MegaChurch or Catholic Church?

taylormarshall.com ^ | August 26, 2013 | Dr. Taylor Marshall

[NYer]

Megachurch. Two young ladies. Both had left the Catholic Church. Both were now attending “megachurches.” We had a good chat together. I wanted to understand their reasons for why they left the Catholic Church for a megachurch.

Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Megachurch
43,500 weekly attendance

I was at the bank and somehow I got into a spiritual conversation with two Hispanic executives that worked there.

Why the Megachurch?

When I asked why they exchanged the Catholic Church for the megachurch, they gave me a number of reasons:

1. “My new church has an iPhone app. I can go on my iPhone and get Bible studies, sermons (video and audio). When I travel I can still watch the sermon, either live or later. I feel apart of the community.”
2. “The preaching is dynamic and speaks to my life. I find practical encouragement.”
3. “I felt judged at the Catholic Church.”
4. “People were not friendly or welcoming at the Catholic Church. The first time I went to my new church, I was welcomed by so many people.”
5. “My new church has classes and courses that are interesting and helpful.”
6. “The music is better.”
7. “In the Catholic Church, they use a lot of words that I did not understand.”
8. “People pray for each other and know each other (in the megachurch).”

Although these two ladies didn’t articulate it explicitly to me, I could tell that they were very proud of their new churches. I could also discern in them a surprise that I am so “spiritual” and yet I am very excited about being Catholic. They assumed the “with it” people were leaving Catholicism for the bigger and better and deal.

I asked them what they miss about being Catholic. They replied with two answers:

1. “There are not any crosses in my new church. I know it makes some people feel uncomfortable, but I wish we had crosses.”
2. “What will I do when I die?” They were both unclear about whether they could get anything like Last Rites at the megachurch.

What About the Eucharist?

I asked both about the Eucharist: “Don’t you miss the Eucharist?”

This question didn’t phase them one bit. “Oh we still have communion. They pass out little crackers and cups of juice. I like this better because I thought drinking from one big cup is icky. Spreads germs.”

“But in the Catholic Church,” I replied, “we believe that the Eucharist is the real Body and Blood of Jesus?”

I may as well have said, “Don’t you know that there are Martians in my back pocket.” She was unaware that the Catholic Church taught this. No idea.

The Problem

This, my brothers and sisters, is the crux of the problem. These girls were raised as Catholics, but did not know about the Eucharist. They did not know that the Eucharist is God. They did not understand the Holy Eucharist is the center of the Catholic tradition.

So when they compare our ho-hum Catholic music and pedestrian sermons to snazzy well produced musical productions and highly polished bulleted sermons from handsome professional speakers…where are they going to go?

If they had believed that the Holy Eucharist is truly the Lord Jesus Christ, then they would have stayed. This is the task of the New Evangelization if there is going to be one. Can we communicate the mystery of Eucharist. If we fail in that, everyone is leaving the building.

Godspeed,
Taylor

PS: I don’t mean to suggest that having the Holy Eucharist is an excuse for bad music, bad vestments, bad architecture, and bad sermons. The Eucharist is like a precious diamond. It deserves a platinum setting…not a plastic setting. We can’t say, “Well, we have the Eucharist – so you’re forced to stay and have a miserable experience every Sunday.” We can’t keep the sacraments hostage to mediocracy.

PPS: With 1 billion strong, the Catholic Church is the real megachurch!

Pope Francis at Rio de Janeiro
3 million people

[metmom]

Funny how Romanists instist on wooden literal interpretations for John 6 but then deny that those who eat, have eternal life.

Yup. Taking communion once is not enough.

For that matter, nothing a Catholic does is enough. There's always more to add, more to do....

They tell us baptism saves, except that it doesn't. You have to add......

And so it goes....

[HiTech RedNeck]

Christ often spoke mystically. Spiritual experience (always referencing the bible, as the “high minded” did, to look for whether, and if so how, it fits) is necessary to figure it out. This could even be a dual-meaning dictum like many in Scripture are. God is not averse to punning... what would you expect out of a joyful God?

I lean on the explanation by context. Passover seder, and the same words “this is” would be used over all the symbolic foods. The Passover Haggaddah as Jews have it goes back almost to gospel days and supports this strongly. Making it stand out as special here is something that happens when we lose sight of context.

