However, many of them are confused. They think that by going to Mass they are trusting Christ. They have different feelings about their changing church - some feel uncomfortable; others are eager for more changes.

It is easy to be confused as we see all the varieties of Catholicism around us, and we know something was done at Vatican II, but we're not sure what! In order to help Christians understand modem Romanism and be equipped to lovingly evangelize Catholics, I have prepared a helpful manual, A Christian's Guide To Roman Catholicism. Copies are available from our book ministry, Ephesians 5:11.

III. Ten Rules For Roman Catholic Evangelism

1. YOUR PRIMARY MOTIVE MUST NOT BE TO GET RESULTS.

You may ask, What is wrong with getting results? and I'll tell you that nothing is wrong with getting results. However, it is a rule of life that we always sacrifice anything to achieve our primary motive, so in making the obtaining of results our primary motive, we will make our Gospel presentation as shallow as it has to be in order to get the person's response. Neither is it good to have, as your primary motive, a burden for souls. We should be concerned about the lost, but the only primary motive that is acceptable is that our lives are witnesses to others because we love the Lord Jesus Christ and seek to glorify Him by our obedience. This primary motivation will enable us to truly be Christ-like witnesses.

2. DON'T BE IN A HURRY.

Be Patient. Dr. Bart Brewer has said, "No farmer plows, sows, and reaps in 20 minutes." Because the mind of a Roman Catholic has been conditioned differently, he will not even understand many of the things you say to him. Don't think, "I have given him twenty minutes of my 'precious time', What does he expect? I'm responsible for evangelizing this whole town, and I can't spend more time with him." We often have to learn to build relationships to effectively evangelize. This is not to say that a person cannot get saved in 20 minutes, but if it takes longer, be willing to spend time in the scriptures; don't become obnoxious, but lovingly, clearly explain God's plan of salvation. Don't give up.

3. NEVER ASSUME THAT YOUR CATHOLIC FRIEND UNDERSTANDS YOU EVEN IF HE AGREES WITH YOU.

He recognizes that you seem to know a lot about the Bible, and, rather than admit he doesn't know something that would give you an opportunity to prove him wrong from the Bible, he might agree with everything you say. Also, many Catholics are taught to use biblical terminologies and may seem to agree with you. But remember they have our vocabulary but not our dictionary. For help along this line, send for our Definition Chart.

Expressions like "let Jesus into your heart", "trust Christ", etc. can sound desirable to a Roman Catholic. He may think that by doing something like this and praying with you, he will be taking a giant step toward Heaven. He must understand that you are not offering him a push in the right direction; you are telling him of a completed work done by a perfect Saviour.

4. TRY TO KEEP FROM ARGUING

You must be willing to defend your faith biblically, and to give a reason for the hope that is within you, but an argument is seldom profitable. However, some Christians seem to think that Jesus said, "Go into all the world and win arguments with every creature." If you win an argument, you demonstrate how smart you are; if you preach the gospel, you are telling them how perfect Christ is.

5. DON'T KNOCK THEIR CHURCH

Some think that the greatest evangelistic weapon is to tell about the tunnels between convents and monasteries and the bones of babies found there. A priest would think this to be a ridiculous charge and ask, "Why would we bother to dig a tunnel? We just walk into a convent any time we want." A Catholic may even tell you that the immorality of some priests and even popes is a proof of the divine origin of the Catholic Church. Their reasoning would be that if you had a company with a hard-working, honest Board of Directors, it would succeed. The Catholic Church has some priests that are rascals, and even some popes who have been monsters, yet it still appears to succeed. This must mean God is with them.

Some Christians are shocked by priests' immorality, but when you have a group of unsaved men living in abnormal circumstances, you would expect them to take out their sexual frustrations either on the nuns or the altar boys.

6. BE LOVING

Catholics are not lost because they are awful people. Many are sweet, devout, sincere. Think of the tragedy of a mind being conditioned in youth and, because of this, being a slave to a satanic religious system. Make Paul's prayer your prayer, "My hearts desire ... is that they might be saved." Don't go with a slick, superior attitude, but ask God to give you a love for them that only He can give you.

7. BE BIBLICAL

Some profound logic or devastating argument that your mind has produced will accomplish nothing in true evangelism. The Lord Jesus appointed one Administrator of salvation, the Holy Spirit, Who convicts, reveals Jesus and baptizes into His Body. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17). If you give a testimony or use an illustration, be sure it is based on biblical truth. We must use the same weapon our Senior Partner in evangelism, the Holy Spirit, uses. The Bible is powerful. The entrance of God's Word gives light. All sinners are blinded by Satan, and a blind person does not need something more spectacular to look at, he needs some light with which he can see.

8. DON'T GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO DO

Without realizing their mistake, many people on visitation are trained to (1) get the person to repeat a prayer, (2) get him to walk the aisle on Sunday and (3) get him to be baptized. The Catholic person is already thinking "DO", and he might be willing to do those things if they will give him a better shot at Heaven. But while he is thinking "DO", he doesn't understand the work is DONE. If a person is led to Christ at home, encourage him to come to church. If the pastor gives a careful invitation and asks those who have responded to the Gospel message to come forward to bear witness to their new-found faith, if the Holy Spirit is really dwelling in him, he will respond. Truly saved people obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and in some way He will lead the new convert to publicly confess his salvation.

