S
Sarah_Angel
Guest
Going by what the OP presented, aside from her emotional frustration at a select group of Protestants, it seems like the main issue here is that the woman she spoke with went to her Pastor and just believed everything that he said.
I think that all Christians do this to a degree, and that is become uncomfortable with what a person says about their faith and then goes to seek answers from someone they trust would know the answer (ie a priest, pastor, or someone with a theology degree of sorts).
This, of course, is not a bad thing in and of itself. In fact, it is a very good thing to seek wisdom and counsel from those who know more than we do.
But people have to understand that people who we admire are not always right, and that while asking for answers from our own church leaders, it is also important to test what that person says and pray that God will reveal the truth to you. 1 Thessalonians says to “test everything and hold fast to what is good,” meaning that we should take counsel from others, but to also remember that what they say cannot be true if it contradicts what God teaches. And I am fairly certain that God did not teach that we could disregard whatever Scripture passages we wanted (that would mean that they would be allowed to disregard that passage from 1 Thessalonians, lol).
I have a Baptist friend, and we were with a group of people in an Instant Messaging conversation. The ‘sex’ topic came up and he says, “I like the definition of sex that my youth minister said: hand, mouth, or genital touching genital.” I was a little bit enraged at this definition for a variety of reasons, but mostly because there were logistical problems with it. After I told him that I completely disagreed with this definition and listed a couple of reasons why, he started thinking about it and said, “Actually, that definition doesn’t really work after all.” My friend is very intelligent otherwise so it surprised me that he just took his youth minister’s words for what they were without thinking about them. I bring this up because that situation reminded me of what the OP was referring to in regards of putting too much trust in a human pastor and not enough trust in the Lord Himself and the truth that He established.
Before anyone says anything about Catholics putting too much trust in the pope, read the Catholic Answers article about what we believe in regards to Papal Authority, because we don’t believe that the pope is sinless or anything like that.
I think that all Christians do this to a degree, and that is become uncomfortable with what a person says about their faith and then goes to seek answers from someone they trust would know the answer (ie a priest, pastor, or someone with a theology degree of sorts).
This, of course, is not a bad thing in and of itself. In fact, it is a very good thing to seek wisdom and counsel from those who know more than we do.
But people have to understand that people who we admire are not always right, and that while asking for answers from our own church leaders, it is also important to test what that person says and pray that God will reveal the truth to you. 1 Thessalonians says to “test everything and hold fast to what is good,” meaning that we should take counsel from others, but to also remember that what they say cannot be true if it contradicts what God teaches. And I am fairly certain that God did not teach that we could disregard whatever Scripture passages we wanted (that would mean that they would be allowed to disregard that passage from 1 Thessalonians, lol).
I have a Baptist friend, and we were with a group of people in an Instant Messaging conversation. The ‘sex’ topic came up and he says, “I like the definition of sex that my youth minister said: hand, mouth, or genital touching genital.” I was a little bit enraged at this definition for a variety of reasons, but mostly because there were logistical problems with it. After I told him that I completely disagreed with this definition and listed a couple of reasons why, he started thinking about it and said, “Actually, that definition doesn’t really work after all.” My friend is very intelligent otherwise so it surprised me that he just took his youth minister’s words for what they were without thinking about them. I bring this up because that situation reminded me of what the OP was referring to in regards of putting too much trust in a human pastor and not enough trust in the Lord Himself and the truth that He established.
Before anyone says anything about Catholics putting too much trust in the pope, read the Catholic Answers article about what we believe in regards to Papal Authority, because we don’t believe that the pope is sinless or anything like that.