Barrier or Bridge to the Catholic Community?

 

by Greg Nettle

Where I grew up in northern Ohio, the predominant religion was Catholicism. As a result of not being a Catholic, I formed some very unhealthy approaches to my Catholic friends. Most involved arguments and confrontations about what was scripturally incorrect with the Catholic church. I would regularly discuss with my youth-group buddies topics such as: Is the pope the Antichrist? And, is it OK to date a Catholic girl so you can convert her to New Testament Christianity? In short, I was erecting a lot of relational barriers.

Years later, after serving as a senior pastor in the same community, my approach to Catholics has been centered much more around building bridges rather than erecting barriers.

 

I HAVE A FRIEND . . . 

 

For instance, we were doing a sermon series called “I have a friend who . . .” We passed out survey forms to those attending our worship services that simply said, “I have a friend who . . .” and they would complete the sentence. We collected their responses, picked the four most popular, and responded to them with an outreach series beginning the following Easter Sunday.

We dealt with topics like “I have a friend who believes all religions lead to the same God.” And, “I have a friend who believes if you”re a good enough person you”ll go to Heaven.” It was a very challenging list.

But as I sat on my living room floor and sifted through literally hundreds of responses, trying to put them into some meaningful categories, I discovered one pile grew far more rapidly than all of the others combined: “I have a friend who is Catholic.” “I have a friend who believes if you”re not Catholic you”re going to Hell.” “I have a friend who believes if you are Catholic you”re going to Hell.”

God began speaking to my heart. I took the responses to our teaching team and said, “I think these responses that have to do with the Catholic faith deserve a sermon series of their own.” So, that spring we did the “I have a friend who . . .” series and announced that in the fall we would be doing another series to deal with all the questions we received about Catholicism.

I went to our outreach team and said, “Here”s the series I think we need to do: “Bridging the Gap: What We Can Learn from Catholics, and What Catholics Can Learn from Other Christians.””

One of our outreach team members suggested, “Wouldn”t it be great if on all of the invitations we send out to the community we would have the endorsement of a Catholic priest?” God, once again, began speaking to my heart.

 

I MET A PRIEST

I didn”t know any of the Catholic priests in our area, but knew what God wanted me to do. I called the largest Catholic church in our region, St. Michael”s. The St. Michael”s Parish recently had moved into a beautiful new facility where more than 3,500 people actually attended Masses every weekend. This is a BIG Catholic church.

I had never met the senior priest before. I called him. “Father Hellman, I”m Greg Nettle, senior pastor over at RiverTree Christian. Is there a possibility I could buy you coffee sometime? I have an idea I want to talk with you about.”

And he said, “Why don”t you come over for lunch?”

So I went to the rectory and had lunch with him and his staff. It was delightful. They couldn”t have been warmer, and asked many questions about our ministry. At the end of the lunch, he gave me a tour of St. Michael”s new facility, which was nothing short of spectacular. (Incidentally, the church has this amazing baptistery in the back of the building with a fountain flowing in it. The adults actually kneel in it and they pour water over them. It”s getting really close now.)

After the tour, we sat down in his office and he asked, “So how can I help you?” I told him about our idea for the sermon series, and he asked again, “So how can I help you?”

And I responded, “Well, what would really be great is if on one weekend you would come over and teach in our four services with me. Actually come up on stage with me and we”ll dialogue about these things that we can learn from each other. We”re doing a three-week series, but if you could come for one week, that would be wonderful.”

And he said, “Well that sounds good; let”s pick a date.” I got out my Blackberry and we picked a weekend.

 

I SHARED MY THOUGHTS

And then he asked, “So what do you think we can learn from each other?” Now here”s where I thought it was going to get a bit dicey. Barrier or bridge?

I decided to be real up-front with him. I said, “From Catholics, we need to learn about the sacredness of Scripture and how the Catholic church preserved, through the ages, the texts we enjoy today.”

Then he asked, “And what can we learn from you?”

And, no kidding, I said, “That you need to read them.”

He said, “What else?” And I said, “Well, from Catholics I think we need to learn a reverence for entering into the mystical presence of God. In many of our churches today, we sometimes lose that sense of awe and wonder.”

And he asked, “Well, what do we need to learn from you?”

I said, “That God is a God anyone can come to at any time, on his own.”

I went through my list of five things we could learn from one another. And I kid you not, at the end he said, “I agree with all of those.” And then the most amazing thing happened””and this was beyond my wildest imagination””he said, “You know what would be really great?”

And I asked, “What?”

He said, “If you would come over here the next weekend and do all five Masses with me!”

“Well you”ll have to pay me more,” I said, “because we have only four services, and you do five.”

This is a true story. He said, “Yeah, but you preach 30 minutes and I only preach eight!”

 

I SPOKE AT MASS

Father Hellman came to RiverTree and did our four services, and the following weekend I went to St. Mike”s and shared in all five of its Masses. At the end of the fifth one, I directly addressed the more than a thousand people seated in the beautiful facility. “You need to read your Bible and apply it to your life,” I said. “You need to come to God whenever you want””on your own. And, God”s a God of grace, not of guilt.”

When we were finished with the teaching time, I walked out through the center aisle. And a thousand Catholics rose to their feet and applauded.

 

I LEARNED A LESSON

Do I agree with everything the Catholic church teaches? No. But what I have discovered is that much more headway is made by building bridges than by erecting barriers.

As a result of our dialogue together, Catholics and other Christians have been able to work side by side to further God”s kingdom in our communities. Thousands of unchurched Catholics have heard the good news of Jesus Christ. And hundreds of Catholics who were seeking a more meaningful and relevant spirituality have become part of the community of Jesus followers known as RiverTree.

 

 


 

 

 


 

Greg Nettle serves as senior pastor with RiverTree Christian Church in Massillon, Ohio.