A Protestant's Experience with a New Pope

3/14/2013

Leaving the mall yesterday, coffee in my hand, I walked quickly to my car. A few white snowflakes drifted by my eyes. Having been rather consumed the papal conclave, my immediate thought was, "I wonder if these are white ashes indicating a white smoke?"

I laughed to myself when I got in the car, at about 2:10, turned to the news radio station, and heard the wild applause. I knew what it meant, and it was all I could do not to start beeping my car horn to help them celebrate. Just five minutes or so prior, white ashes were indeed floating around St. Peter's Square.

I sat in traffic on the way home with butterflies in my stomach, waiting for the new pope to be announced. It took FOREVER! (about an hour, but it seemed so long, because they kept saying he would come out in about 10 minutes.)

Nervous. Why was I so nervous? I'm not Catholic.

"The Pope is for everybody," I have heard said many times before. I used to scoff, thinking how nice it was of these folks to share, but I didn't want any.

But now, I think I might be starting to get it a little. I am not Catholic, but I am part of the catholic church. In the sense I am using, "catholic" (the one with the lower-case "c") means "broad" or "wide-spread." Catholicism is a part of the Christian catholic church, and so am I.

I have one unshakable belief: Jesus Christ, Son of God died in my place to atone for my sins. He did that because He and the Father, who are One, love me and have given me that gift to spend eternity with them in Heaven. There is no other Way.

If you call yourself a Christian, hopefully that is what you believe as well. If you are Catholic, you probably call yourself Christian as well, and that would make you my brother or sister in Christ. I rejoice with you.

So, who is the Pope to me? Hard to say, as it is not my church. That's how I see him -- as the leader of the Catholic church. I attend a church with a phenomenal pastor. He preaches the Word of God as absolute Truth, and he practices the love of Christ to all of his sheep.

I am excited because another Christian church is getting a leader who appears (from what I have seen) to have a similar loving expression for those in his enormous fold. I love the "idea" surrounding Pope Francis, that of simplicity and poverty. He appears to champion humility, a Biblical principle that the Son of Man demonstrated when he washed the feet of even the man who was going to betray him. He has a heart for the poor, which was also something we saw as Jesus found abandoned lepers to heal, and even a man who lived in a pig's wallow.

I like him. I have no idea what the hope is for his policies and such. There is plenty in the Catholic church that I do not necessarily agree with. I'll steer clear of all that discussion. But the bottom line is that members of a Christian church need to represent Christ. They should have a leader to show them what it looks like.

There has been talk about walls coming down because he is not European. But I hope that when Pope Francis was selected, the Cardinals weren't thinking about that. I hope they were looking at his heart and choosing who they thought God had ordained to lead this church.

I ask God to bless the new pope, Pope Francis I.

15 Comments

Sharon Abendschoen link

3/14/2013 11:04:53 am

I particularly applaud the Pope "name" he chose--honoring Francis of Assisi--the humblest of the humble who could commune with the "lesser creatures" of God's good earth!

Jessi link

3/14/2013 11:06:30 am

Great post!! I love your sentiments, and agree wholeheartedly. How wonderful when we can be excited for our brothers and sisters, as opposed to always looking to widen the "them vs us" divide. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!!

Tracy

3/14/2013 03:57:04 pm

Thanks, Jessi. I agree. It's about Jesus. If you are a Catholic who has accepted Jesus as Savior, you are a Christian in my book. Period.

George Gibson

3/14/2013 11:10:08 am

God bless him,indeed.He has a monumental task in front of him.He'll need all the prayers he can get.Like you,I'll leave the theological errors of his denomination to the professional theologians & listen to Pastor Barry.Excellent piece.

3/14/2013 12:45:31 pm

Historic Protestant View of the Pope
Historically Protestants have been very critical of the papacy as an institution. They have rejected the papacy for its theological claims and for its tyrannical exercise of power over the churches.

Rome’s Claim #1: The Bishop of Rome is the earthly head of the whole church.
Protestants have wanted to show historically and theologically that this claim is invalid. They have argued that the papacy is not a 2000 year old institution. Even if Peter did minister and die in Rome, it can not be demonstrated that he was bishop there in the Roman Catholic sense of that word. For Rome a bishop is a separate office in the church superior to the ministers (or priests) who serve under him. If Peter was a bishop in Rome, he was bishop in a New Testament sense where bishop is simply another term for minister or elder (see Titus 1:5-7). In I Peter 5:1 Peter simply refers to himself as a “fellow elder.”

