Dealing with "Christians"

[MomandWife]

I hope this is the right place to post this… First time here! So glad to find a Catholic board!

So yesterday I was in the parking lot at Target, and a woman approached me while I was loading my car. She said she liked my bumper stickers (they are pro life) and said she was glad to see someone making a statement for unborn children. I thanked her. She then asked if she could pray “over” me for protection, because her own car was vandalized when she had pro-life stickers on it. I was a little taken aback, and asked her what parish she belonged to. She said she went to a “church” in town called REALITY. Now, I know what this is. It is a big “come as you are, anything goes” church that some “pastor” invented on his own. They pride themselves on being open to anyone and as far as I know, there is no oversight or hierarchy in the “religion” - some guy just reads the Bible and says whatever he wants on Sunday morning while wearing Birkenstocks.

I told the woman that I’d rather she not pray over me, because she did not attend a valid church. She said she was Christian and didn’t I worship Jesus. I said that of course I did, but that I consider “REALITY” to be heretical, the pastor to be invalid, and the attendees to be in grave error. She said the “church” had many former Catholics. I said they were in a state of mortal sin for their attendance at “REALITY.” She said the Catholic Church was who was in error because we do not adhere to the Scriptures. I said that The Catholic Church is the one true church that Christ founded, and that there is zero salvation outside of Catholicism. She said I was “So wrong” and that she would pray for me that I would see the truth. I said I already knew the truth, and that I hoped she would stop attending a false church so that she could attain salvation. She stomped away.

I am still really flustered here. I know that Catholics do not “witness” to others like some of the more obnoxious “faiths” out there. We do not approach people in parking lots and ask to “pray over them.” I am just not sure if I handled this well. I got pretty upset and I might have offended this person.

Any ideas on how we should deal with these so-called Christians when we are faced with the falsehood of their religion. Clearly I could have done it better! The thing is, their churches do a good job of making them “feel good” and it’s hard to explain that going to church is not about getting pumped and feeling energized as though it were a concert!

 

[ahs]

I think you handled it very well…I would not have been so upfront as you, but I admire that you were honest with her.

There is one point I’ll offer some advice on. From what you write, it sounds like she may have understood you as saying that all non-Catholics are not saved. It is true that all salvation comes through the Church, but that doesn’t mean non-Catholics can’t be saved…just that their salvation comes through the Church.

 

[Debora123]

I hope this is the right place to post this… First time here! So glad to find a Catholic board!

So yesterday I was in the parking lot at Target, and a woman approached me while I was loading my car. She said she liked my bumper stickers (they are pro life) and said she was glad to see someone making a statement for unborn children. I thanked her. She then asked if she could pray “over” me for protection, because her own car was vandalized when she had pro-life stickers on it. I was a little taken aback, and asked her what parish she belonged to. She said she went to a “church” in town called REALITY. Now, I know what this is. It is a big “come as you are, anything goes” church that some “pastor” invented on his own. They pride themselves on being open to anyone and as far as I know, there is no oversight or hierarchy in the “religion” - some guy just reads the Bible and says whatever he wants on Sunday morning while wearing Birkenstocks.

I told the woman that I’d rather she not pray over me, because she did not attend a valid church. She said she was Christian and didn’t I worship Jesus. I said that of course I did, but that I consider “REALITY” to be heretical, the pastor to be invalid, and the attendees to be in grave error. She said the “church” had many former Catholics. I said they were in a state of mortal sin for their attendance at “REALITY.” She said the Catholic Church was who was in error because we do not adhere to the Scriptures. I said that The Catholic Church is the one true church that Christ founded, and that there is zero salvation outside of Catholicism. She said I was “So wrong” and that she would pray for me that I would see the truth. I said I already knew the truth, and that I hoped she would stop attending a false church so that she could attain salvation. She stomped away.

I am still really flustered here. I know that Catholics do not “witness” to others like some of the more obnoxious “faiths” out there. We do not approach people in parking lots and ask to “pray over them.” I am just not sure if I handled this well. I got pretty upset and I might have offended this person.

Any ideas on how we should deal with these so-called Christians when we are faced with the falsehood of their religion. Clearly I could have done it better! The thing is, their churches do a good job of making them “feel good” and it’s hard to explain that going to church is not about getting pumped and feeling energized as though it were a concert!

Being perfectly honest here, I thought what you said was rather rude and uncalled for…

There are better ways of handling things, IMHO.

 

[mark_a]

I am just not sure if I handled this well. I got pretty upset and I might have offended this person.

I think you handled her beautifully!! These folks are not accustomed to Catholics who stand their ground. If she got mad and stomped off, it was a good lesson for her to not be so presumptuous about Catholics.

Congratulations!!