9. ANSWER HIS QUESTIONS.

For teaching on "Response Evangelism", send for the book DO/DONE. Never tell a sinner that you will answer his question later, as you might be missing the greatest opportunity to present the Gospel along a line in which he has already shown interest. If you don't answer his question, he will realize that you are not really interested in talking to him, and this, besides being very rude, is probably the easiest way to turn him off.

10. DON'T DWELL ON NON-ESSENTIALS

Send for the book Scriptural Evangelism which deals with how to change an argument into a positive witness of the Infinite Christ of the Bible. We can argue that our Catholic friend worships Mary, and end up fighting about the meaning of the old English word that our word "worship" comes from. We would certainly be better asking our Catholic friend if Mary is a mediator, and then pointing out to him that a mediator always makes peace between warring parties. Use Romans 5:1 to tell him about true reconciliation with God.

IV. Recognize The Centrality Of Christ And Calvary

A thorough study of Roman Catholic doctrine reveals that every theological error of Romanism is there because they do not have a biblical concept of Christ and His atoning sacrifice on Calvary. Therefore, at whatever point you evangelize, bring the discussion to Christ, and show His superiority over the religious concept of your Roman Catholic friend.

1. ASSURANCE.

We find this is a good place to start. Use 1 John 5:13 and ask your Catholic friend if he believes the Word of God. Then ask if he were to die in 3 years, would he go to Heaven. His uncertainty at this contrasts with God's Word, an you can testify of your assurance based on your perfect Saviour. If he claims to have some assurance, he will base it on one of several factors, as follows:

a. "God is so good He will send no one to Hell." The fact that God is faithful and loving assures eternal punishment for the wicked, for if God allowed sin into Heaven, it would soon be as bad as the earth.

b. I'll eventually get to Heaven via Purgatory. If this subject comes up, you have a golden opportunity to witness of Christ. Ask the Roman Catholic if he knows where Purgatory is, how long he'll be there, what kind of sufferings he'll endure. (No pope has ever defined any of these.) Ask him where it is in the Bible, then tell him of "God's Perfect Purgatory," the Cross of Christ. The Roman Catholic Bible says in Hebrews 1:3, "Christ has effected man's purgation from sin," and in 1 John 1:7 it assures us that the blood of Christ cleanses from sin. Ask him which cleansing he wants to trust, that in the mythical, hoped-for Roman Catholic Purgatory, or that effected for him by the Lord Jesus Christ.

c. "The sacraments of the Church will avail for me." Settle on any one sacrament, and ask your Roman Catholic friend if this guarantees salvation. The answer must be no. Then point out that the Lord Jesus Christ completely saves from sin.

2. THE MASS.

The Mass is an offering for sin. Even the frequent use of the term "memorial" in Roman Catholic definition means "the making effective today of an event of the past." The Mass, in which every priest prays for propitiation and absolution for all, is not eternally valid for it must be repeated next week. Use Hebrews 10:11-18 to contrast the completed work of Christ with the ineffectiveness of any priestly repetitive offering.

3. MARY.

Carefully point out that the need for another mediator would not have arisen if people understood the accessibility and love of Jesus (Mt. 11:28).

4. CONFESSION.

Roman Catholic Confession supposedly gives conditional absolution; the Lord Jesus Christ grants perfect and complete pardon (I Jn. 1:9).

You can plainly see that the real issue is the Christ of the Bible as a perfect complete Saviour vs. the "Christ" of Roman Catholicism, who is the administrator of a do-it-yourself, incomplete, hoped-for salvation, and never able to save or to give any assurance. Make this contrast the center of your witness.

V. Modern Roman Catholic Terminologies

"Jesus died for me." However, they do not understand the biblical truth of the substitutionary Atonement of Christ. They do not see any contradiction when they say "Jesus died for me" and, in the next breath, "I must do my best."

"I am saved by Grace." Roman Catholicism the teaches that Grace is God's enabling me to do the things necessary for my salvation. Biblical Grace is undeserved favor poured out for us at Calvary without respect to our works or actions.

"Heaven is a Free Gift." A Roman Catholic Catechism makes this statement, then explains that not only does God give Heaven as a free gift to man, He also gives man the extra blessing of allowing him to work for it. The same catechism (The Teaching Of Christ) goes on to say that Heaven will be more blessed because you worked to merit it.

"Born again" is either baby baptism or some religious experience that doesn't have, as its basis, the finished work of a perfect Saviour. Even after being "born again", Roman Catholics must go to Mass and Confession and "do their best."

"I'm sure of going to Heaven because God is doing such wonderful things in my life," was the testimony of Larry Quilici, Roman Catholic charismatic priest. The basis for our salvation is not what is happening in our lives, but what happened for us at Calvary.

Of course, it is possible for a Roman Catholic to use these terms and truly be trusting Christ for salvation. If so, we must help him see the contradiction in his continual involvement with Romanism, for the fact is, if he is truly trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, he is not really a Roman Catholic (see I above).

VI. What If People Get Mad?

Many shun witnessing to Catholics because sometimes they get mad, and we are often afraid of offending people and losing friendships. If you are a friend to a Roman Catholic, the proof of real friendship is caring. Do you care where your friend will spend Eternity?

Few Catholics get saved without getting mad first, for this is the natural reaction when they are challenged. Be sure you are loving in your approach, and then positively evangelize Roman Catholics.

If I can help you in any way, write: Dr. Bill Jackson, Box 99141, Louisville, KY 40269. Tel: (502) 297-9824; e-mail cecmotc@juno.com

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