Certainly many churches in the first five hundred years of the history of the church did not recognize a sovereign authority in the bishop of Rome. The churches of Eastern Orthodoxy have never recognized such a claim, and many churches in the western part of the Roman empire during those early centuries did not recognize them either.

Rome’s Claim #2: Peter is the rock on which the whole church is built.
Roman Catholics have argued that Jesus indicated that the church is built on Peter as its rock, appealing to Matthew 16:18, 19. Peter (Petros) confesses that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus responds that on this rock (petra) he will build his church. Most Protestants have insisted that Jesus the Christ is the rock on which the church is built. (Some argued that Peter as the confessor and believer in Christ stood for the faith of the church and in that sense was the rock.) Peter in his first epistle sees Jesus as the rock, calling Jesus the rock of offense (I Pet. 2:8). Also the keys of the kingdom given to Peter in Matthew 16 are not uniquely given to him, for Matthew 18:18 shows that they are given to all the disciples.

Even if Peter were the head of the entire church and the rock on which the church is built as the leading apostle, that fact would not demonstrate that Peter’s power could be passed on to anyone else. Only Jesus makes apostles, and even Rome grants that the office of apostle does not continue in the church beyond the first century.

The Pope as Antichrist: In Europe during the Middles Ages voices were raised against the claims of the Bishop of Rome. Some medieval Christians—notably radical followers of St. Francis of Assisi and of John Hus—argued that the pope was in fact the Antichrist because of his power, wealth and corruption. The pope’s use of military power, his accumulation of vast wealth and various moral scandals in the Vatican all seemed to support this belief.

The conviction that the pope was the Antichrist was held by almost all Protestants in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. When the pope refused to support reformation in the church and began to use the power of his office to persecute the advocates of reform, Luther concluded that the pope was Antichrist. Most other Protestants followed Luther in that belief.

3/14/2013 04:09:52 pm

Interesting thoughts about the AntiChrist. It really could be anyone, and I see how someone with that kind of power and following could be given a second glance. But doesn't the Bible say that he would be born in Europe, as the Americas will have no part in the end times? I have no Scripture to back that up, just what I remember being taught. (You might know better than I, and I'm sure you've done your research, Martin Luther. ;) )

I, myself, am not Catholic. And I have too many issues with the tenants of that sect to ever consider it. However, I do have born-again Christian friends who attend Catholic churches. And in reverse as well, I have seen some people in Protestant churches who have some mixed up theology. But what I am looking at is the election of a new leader in their church, much like receiving a new pastor. I know nothing is going to change in the Catholic church, but I am very happy to see that their leader is a humble man who wants to help the needy.

OK, that said, if things start to change, and suddenly there is a 10-nation conglomerate, I will recant and run!

3/14/2013 01:01:52 pm

Please review this
http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/

3/15/2013 05:13:35 am

Again let's break your statement into bullet point .
*Antichrist coming being born in Europe
- the bible doesn't really teach that, there is a lot of imagery that could allot to that but if it comes from Europe or not is doesn't really makes a difference but we know He (the antichrist) will be reveal because the scriptures say so (Rev 13:1-18 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) .
*You say "you have no scripture to back it up but this is what I remember being tough"
- You as a Protestant need to be able to back up your statement with scriptures as Peter said in 1 Pet 3:15 .
*You have a lot of friends that are born again that are catholic
- I will not question their salvation that is between them and God but we must understand 2 basic things. 1: what does it mean to be born again, we must read John 3:1-15 and John 14:6 when the scriptures teach us about the requirement for salvation to be more specific we need to put our faith in Christ ALONE , Rom 5:1 / Rom 3:28 / John 5:24 talks to us about faith, how we are save by Faith ALONE. 2- The other point we must consider is what is the position of the Catholic Church when it comes to those fundamental doctrines in order to do that we need to look at their confessions and documents. The bible teaches that we are save by faith Alone the catholic church teaches that if we believe that we are anathema as stated in the council of Trent canon 9 "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema." , see also CANON 12 thru 33 ( http://carm.org/council-trent-canons-justification).
* You say " And in reverse as well, I have seen some people in Protestant churches who have some mixed up theology"
. You are correct people that have a low view of scripture a good example of that is Joyce Meyer that has proven time and time again that she is a false teacher (http://carm.org/joyce-meyer).
So in closing you appear to be a person with some influence to others by your writing but keep in mind the Roman Catholic doctrine is oppose to scripture and it is against the fundamental teaching of the bibles since they bring a different Gospel (See Gal 1:9). So how can a protestant be happy when a person comes in with another gospel not the biblical gospel.

anonymous

3/15/2013 08:12:05 am

ML, the protestant church has had MORE than it's own share of messed up doctrines. I don't think that this blog is the place to bullet point them, any more than it's a place to bullet point the catholics. Might I suggest doing this type of thing on your own blog, instead of trying to commandeer someone else's?

