Martha Mathewson

In a discussion this week with a recently-ordained Catholic priest, I was shown a tiny window into possible reasons why, as an adult, I have been averse to committing to membership in any faith community (though I was raised in church by a father who was a life-long pastor and a mother who was the ideal pastor's wife), much less converting to the Catholic denomination. He helped me to identify and codify what heretofore had been only a vague gut instinct which made me unable and unwilling to commit to church membership; the fact that, by and large, the "faith community" no longer stands as a pillar to hold scripture and to inspire the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a very dark and chaotic world. The "pillar" has morphed into some caricature of itself, a creature out of a horror movie, which has assumed the characteristics of the evil that surrounds it, but which can LOOK real pretty when it wants to. The "faith community" has succumbed to incredibly powerful Satanic influences which have made it believe that they cannot exist in this world unless they look like, act like and live like the world.

In my current study of The Book of Revelation, I note that each of the seven churches to whom the Apostle John addressed very specific letters at the direct behest of the Living Lord, has been identified as representative of a certain specific age in church history, with the seventh Church of Laodicea likened to the current "Apostate church age of the Last Days (A.D. 1900-present)". The definition of APOSTATE: Having renounced or abandoned all beliefs or principles. The seventh church was defined by Jesus Christ as spiritually wretched, miserable, poor (in spiritual wealth), blind (to the truth), naked (sins exposed for all to see), and DEFUNCT. The church considered itself to be financially solid, even to the point of wealthy. They were self-sufficient, and saw no need to evangelize; come if you want, or don't -- it doesn't matter. They have lost their passion, turned in on themselves, are self-satisfied, self-serving, going through the motions (rites and rituals) of worship but are not worshipful, singing praise songs but not in the attitude of praise. In other words -- they are spiritually dead.

Taking this one step further, the church today is so worried that they will run counter to the general popular mores and anti-biblical lifestyles, that they bend over backwards to modify their faith principles to the point of unrecognizability when compared to God's laws, in order to keep "butts in the pews." They allow false doctrines to prevail, even teaching it as truth; (to quote Rev. Barry Brinson from his book We Win) "they have a liberal view of Scripture and tolerate any and all interpretations, saying that it's okay for you to believe whatever you want as long as you base it on an interpretation of Scripture that satisfies your own understanding. They believe that there is no right interpretation, [because] no one really knows the truth."

My priest friend gave several examples:

* Notice how the church hierarchy bends its own rules; let's say with regard to condoning homosexuality -- it is unlikely than anyone who has lived for the last 40 years has missed the horrible debacle of priests who molested children and were protected and hidden by the church. Not only that, but the church used funds which had been collected from tithing Catholics to pay for the silence of the victims.

* Notice how the church has diminished the sacrament (meaning a HOLY God-sanctioned act) of marriage and have figured out a work-around to conveniently condone divorce by granting "annulments" (traditionally meant for unconsummated unions) to married couples who have obviously had enough sex together to have created babies. I know about this first-hand as my first husband was a non-practicing Catholic and felt it necessary to have that piece of paper in his file that said our five year marriage was invalidated -- annulled. And these days, it's so easy -- One can point and click to a special page on the Archdiocese website offering instructions for having one's marriage annulled.

* Notice how even modern architecture has been allowed to express a loosening of scriptural guidelines; i.e. when the sacred altar is no longer an altar -- it has become a table -- or when the Host (which to Catholics is supposed to represent the actual Presence of God) is moved away from the sanctuary and kept in a side room.
* Notice how altar servers saunter down the aisle with a complete lack of understanding that they are serving at the altar of a terrible and mighty God, who in Old Testament times actually struck down anyone who treated the sacred place with anything less than the utmost respect for the rules.

* Notice how casually the confessional is treated by a typical parishioner: For example: "Since my last confession three months ago, I have missed mass a few times." "Exactly how many times?" "Three." "Do you know that you have committed a mortal sin THREE TIMES? Do you know what a mortal sin actually is?" (In I John 5:16-17, we see that there is such a thing as deadly or mortal sin. A deadly sin is one that leads to eternal damnation if not repented and forgiven, as God cannot abide sin. No more realized than when He turned His face away from His Beloved Son on the cross, because His Son bore the sins of the world!) "You have utterly disobeyed not one, but TWO of the 10 Commandments by CHOOSING to do something other than worshiping the Lord God AND keeping the Sabbath holy."

* Notice how the Creed, which was originally a composite of absolute scriptural truth using scripture-inspired language complete with specific pronouns, has been made nearly unrecognizable in its loose "interpretations". For instance, some go so far as to say that "Christ came to earth, becoming "human" (not "Man" as the original text states)

These changes have been made so very gradually, and apparently with the blessing of the very highest authorities within the Catholic Church.

In my association with the Catholic church as a paid musician, I observe so much casualness in the "worship" practices, and that does not attract me to Catholicism. Catholics have more little rites and rituals that can be done by rote than most other churches combined. As a general rule, there is little real passion for the Lord on display. People come to church because it's the right thing to do, or because it's a place to meet their friends and catch up, or to even make themselves feel good about helping others. The Church at Sardis was severely warned about this very thing in the third chapter of Revelation. The judgment for this behavior when left unchecked was to have their names removed from the Book of Life -- a terrible and fearful thing indeed! But once again, there is precious little leadership within the Catholic church today that will teach such truths for fear of driving people from the pews. They would rather "tickle the ears" of the congregation, saying what everyone wants to hear -- the easy stuff. And there is a pervasive attitude of looking the other way (i.e.: when societal behaviors such as same sex unions, trans-gender operations performed on children, and abortions become household words and the NORM) -- we say to ourselves that, like everything that is hard to bear, it, too, surely shall pass and then we can relax again.

I have asked several individuals what drew them to Catholicism. The answers range from, "I like the fact that I can go to mass at any Catholic church anywhere and know that I will fit right into the rites and rituals -- that is comforting", to "I have no idea. My parents were Catholic but never went to church". My priest friend offered up a most erudite response as he traced his faith journey from being born into an evangelical faith community, through Anglicanism to Orthodoxy (all of which were rejected after years of study of Scripture and much prayer), and finally having been led to the Catholic church. But he does not find this current iteration of the Catholic church to be attractive in the least. God has given him a vision and a mission to be a beacon -- a guiding light -- to lead Catholics BACK HOME, away from compromise with worldly, sinful behaviors, away from a liberal and casual approach to the difference between right and wrong, and back to SCRIPTURE, back to worship in spirit and truth, back to the knowledge that God, the Creator of everything, knows all and sees all. Nothing, whatsoever is hidden from God. And there are consequences for every choice that we make. And more severe consequences for those leaders of churches who know the Scripture and choose to ignore it.

Scripture states unequivocally that we must NOT grieve the Holy Spirit. Indeed, how the Lord must be weeping.

But all is not lost! There are a remnant of true believers to be found, yes, even in the Catholic Church! There are those who seek to know real truth, to follow the Lord where He leads, to teach their children the difference between right and wrong both by their words AND by their deeds, and to not compromise their spiritual lives by dabbling in worldly behaviors. They will become that Pillar in the Church upon which Scripture is recognized, honored, taught and followed. These believers who prevail in the midst of the apostasy of this world and within this current iteration of the Catholic Church, will be rewarded by their Lord for their steadfastness and will finally dwell with the Son of God in glory forever.

This then is what I hunger after; to worship with this kind of believer, to inspire each other to persevere and to show the world what the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is supposed to look and act like.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 08:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1698 words, total size 10 kb.