 

[Allegra]

I think the way you responded was rude, uncalled for, uncharitable and an uneffective method of Christian witnessing. If someone offered to pray over me, I would be very happy. You could have let her pray over your car and then offered a prayer for the unborn. We didn’t even hear the other lady’s point of view, but from yours alone, I expect she probably thinks very poorly of the Church now and will probably close herself off to full communion with Christ’s Church because of it. If you had prayed with this lady, you could have made a real difference. I know it can be irritating to be acosted in the parking lot, particularly when you are in a hurry, but I think we are still obligated to be good witnesses.

 

[LegoGE1947]

I hope this is the right place to post this… First time here! So glad to find a Catholic board!

So yesterday I was in the parking lot at Target, and a woman approached me while I was loading my car. She said she liked my bumper stickers (they are pro life) and said she was glad to see someone making a statement for unborn children. I thanked her. She then asked if she could pray “over” me for protection, because her own car was vandalized when she had pro-life stickers on it. I was a little taken aback, and asked her what parish she belonged to. She said she went to a “church” in town called REALITY. Now, I know what this is. It is a big “come as you are, anything goes” church that some “pastor” invented on his own. They pride themselves on being open to anyone and as far as I know, there is no oversight or hierarchy in the “religion” - some guy just reads the Bible and says whatever he wants on Sunday morning while wearing Birkenstocks.

I told the woman that I’d rather she not pray over me, because she did not attend a valid church. She said she was Christian and didn’t I worship Jesus. I said that of course I did, but that I consider “REALITY” to be heretical, the pastor to be invalid, and the attendees to be in grave error. She said the “church” had many former Catholics. I said they were in a state of mortal sin for their attendance at “REALITY.” She said the Catholic Church was who was in error because we do not adhere to the Scriptures. I said that The Catholic Church is the one true church that Christ founded, and that there is zero salvation outside of Catholicism. She said I was “So wrong” and that she would pray for me that I would see the truth. I said I already knew the truth, and that I hoped she would stop attending a false church so that she could attain salvation. She stomped away.

I am still really flustered here. I know that Catholics do not “witness” to others like some of the more obnoxious “faiths” out there. We do not approach people in parking lots and ask to “pray over them.” I am just not sure if I handled this well. I got pretty upset and I might have offended this person.

Any ideas on how we should deal with these so-called Christians when we are faced with the falsehood of their religion. Clearly I could have done it better! The thing is, their churches do a good job of making them “feel good” and it’s hard to explain that going to church is not about getting pumped and feeling energized as though it were a concert!

My own WIFE says he hates the catholic church because she “doesn’t get anything out of it.” She doesn’t like that the homilies are only 5 minutes long, the priest doesn’t teach or give any Scripture verses or say anything she can take notes on like she is used to at a “church” like your REALITY church where the pastor wears Birkinstocks and casual jeans and a golf shirt and it’s all designed to pump one up so that when you walk out of the building you will crash like someone coming off a drug high. I envy you for your “in your face” behavior toward this person. Wish I had the courage to do the same thing.

 

[Bev17243]

Being perfectly honest here, I thought what you said was rather rude and uncalled for…

There are better ways of handling things, IMHO.

if there are better ways of handling this kind of situation, please let us know because I thought she handled it just fine. I have been in a simular situation and there really is no way to politely extracate yourself from this unless you just agree to let this person pray over you and say nothing more.
Rude? she told the lady the truth-that she would prefer that she didn’t pray for her because this church is heretical. I mentioned that I went to Mass while talking to a friend(who is Evangelical), she said that Mass was so long because they are full of “old superstition and rituals”. I said nothing at the time, just changed the subject but i regret it now because I still feel like gnashing my teeth over this

 

[anodos]

If it made you truly uncomfortable to have her pray over you and your vehicle, I think you could have simply said “no-thanks”… It seems like you may have insulted her, her church, and her faith, implying that she was not truly Christian. The people who influenced me the most, and eventually helped me to discover Catholicism, were Protestant. For me, when I first began to study the CCC, it was such a relief to discover that the Church considered those people to be truly Christian, though seperated brethren. I don’t think I would have continued to go any further toward the Church if I had been told otherwise.
“No salvation outside the Catholic Church” does not mean exclusively what it appears on the surface. Fr. John Riccardo has a good lecture on this for RCIA, if I can find it I’ll post.

