Yea I think you are probably confusing the “altar call” whereby people and called to come forward to show their commitment to Christ rather as some sort of Anti Catholic thing which it simply isn’t.
On the other hand I am “protestant” (well you would call me one) but even I am uncomfortable with these sorts of events. They often seem to be “concerts” rather than services with Music and singing broken up by the odd prayer and a short “sermon”… often they are little more than a showcase for a particular church, a two hour long “come and look at us and don’t forget to buy my book/dvd/album” showcase.
You shouldn’t feel bad because your friend tried to force you to attend an act of worship you felt uneasy with… if anyone should feel bad it is them for attempting to pressurise you.
Quick Question for everybody, why do a serious amount Roman Catholics assume all Evangelicals are crazy Bible thumpers who just want to convert you to their mega church?
My husband and I were evangelical Protestant for the first 47 years of our lives before converting to Catholicism.
I grew up in an awesome evangelical church. My pastor’s wife was Evelyn Christenson (author of several beloved books about prayer). . John Ortberg grew up with me in my youth group. (For those who don’t know, he is one of the most influential young evangelical pastor/leader today.) Steven Douglass was a member of our church (current President of the organization formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ, International). Among the regular speakers at our church were Josh McDowell, Erwin Lutzer, and Leighton Ford, all renowned leaders in the evangelical world.
Our church was Catholic-friendly. We didn’t have rapidly anti-Catholic sermons from the pulpit.
However, plenty of the Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders taught that the Catholic Church was a cult, and that the only true Christians in the Catholic Church were those who had accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
My husband attended a large Assemblies of God church (5000 members). He was definitely taught that Catholics were not Christians.
Just last week his mom and dad ate dinner with us, and they were talking about Catholicism. My father-in-law is interested in many aspects of the Catholic faith, and so is my mother-in-law. But she said that there is no way that she could ever become Catholic, not after so many years of being taught that the Catholic Church is a work-based cult.
I can testify based on my own experience in one of the most influential evangelical churches in the U.S. that yes, many evangelicals have been taught that Catholics are not Christians. Evangelicals believe that ALL people, Catholics included, need to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in order to be Christians and go to heaven.
No matter how much a Catholic professes to love Jesus and believe in Him, many evangelicals will NOT accept that they are “saved” unless they actually state, “I have accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.”
I think that you’re right in saying that most evangelicals these days are not interested in bringing converts into their churches, mainly because the institution of “church” is not clear in the minds of evangelicals. Many evangelicals have gotten caught up in the “anti-church” mindset (popularized in an extreme way by Harold Camping). We have quite a few friends and acquaintances in the evangelical world who no longer attend a “church,” but instead, have “church” at home with dad acting as the “pastor.”
Also, many of the megachurches are an attempt to end the organizational “church” mindset and help Christians to see themselves as part of the “universal Church of Jesus Christ,” which they see as a formless organization reaching across the centuries.
Finally, many of the non-denomination churches deny that they are “churches,” but claim to be “communities of believers.”
So to summarize the answer to your question about Bible-thumpers who want to convert you to their mega-church–yes, many of them are. They are not wild-eyed fanatics in their appearance, but many evangelicals are convinced that most Catholics are NOT Christians and will not go to heaven because they don’t have a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” and they haven’t “asked Jesus into their heart to be their personal Savior.” They are not necessarily out to bring anyone into a specific “church.” They would be happy to see Catholics remain in the Catholic Church, as long as the Catholic has “accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.”
That’s just the way things are, and Catholics would be wise to heed the advice of an ex-evangelical who grew up immersed in the evangelical mindset.
