If you were never a Roman Catholic, you might believe that the Catholic Church is Christian. VIewing it solely from externals, you might be deceived into believing that impression.

After all, they come across as religious, they speak about Jesus, they have large buildings with a steeple and a whole bunch of statues. They kneel, they pray, they recite creeds. You may have grown up in another denomination which does similar things, so you might think “all is well with those Catholics, we just belong to a different club”.

I know this personally, being a former Roman Catholic I was told by many non-Catholics that I was a Christian for 43 years in the church. Even the person who eventually took the time to read the Bible out loud to me viewed me as a Christian before that point. After all, I generally was a “good person” but only in the world’s eyes, I attended church religiously, I spoke of God and Jesus, so it probably seemed right and fitting that I was called a “Christian”, as I also with pride called myself one.

But NOTHING could be further than the truth! After my eyes were opened by God to His truth and I discovered the vast deception of the RCC and its false gospel, I fell down on my knees and begged for mercy because there was in no way, shape, or form I was a Christian! It wasn’t because I was searching for and committing evil daily or anything like this, it was because God showed me what a Christian was and a Christian places their faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

As a Roman Catholic, we were taught salvation is a “cooperative effort”. Basically Jesus opened the doors of heaven, and by our good college try it was our job to walk through those doors. Albeit that college try being self righteous and subjective, with the catch-all being purgatory. And without purgatory, that college try becomes fleeting. It wasn’t placing any real faith in Jesus other than He was a good guy who started the RCC, it was placing faith solely in my will power with more faith in Mary to help me than God Himself!

In other words ecumenism is WRONG because the RCC teaches a false gospel. Dig a little deeper past the eternal religiosity. I’d say besides being angry with myself and my sins, I was as angry with all those non-Catholics who called me a Christian for 43 years. Why? Because just maybe God would have opened my eyes sooner. I needed the truth, not appeasing or compromise!

The WORST thing to do with a Catholic is make them believe they are on the narrow path, because they are indeed on the wide path to destruction. Again, it is the VERY WORST thing to do to them. You do them NO favors by patting them on the back for their church attendance and their parroted talking points. Rather CONFRONT them with the Gospel, and stand firm! Get them to THINK as to these things and those who God has willed to saved will always remember you for doing this in love!

Ecumenism with Catholics is wrong, it is spiteful, it is ignorant! If the church you are attending is not reaching out to Catholics and seeing them as unsaved, you might want to search for another church because they too are probably lost and/or willfully ignorant to the truth or just never took the time to discern right from wrong.