I am a Baptist Pastor. With that said I should mention that first and foremost, I am a Christian. I choose Baptist because it is closest to that which I believe. We are not protestants which are those who rebelled against the Catholic Church such as Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists...
This is why the man seemed to be giving you the third degree. As Baptists (as other Christians also believe) we believe in going to the people and bringing the word. We use Jesus instructions to authenticate that. We also know that there are many who say they are Christians but when you start speaking with them, you realize they are not. This is particularly true of many of the mega churches.
You are a Christian if you are no longer separated from God. If you repented of that separation and asked for God to save you. It has to be a serious move on your part and not a bunch of words you repeat as some over zealous person tries to get one under his belt.
I was saved through a Presbyterian Church. Today, that is cause for alarm because so many of them have gone the way of the world. Pro homo, Women Pastors, Pro abortion...
When I was saved, they sent me to the Baptist Church to be baptized as they knew it was to be by immersion, not sprinkling. Now that is something that is arguable but not damning. If someone is truly saved and gets sprinkled and believes they are doing God's will, I have no problem with that as Baptism does not save anyone.
However there are things that should separate Christians from people who are not Christians. Example: If you worship Mary as the Catholics do, as co redemptive with Christ, you are not saved because it is by faith alone in Christ's work that you are saved.
Now here is why that Pastor was not sure about you. The Lutheran Church, although it broke away from Catholicism,it kept some of it's ways. Infant baptism for one. No matter how they cut it they are saying you are bringing your child into the family of God and it's some kind of bond and yes , they will have to be confirmed later on but this is what saves them while they are waiting.If you add to the gift of God by saying Mary, or Baptism can save you, you missed the truth and the truth is not in you. Here is another: Lutherans believe in Consubstantiation. In other words, there is some mystical power in the Lord's supper (they, like the Catholics call it communion) and it has a mysterious action when taken. No, It is a memorial service to remember what Christ did for us and although it should be serious and somber, there will be no added apparitions or added theatrics to the service.
There are others who claim Christ by saying, "I am born again" and upon asking them how they became born again they reply that they attend a Born again Church. This is also a non believer's conception of truth.
It seems to me that most denominations have things which are not true. Someone posted that some Baptist Church made their own wine. WHA???? Some will tell you that drinking is a sin when it is only drunkenness that is a sin. One guy said the word Baptist was used so that means everyone needs to be a Baptist. There must be a book of stupid ideas out there.
Let me close by saying this. If you are upset that this guy pressed you about your salvation, I would say that you might not be saved. I know as a Christian, I always enjoy someone making sure that I am saved if they approach me to give me the word. It means they are doing what Jesus told them and they are my brother or sister. No need to be offended.
Finally, are you spreading the Gospel, going to Church when the doors are open and have fellowship with Christians?
Sir, with all charity (which you didn't offer btw), I find your post to be not only innacurate, but insulting. If I presumed to tell you what you believed you would be offended as well I am sure. And I believe I would be in a better position to do so than are you as I was brought up in the Southern Baptist tradition. A faith that I still have a great fodness and high regard in my heart for. That said, I converted to the Catholic Church a number of years ago as I realized it is the one true and apostolic faith established by our Lord, Jesus Christ.
I'll try my best to move through your post step by step and offer up where I find your remarks to be in error or just simply insulting.
"We are not protestants" - there are two types of Christians...Protestants (non-Catholic) and Catholics. I won't spend a lot of time on this as I don't find it particularly important as to how you identify. Worth noting, that within Protestantism there are literally tens of thousands of denominations...not something our Lord desires for us.
"Pro homo" - this is simply offensive. While I as a Catholic do not support the "gay marriage" or the gay lifestyle, as Christians we should show love to all people..."hate the sin, not the sinner". We should follow Christ's man examples as he chose to put himself admist sinners. How can we ever hope to change hearts and minds if not by drawing people in through our love. Once we draw them in we have the opportunity to teach the truth to them. Our condemnation will only drive them away from the truth. I seem to recall something about splinters and logs in this regard.
