not even the pope knows if he has done enough. The biblical formula is: Faith = Justification + Works. We believe we are justified by God’s grace, and this saving grace also motivates us to live for Him. Our good works are the fruit, not the means, of this gift of life. Tell Catholic friends that you know where you are going when you die, not because you are a good person, but because you have a great Saviour.
Is there some helpful literature to use with Catholics? Of course, the most useful literature is the Bible itself. For years the Catholic church has kept the Scriptures from its people because it knows that, when the Bible and Catholicism are compared, you can only come to one conclusion: one or the other is wrong–and it isn’t the Bible! Personally I was saved through reading the Bible for the first time at age 21, and then by asking questions to a Christian at work. Encourage Catholics to read the Word, remembering that “the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
One booklet with which we have been delighted is a written by Jim McCarthy and published by Everyday Publications, called The Mass: from Mystery to Meaning. It again uses the personal testimony of a Catholic’s search for meaning in the Mass. We like it because it is written in a gracious tone. When witnessing, we must always remember that the Lord Jesus was “full of grace and truth.” Sadly, some Christians are full of truth, but lack characteristic grace when witnessing.
We have seen Catholics read this tract and then pass it on to relatives and friends. One man, while on a train to Dublin, began to read the tract, and a lady in the compartment asked if she could read it, too.
A further help is knowing how to answer Catholic proof texts, especially Matthew 16:18. Their logic is that the Church is to be built on the Rock, which in Catholic thinking is Peter–the first in a long line of popes. I have heard all kinds of answers to this text, mainly about the difference in meaning between two Greek renderings of the same root word. To the average Catholic this is not an impressive argument. Most of them do not understand Greek, nor do they desire to. So how do you answer this key Catholic verse?
A simpler answer is, by the context. The passage has its theme introduced in verse 13, “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” So the question that is to be determined in the passage is, who is Jesus, not who is Peter. Various answers are given concerning who people think Jesus is. The Lord then asks His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers with a wonderful statement, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Lord commends Peter and tells him that his understanding came from God. Then He makes the statement concerning the Rock. Upon this Rock, the fact that Jesus is both the Messiah–the Anointed One promised in the Old Testament–and the Son of God, He will build His assembly. He will call out from the world those that acknowledge Him for who He really is.
In summary, the passage is to determine the identity of Jesus of Nazareth, not Peter. Jesus is none other than the Messiah, the Son of God, and because of who He is, the Church will be built by Him and on Him.
I have just mentioned a few tips concerning witnessing to Roman Catholics. It is not meant to be exhaustive. Let me, however, encourage you to pray for, and reach out to, the many Catholic people in the world, who, like Cornelius, need to hear words by which they can be saved. Why not ask the Lord to use you, as He used Peter, to bring the wonderful words of life to some Cornelius in your neighborhood?