3/15/2013 09:20:36 am

Anonymous , Well lets define Protestantism. Protestant is not everything that is not Roman Catholic. Protestant are those that believe in the teaching of scriptures as articulated by the reformers and even some before their time. Now it could be argue that some branches of those that identify then self as Protestants have forsaken the the true teaching of scripture then you have the majority of famous teachers now (TD jakes, Rick Warren, ETC) that want to call then self Protestant but in reality they are false teachers.
The author of this article identify her self as Protestant and she made some statements in public in support of a religious system that supports a false gospel and this statements were made in a public forum so they need to be corrected in public .

Lori

3/15/2013 10:01:53 am

First of all, as a Catholic, I would like to thank Tracy for her kind words about our Holy Father. We truly are brothers and sisters in Christ as we walk this journey of life together.
M.L., while I appreciate your passion for your beliefs, I am taken aback by your claims of our lack of a biblical gospel. Just some Catholic facts: In a three year cycle (which includes daily mass), we read the entire Bible. How is this not biblical gospel? We have the longest unbroken line of papal shepards that are traced back to Jesus. Jesus said what he meant and meant what he said that Peter was the rock on which He would build His Church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Tradition was established by the Apostles long before the scripture of the New Testament was recorded.
ML, we do put our faith in Christ alone as we receive Him, body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. And that's in the Bible too, check out John 6.
God Bless and may the Holy Spirit guide you in Truth.

Karen

3/15/2013 03:00:10 pm

I also enjoyed your post. Thank you for the respectful support you give to our new Pope Francis. You did not make any statements that needed to be corrected. Some of ML 's statements do. Catholicism does not support a false gospel. If anyone is interested in learning what the Catholic Church actually teaches and why please go to a solid Catholic source such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church not someone who is responding to a blog. Other great resources to consider are Catholic Answers.com or Askacatholic.com.

3/16/2013 04:18:45 pm

Here's my thought.
What is the bottom line here? ML - It sounds to me like you would like to point our eyes to the need to evangelize to those who do not know that Christ is our Savior. I agree that is what we should be doing. But to me - and I will underline here that my way is NOT the universally correct way - telling people about Jesus is about finding the people who do not know Jesus as their Savior and explaining that He is. We are not going to be able to take an entire church, especially a church of a billion people, and reform them. Because, it seems that there are plenty of people, like Lori and Karen, who know that Jesus is the Way. Sure there are plenty who do not, and our job, as I see it, is approaching people one by one - people from the Catholic church, people from the Mormon church, people from the Baptist church, and people from no church - and give those people the Gospel of Christ (if they don't already have it.)

I didn't answer anyone's questions there, I guess. I'm sorry if it doesn't seem like enough. But it's all I have right now.

Michelle

3/16/2013 04:32:22 pm

Tracy, I feel that your post was very insightful, encouraging and unifying. Rather than being divisive, you shined the light on our common bond of Christ. In response to ML's litany of disagreements, I applaude your passion but I disagree with your "facts". As Karen said, examine your sources. Also, examine your heart. If your passion is truly for the gospel, than you would peel the scales from your eyes and be delighted to find that the Catholic Church is nothing but the gospel. Have you ever been to Mass? Don't go with a fight in your heart, go with a question in your mind and ask God to reveal to you what you are missing. It is interesting that you use the Sacred Scriptures to attack the very church that gave them to you. Ironic, but don't fear, because I also felt the Catholic Church was off base, until I investigated it as an adult and found that many of my "issues" were actually misconceptions that I was fed by misinformed non-catholics. I hope you put your fists down and really open your mind and heart to the possibility that the church that Jesus started was, is and always will be. He is waiting for you to stop sling mud at Him and His people and see for yourself what a good job He did in establishing His Body here on earth.

3/17/2013 09:46:15 am

You held up well there,Tracy.I think ML may have been Martin Luther himself.My hope is the new Pope upholds his name.Francis of Assissi is one of my heroes of the faith.RC theology is riddled w/unn=ecessary extras;but Francis cared nothing for these.Il Poverello was the friend of the poor & weak;quite a contrast from the wealthy merchant family he was born into. I'm sure RK explained the errors quite well.The "Little Poor Man of Christ"cared for none of that.

Passion Under Grace