When I was involved in a protestant community I was always amazed by the people running around telling everyone they were saved and guaranteed heaven. Meanwhile they would watch the smuttiest TV shows on and talk about it along with speaking about others behind their back. I realize we are all sinners and this is not indicative of all protestants, but this is brazen,it’s as if in saying you are saved gives one a license to be proud of sin
I grew up in a Protestant denomination that emphasized personal holiness and "entire sanctification", in practical terms that involved: going to church 3 times a week, revivals, tithing, praying for missionaries and meals, nightly family extemporaneous prayer and Bible reading. It also meant no movie theaters, no dancing, no tobacco use, no alcohol, no playing cards, no Sunday newspaper, no Sunday shopping. It meant camp meeting and district assembly every summer, oh, and a week of church camp as well. No family could have been more fully involved than mine.
I'm not saying all of that properly understood isn't fine, but I am saying: THAT WAS IT. I don't ever remember anything that could even remotely be considered instruction in how to apply all that Bible reading to personal conduct. Personal holiness in practical terms consisted primarily in what one didn't do. I was a preacher's kid, one would think that if there was some secret level of spiritual development I would have known about it.
No wait... I forgot James Dobson, and with good reason. Three years of therapy to get that mess out of my head, thanks a lot Jimmy.
Great, I think I blacked out for about 10 minutes, where was I?
Oh yes, it was Bible, Bible, Bible, interpreted however the Sunday School teacher, childrens church director, preacher, evangelist or youth pastor chose to interpret it. Much scorn was heaped on the Catholics who drank, smoked, danced and ran to confession every Saturday... as if that was all that was available to them and it wasn't their fault if they didn't make use of the enormous deposit of spiritual help.
There never seemed to be any introspection on back-biting, calumny, detraction, or GLUTTONY! The very word "charity" was a dirty word because the Catholics had used it to replace agape apparently (hey, I didn't make this stuff up). And of course the fact that all we had to do whenever we were "under conviction" was tell God we were sorry. Talk about a case of mass projection.
That was the thing, we were using everything the denomination had to offer and comparing ourselves to the absolute bottom line minimum Catholics, rejoicing in our self-righteousness and completely missing the point that we were as spiritually pathetic as the worst of Catholics.
Oh there were gems among all the places I lived... my mind may be playing tricks on me but I recall that most of them were ex-Catholics.
Precisely because they were told they were saved no matter what they did. Remember Luther's pecca fortiter?
And now? You have learned that there are hypocrats in all communities, including your own. Is it that it no longer amazes you?