Why I Left The Catholic Church (V)

So today's the end of the series and this has been a challenging one for me. Namely because people I care dearly for are still members of the Catholic church and attend it faithfully. Are they wrong for doing so? In some senses, I think they probably should explore the beliefs of the church deeper, but in other senses I'm glad that they are faithful church attenders.

And that's what makes this so hard to talk about. In the very core sense, recognizing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father, Protestants and Catholics very much stand shoulder to shoulder. I have no doubt that the Catholic church recognizes Jesus as the Son of God, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified, died on the cross, was buried, rose three days later, and ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father. Those are the core of the Christian faith and trust me when I say this, I'd rather have a Catholic priest right now than Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell or anyone else from Protestant liberalism.

But that doesn't mean I'd take a priest over Martin Luther, John Piper, John Newton, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, DA Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, George Mueller, John Calvin or any other solid Protestant biblical theologian.

I know those who have read this series this week have wondered how I can possibly leave out "justification by faith alone" as a reason for leaving the Catholic church. Truth be told, I can't but it's the reason Protestant even exists. So it's a given. One that has been written about more extensively than I care to cover in a blog post! I also have left out:

• Confession of sins to priests
  
• Belief in literal transformation of bread and wine into body / blood of Jesus
  
• Repetitious prayers in the Rosary
  
• Mandatory celibacy of priests
  
• Mandatory celibacy of nuns
  
• Belief that sacraments are more than actual remembrance
  
• Additional sacraments outside of those listed in Scripture
  
• The Apocrypha
  

And the list could go on. Let me also say here that we Protestants have our MAJOR flaws. No doubt about that. Someone could, and I'm sure someone has, write about why they left the Baptist church and would have valid existential reasons for writing such a series. I think Catholics have Protestants licked in the areas of:

• Pro-life fervency
  
• Birth Control / Procreation fervency
  
• Reverence for God
  

One of the real things I still love about the Catholic church in the collective responses during the liturgy, the fact that they stay true to the Nicene creed and recite it in every mass, and that they kneel and genuflect when in church and leaving church. They show a reverence for the God they serve. We Protestants would do well to return to that. I fear that sometimes we have become too flippant in our attitudes and behavior in the sight of God.

So I bring this series to a close. I have left the Catholic church but like Luther long to see her Reformed. I also look to my own side of the chasm and long for the Protestant church to return to the roots that birthed her as well. That is why I'm in Acts29. And that's why I want to plant a church. But that is also why I can no longer be a member of the Catholic church.