[Melian]

Catholics hear the Scripture, at minimum, every Sunday at Mass. It is a mini-Bible study because readings from the Old Testament, psalms, New Testament, and Gospels are read together to facilitate meditation on a theme. The priest then gives a talk on the readings. The prayers we recite all contain Scripture, as well.

Now add in the fact that the entire sacrifice of the Mass is Scriptural. Every Mass is a Bible study, if you know how to look for it. All Catholics are also encouraged to attend additional Bible studies at their parish, and to read the Bible on their own.

[metmom]

Excellent.....

Thank you.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Ideally it would be. Practically... any mumble over the format seems to be accepted as a “Mass” because after all isn’t the view here that the “important thing” is the “transubstantiation miracle”? There’s room for improvement. There’s a reason you don’t usually get mumbles in Crazy Evangelical churches.

[metmom]

My dear fellow: surely you realise that there are more people on this form than simply you? And that some of them might have a different definition of “sola Scriptura” than you do?

OK, go check out post 828 by bkaycee.

Pinging a few others for their input but I daresay that they'd agree.

I, for one, throw in my hat with it. SO there's two now, at least.....

[HiTech RedNeck]

The core issue here, and both honest Roman Catholics and Evangelicals can see it, is “OK, why keep going? why not coast?”

Well once you DO understand what Christ is and has done for and with you, it becomes silly to sit and coast. You’ve been endowed with God filled powers to run down the troops of hell. What are you going to do, sit there and sin? The bible does have a word for people in such a position and it’s not “unsaved” — it’s “shortsighted.”

[metmom]

Very good!!

[metmom]

You’re priceless.....

[HiTech RedNeck]

nope she’s been bought with a price

[CynicalBear]

You can add me to that list.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Well, God would bless America as soon as America let itself be blessed... total sinlessness is impossible but the less the better... a sincere effort to cleave to the Lord and exalt Him again will be honored AND blessed... in fact that probably would be needed BEFORE this holocaust could be halted.

[metmom]

You know, all this stuff about metaphors brings to mind examples of something like if you have a car accident and draw out the scene on a piece of paper and tell the insurance agent *This is my car.* and *This is his car.*

Well, I think that it’s clearly understood that the symbolism isn’t the real thing even though we say * This is...*

Passover was not only looking back at the first Passover in Egypt, but it was also looking forward to the Messiah coming. Just like communion is not only looking back as Christ’s death, but looking forward to His (soon, I hope) return again.

So the elements of the Passover meal represented things. The broken bread represented the broken body of Christ. Hence, *This is my body.*

It’s a word picture.

[metmom]

nope she’s been bought with a price

Nope, HE'S been bought with a price.

But there's no way of knowing that unless you've been around Elsie for a while.

[metmom]

OK, that makes three.

BTW, I am saving that post. It’s about the best I’ve seen, (with all due respect CB.)

[Mrs. Don-o]

Da, da, mein schatz!

[HiTech RedNeck]

Hey, the Crazy Evangelicals want to go as far as the bible says they can. They saw the glory of the Lord getting snuffed out in actual Roman Catholic congregations, as far back as Luther. Luther, you may remember, wanted to fix the problem locally... which was exactly the right spirit. When it wasn’t fixed, then independent Christian worship community was plan B. We know that as Lutheran, but Luther himself asked them not to go by that name; he wanted Jesus Christ exalted alone. Alas the misleading name, applied generally by their opponents not themselves, stuck. Other such ironies are seen in Christendom. Methodists from their methodical habits trying to work their salvation (unbiblical) as much as they were trying to work it OUT (biblical). Baptists from their insistence on baptizing believers only. (At least the less flattering Dunkards name died out.) Calvinists... argh! John Calvin did NOT die for anyone’s sins! ARGH!

Anyhow, we Crazy Evangelicals go as far as Christ was documented to go by the bible. Invocation of visual contact with a departed saint would be a very special thing at best, viz. the Transfiguration scene, and then Jesus would do all the talking there. (I actually wrote a song featuring a saint appearance, based on this scenario. If you ever hear a country song “With Duct Tape On His Boots” remember this ole Redneck.) Alleged God-independent contacts with sub-divine supernatural entities, even departed saints, just give us the willies. Too much caution in the bible against doing that.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Mr. Elsie!?

[CynicalBear]

I thought it was also. I think it just expanded on what I posted and made it more clear.

[metmom]

Yup. At least his wife thinks so......