Christians (whether they are really Christians or not) are majorly divided into two groups – Catholics and Protestants.
A few centuries after the Church was birthed, Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire; terrible corruption then entered the Church. Men and women who were pagans professed to be Christians yet they had not experienced a true conversion. They did so in order to gain wealth, and government positions of influence. This also meant that political power was to be attained by becoming a leader in the Church. Therefore, pagans masquerading as Christians brought with them all manner of occult practices into the Church. Christmas and Easter are a few of the demonic celebrations that were a little modified to appear biblical.
Furthermore, the Scriptures were removed from the life of the Church. They were read in Latin, which the majority of the common people could not understand. Yet this was not the worst of the sad news that befell the Church as when the Bishop of Rome became the Vicar of Christ. That meant that the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, had the same power and authority that Christ had over the Church – he was the earthly representative of God or Christ. When a mere man residing in Italy assumed the role of Christ, it meant that he was infallible and that no one could access God unless they went through him!
Thankfully, not all men were stupid. As the Church descended into the darkness of heresy, there was a remnant, those who insisted that Jesus is the Head of His Church. These Godly people who lived by the guidance of the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit refused to bow down to man. Many died as martyrs, even as they refused to idolize the Pope.
At the height of that stupidity, God raised a man – Martin Luther, to start what we now call the Reformation. Luther desired a return to sound doctrine and the “reinstatement” of Jesus as the real Head of the Church. Together with those who were like-minded, he taught that all men have access to God through Jesus Christ, and that they do not need any human mediator. Obviously, that got the reformers in trouble with the powers that were. Luther’s protests gave birth to the Protestant movement that is still alive today.
Sadly, many of us Protestants have now become Roman Catholics even though we hate all that the Pope represents. Our extreme beliefs and practices are in so many ways a return to the depravity from which we were delivered. History is being repeated by those who do not know it. As the Bible says, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 1:9.
In his Word for the Week (Week 43, 2016), Rick Joyner writes, “We may condemn the Catholics for what we perceive as the worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Yet we often elevate worshiping the temple of the Lord, the church, more than the Lord of the temple. So in a sense, we are doing the same thing. We may condemn Catholics for venerating and praying to the saints, but we have not stopped exalting men of God over God at times. We may condemn the catholic church for the selling of indulgences (the purchasing of the grace of God with money),but for a long time it was hard to turn on Christian television without seeing the selling of charismatic indulgences – the promise that if a person gave to a ministry, God would bless that person in a special way.”
As the Church of God, our desire should be to stay spiritually balanced in our beliefs and practices. Men and women of God must be honored, but not above their God, especially since they are essentially that – just men and women. Also, if your man or woman of God is not my man or woman of God, do not count me a heretic. Within the body of Christ, there are smaller families with leaders. That means, your spiritual family does not have to be mine; and your leader does not have to be my leader, though I will always honor him or her as a servant in the wider body of Christ. And let me add: it is not true that God will not bless me if I do not treat your man or woman of God the way you rightly do. In God’s design of things, my blessing could be with another servant of God on another continent. Please let us be spiritually sensible.
One of the things the Catholic Church did was to get people out of the Word of God. That meant that the reading of the Bible by the common people was greatly discouraged. Only what the Pope said counted. Today, God is blessing Uganda with prophets and the prophetic movement. Sadly, many people are not rightly responding to this shower of blessing. We are spending all our time running after prophets, yet we do not create even a minute to read the Bible. We need both, prophets and the Word. In fact, only the Word as inspired by its Author the Holy Spirit will keep us on track. Balance is required.
The list concerning how Protestants are practicing Catholicism is endless, but it must stop.
God bless you.