(Of course, I was not there, and have no idea how the situation played out…)

 

[SmallCcatholic]

We’ll as an evangelical I do my best focus on being a bridge builder in these end times when the body of Christ need to draw the wagons together…I lived at a 55+ mobile home park for a while and had a few catholic neighbors. We were close to each other and reached out to the ungodly around us. Once one smiled at me and said “I know you Love Jesus”.Another one along with me laid hands on another neighbor who was having problems and prayed for her. A third neighbor and I did a lot of things to help out another neighbor with emphysema. We knew each other loved Jesus…As my one Catholic would say to me " It’s all about Jesus and trusting in Him"…I’d say…Amen…Christ knows those who walk with Him no matter what label we add to “christian”

 

[Debora123]

I think the way you responded was rude, uncalled for, uncharitable and an uneffective method of Christian witnessing. If someone offered to pray over me, I would be very happy. You could have let her pray over your car and then offered a prayer for the unborn. We didn’t even hear the other lady’s point of view, but from yours alone, I expect she probably thinks very poorly of the Church now and will probably close herself off to full communion with Christ’s Church because of it. If you had prayed with this lady, you could have made a real difference. I know it can be irritating to be acosted in the parking lot, particularly when you are in a hurry, but I think we are still obligated to be good witnesses.

 

[Allegra]

if there are better ways of handling this kind of situation, please let us know because I thought she handled it just fine. I have been in a simular situation and there really is no way to politely extracate yourself from this unless you just agree to let this person pray over you and say nothing more.
Rude? she told the lady the truth-that she would prefer that she didn’t pray for her because this church is heretical. I mentioned that I went to Mass while talking to a friend(who is Evangelical), she said that Mass was so long because they are full of “old superstition and rituals”. I said nothing at the time, just changed the subject but i regret it now because I still feel like gnashing my teeth over this

1. She could have said, “Thank you. God Bless.” and gone about her day, if she didn’t have time for further conversation. It’s silly to tell someone not to pray for you, because they probably will whether you want them to or not and you won’t know the difference anyway.
2. If she had the time and inclination, she could have prayed with the woman for the unborn and prayed for her to come into the fullness of the Church.
3. If the woman invited her to attend “Reality”, she could have explained what we love about our Catholic faith and why any other church doesn’t match up.

 

[Debora123]

1. She could have said, “Thank you. God Bless.” and gone about her day, if she didn’t have time for further conversation. It’s silly to tell someone not to pray for you, because they probably will whether you want them to or not and you won’t know the difference anyway.
2. If she had the time and inclination, she could have prayed with the woman for the unborn and prayed for her to come into the fullness of the Church.
3. If the woman invited her to attend “Reality”, she could have explained what we love about our Catholic faith and why any other church doesn’t match up.

Thanks for answering for me. Agreed 100%.

 

[AlltheRoses]

I hope this is the right place to post this… First time here! So glad to find a Catholic board!

So yesterday I was in the parking lot at Target, and a woman approached me while I was loading my car. She said she liked my bumper stickers (they are pro life) and said she was glad to see someone making a statement for unborn children. I thanked her. She then asked if she could pray “over” me for protection, because her own car was vandalized when she had pro-life stickers on it. I was a little taken aback, and asked her what parish she belonged to. She said she went to a “church” in town called REALITY. Now, I know what this is. It is a big “come as you are, anything goes” church that some “pastor” invented on his own. They pride themselves on being open to anyone and as far as I know, there is no oversight or hierarchy in the “religion” - some guy just reads the Bible and says whatever he wants on Sunday morning while wearing Birkenstocks.

I told the woman that I’d rather she not pray over me, because she did not attend a valid church. She said she was Christian and didn’t I worship Jesus. I said that of course I did, but that I consider “REALITY” to be heretical, the pastor to be invalid, and the attendees to be in grave error. She said the “church” had many former Catholics. I said they were in a state of mortal sin for their attendance at “REALITY.” She said the Catholic Church was who was in error because we do not adhere to the Scriptures. I said that The Catholic Church is the one true church that Christ founded, and that there is zero salvation outside of Catholicism. She said I was “So wrong” and that she would pray for me that I would see the truth. I said I already knew the truth, and that I hoped she would stop attending a false church so that she could attain salvation. She stomped away.

I am still really flustered here. I know that Catholics do not “witness” to others like some of the more obnoxious “faiths” out there. We do not approach people in parking lots and ask to “pray over them.” I am just not sure if I handled this well. I got pretty upset and I might have offended this person.

Any ideas on how we should deal with these so-called Christians when we are faced with the falsehood of their religion. Clearly I could have done it better! The thing is, their churches do a good job of making them “feel good” and it’s hard to explain that going to church is not about getting pumped and feeling energized as though it were a concert!

Hello! Glad you found your way over here. I’m pretty new, too. Hopefully, we’ll both learn a lot.

Anyway, to be honest, I don’t think that you handled the situation as effectively and as charitably as you could have. You seem to have a real scorn for evangelicals that comes across in your post and in how you treated the woman in the parking lot. I think it might be helpful if you reminded yourself that, however much they differ from us in terms of their beliefs, these evangelicals are Christians in the sense that they are followers of Christ and many of them have received a valid Baptism because it was Trinitarian. You don’t need to put words like faith, religion, and Christians in quotes when you speak about them. Doing so comes across as caustic, and you wouldn’t like it if an evangelical did that when speaking of Catholicism, so you should extend to them the same courtesy that you would like to receive from them.