"Baptism does not save anyone" - I would beg to differ as I know our Lord would as well. Jn 3:5 "Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
"If you worship Mary as the Catholics do" - this is flat out untrue. It would be so refreshing to have someone outside of the Catholic faith simply ask a Catholic what they believe (although sadly, there are many Catholics who would have difficulty in answering this). That said, one could even pick up a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as it outlines everything Catholics believe. No Catholic who understands their faith would ever say that we worship Mary. We do not. Mary is not divine. While we venerate the Mother of God, we only worship God (the triune God...Father, Son and Holy Spirit). I believe the misunderstandings around this stems from the different languages that we Catholics use versus those in the Protestant world. I believe to the Protestant the word "pray" is synonomous with the word "worship". When we use the word pray, we do not mean to worship. What we mean is to "speak to". When we pray to Mary, which we do (although not required of Catholics), we simply mean we are speaking to her. And yes, we pray to other Saints as well as we believe the Saints in heaven are also our brothers and sisters in Christ just as those who are living with us still in this world. This doctrine is referred to as the Communion of Saints. When you ask someone to pray for you, that is the same thing we are doing when we go to Mary or any other Saints. How much more effective the prayers for us from these holy men and women are as they have already won the prize and are now in the presence of God himself. And Mary is first among Saints. The greatest example of all as to how we should live our Christian life. And we know our Lord listens to his mother as evidenced in the story of the Wedding at Cana. This misunderstanding is one of many. To quote the venerable Fulton J. Sheen - "There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be."
"Infant baptism for one. No matter how they cut it they are saying you are bringing your child into the family of God and it's some kind of bond and yes , they will have to be confirmed later on but this is what saves them while they are waiting." - My post is getting lengthy I realize so I will try to keep this pithy. I can elaborate later and include more scripture quotations if you like (yes, I'm Catholic and I read scripture. I would actually credit the Baptist faith and my familiarity and love of Scripture with drawing me to the Catholic Church as it is through scripture that I found the truth of the Church). With regards to infant baptism...are you aware that the very earliest Christians baptized infants? Your sentence is difficult to understand, but if you are suggesting that baptism is sort of a hold over until you can really be saved through Confirmation, that is not what we believe. Baptism is the first means to and is necessary for salvation. Confirmation strengthens us in our faith and continues what Baptism started by maturing us in our faith and preparing us to follow through on the Great Commission to spread the Gospel. It is one of the Sacraments of Initiation. Baptism the first, Confirmation the second and then receiving the Eucharist (communion). Again, instead of putting forth what the Catholic Church believes, you might want to look into a copy of the Catechism first to make sure you know what the Church teaches. We do not believe Mary saves us. Only God has the power to do that.
"Lutherans believe in Consubstantiation. In other words, there is some mystical power in the Lord's supper (they, like the Catholics call it communion) and it has a mysterious action when taken. No, It is a memorial service to remember what Christ did for us and although it should be serious and somber, there will be no added apparitions or added theatrics to the service." - The Catholic understanding of what happens during the Eucharist (Communion) is slightly different than the Lutheran understanding. You are correct, Lutherans believe in Consubstantiation while Catholics believe in Transubstantiation. Without getting to far down in the weeks, the difference between the two words is subtle while what actually happens in a Lutheran service vs. what happens during the Catholic Mass is world's apart. Consubstantiation means that they believe when the minister consecrates the bread and wine that Christ becomes present along side of the bread and wine (Lutherans, please chime in if I got this wrong). Transubstatiation is the belief that when the Priest consecrates the host and wine that it actually becomes the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. While the accidents (the outward appearnce of the bread and wine) remain the same, the substance of them change as I previously indicated. This is indeed a great mystery and the human mind will never be capable of fully understanding, yet this is what we believe. You might refer to John Chapter 6...maybe start around v. 49 through the end of the chapter. Jesus is very clear when he repeats a number of times to eat his body and drink his blood. Even when questioned by his followers he doesn't start explaining in different terms, no he reiterates the same. As difficult as these words are for us to hear and understand in our time, the same was true then as those listening to him said "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?", and then began to leave, yet Jesus doesn't call them back and explain that he was merely speaking in symbols. Instead he asks his apostles "Will ye also go?"...when I became Catholic I made a decision to answer as Peter did..."Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life". Then of course there is the Eucharistic discourse. Again, the belief in the Eucharist is not something Catholics made up...this was practiced in obedience to Christ from the very beginnings of Christianity.
"There must be a book of stupid ideas out there" - again this is just sort of insulting. Whether it is my faith you are insulting or someone else's. I always presume people are sincere in their beliefs and mocking them doesn't seem to me to be a great way to build bridges between people of different faiths. Seems like approaching folks in love and charity is a better strategy.
"I would say that you might not be saved." - Judge much? Judging behaviors is one thing, but I think I'll leave the judgement of one's soul to God alone.
Hopefully I've cleared up some misunderstandings you have about the Catholic Faith. And maybe you'll consider the way you put forth your own beliefs if what you are trying to do is evangelize and win souls for the Lord.
Blessings,
Dave