God hears the prayers of all those who address Him, and I think you could have just let her say a prayer that you and your car would remain safe. You really didn’t have to say that you see her place of worship as heretical and her pastor as invalid, because that is just going to drive her away from you and from Catholicism. After her conversation with you, she is just going to think that Catholics are cold-hearted and close-minded, instead of compassionate and welcoming.

You could have, after allowing her to pray for the safety of you and your car, asked her where she worshiped, and let her tell you what she liked about where she attended services. You could have used that as a bridge to describe what you like about the Catholic church that you attend and to emphasize what you and her have in common (worshiping Jesus, reading the Bible, having music during services). That could have provided her with a more favorable impression of what it means to be Catholic and it might have even planted a seed of interest in her, rather than placing a wedge between her and you (and possibly her and the Church).

What you said wasn’t wrong or untrue from the Catholic perspective, but I think that you could have expressed the truth of Catholicism in a better way, and I hope that next time you might be able to do so. God bless you.

 

[exoflare]

What would have been the harm in just letting her pray “over” you? If anything, you’ve only solidified her resistance even more.

 

[Dennis_Collins]

I feel very naive in asking this question; I have been under the impression Catholics, Protestants and all individuals that accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are Christians?

 

[Gabriel_Serafin]

I think the way you responded was rude, uncalled for, uncharitable and an uneffective method of Christian witnessing. If someone offered to pray over me, I would be very happy. You could have let her pray over your car and then offered a prayer for the unborn. We didn’t even hear the other lady’s point of view, but from yours alone, I expect she probably thinks very poorly of the Church now and will probably close herself off to full communion with Christ’s Church because of it. If you had prayed with this lady, you could have made a real difference. I know it can be irritating to be acosted in the parking lot, particularly when you are in a hurry, but I think we are still obligated to be good witnesses.

I for one am rather tired of hearing people claim that Catholics are not Christians or that the Catholic Church is in error and that Catholics do not adhere to the Scriptures. Apparently the lady had no problem pointing out that there were many former Catholics in her Reality Church who had come to see the truth. I think she got a loud and clear dose of reality and truth, albeit in a frank way and without mincing words. If anything, this will probably make her investigate the Catholic Church a little deeper than just what the “Reality Church” tells her about the Catholics.

But the lady seems to be rather nutty in the first place if she’s going around parking lots praying over automobiles. But I wouldn’t want anyone from the “Reality church” praying over me or my car either. It reminds me of the time when a “Reichi Master” offered to pray her energies over a relative of mine who was very ill----thanks but no thanks–I had no problem telling the lady that Reichi is dabbling with New Age occult/nonsense.

 

[anodos]

I feel very naive in asking this question; I have been under the impression Catholics, Protestants and all individuals that accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are Christians?

I think it is safe to say “yes”, provided that they view Christ as truly God as well as truly human (not simply as a wise teacher). It might need another thread…

 

[Allegra]

I for one am rather tired of hearing people claim that Catholics are not Christians or that the Catholic Church is in error and that Catholics do not adhere to the Scriptures. Apparently the lady had no problem pointing out that there were many former Catholics in her “Reality” church who had come to see the truth. I think she got a loud and clear dose of reality and truth, albeit in a frank way without and mincing words. If anything, this will probably make her investigate the Catholic Church a little deeper than just what the “Reality Church” tells her about the Catholics.

But the lady seems to be rather nutty in the first place if she’s going around parking lots praying over automobiles. But I wouldn’t want anyone from the “Reality church” praying over me or my car either. It reminds me of the time when a “Reichi Master” offered to pray her energies over a relative of mine who was very ill----thanks but no thanks–I had no problem telling the lady that Reichi is dabbling with New Age occult/nonsense.

Reichi IS new age occult nonsense. Prayer in our Lord’s name is NOT! I can understand if you are tired of hearing those things. I’m tired of hearing them as well. However, that does not negate our responsibility to speak the truth with charity and love. Based on what was posted, this lady was not saying any of those things anyway. She wanted to pray that the posters car would not be vandelized. It was the poster that was bothered by her choice of house of worship. I think there is zero chance that the parking lot lady is going to investigate the Church after such an encounter and that it is highly likely that she will go around spreading falsehoods about the Church and its members until she has quite a few more positive experiences.

 

[Allegra]

I feel very naive in asking this question; I have been under the impression Catholics, Protestants and all individuals that accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are Christians?

You are correct. However, some Christians express a less general point of view, which excludes Catholics. If the parking lot lady felt that way, the OP didn’t say so in her post.

 

[aicirt]

She was trying to connect with you as she too was pro-life. I would have graciously thanked her for her prayers of protection. She didn’t want you nor your car harmed as was hers, and I would have offered to pray for her in return. She’s fighting the same battle against abortion. Why make her an enemy?