Circumstances Converge, Part 2

(If you haven’t read Part 1 of this story, go back and start there.)

Hopefully what you were able to see from Part 1 was how the topic of Catholicism came at me from a few angles and I didn’t duck. I found the sequence of events interesting but it got a bit more interesting when the same topic came up in my real life (as opposed to my fake blogging life).

One of my friends at work is a cradle Catholic. She is not terribly religious or devout as far as being Catholic, but it is all she has ever known. A few months back upon learning that I am a non-Catholic Christian, she asked me a few questions about what exactly I believed (knowing basically nothing about Protestantism). Sometime later she asked me what my “religion’s” viewpoint was on Mary and from there we talked more about our own beliefs.

I won’t go into all the details now, but let’s just say I think it is highly unlikely that she is saved. At one point she said that she did believe in Jesus, but later balked when I said Jesus was the only way to heaven. She gave me the old “but what about the good people, I can’t believe God would send good people to hell” routine (“her God wouldn’t do that”). I asked her how she thought she could be a believer in Jesus if she didn’t believe the things he spoke. We went through some other apologetics-type stuff then the conversation ended.

Since that time, talk of religion was pretty much non-existent and I didn’t push it. But this week while I was discussing my issues with Catholicism on this blog (which came up by the circle of events I described in Part 1), what does my friend at work bring up but Mary! Why don’t we (Protestants) revere Mary? We debated whether or not Mary was worth such a high standing in the church and discussed some other differences between Catholics and Protestants, but Mary was the big one for her. She actually admitted that she has some issues with the Catholic Church, but she just doesn’t think she could be part of the Protestant religion because we don’t hold Mary in high enough regard.

Finally after much discussion she challenged me to provide her with bible verses to back up my opinion that Mary is not to be revered the way the Catholics revere her. What she didn’t know is that I have been having discussions about this very topic in my secret, fake blogging life and was more than up to the challenge. I am going to work on a little packet for her this weekend and pray that the verses I provide her cut through to her heart as scripture can. She goes hot and cold on me with this stuff so I’m not holding my breath but it is progress.

So while I said previously that I am sometimes apprehensive about saying that God was orchestrating certain circumstances in my life, this situation seems to have his Name all over it. I don’t know what will happen with my friend, but I am excited to be able to share my faith with her and pray for her (will you say a quick prayer for her also?).

Being critical of another faith, especially when talking to a person of that faith, can be difficult and can make you seem unloving, judgemental, holier-than-thou, a troublemaker, arguementative, etc. Maybe some people think that I discuss these more controversial topics for less than honorable reasons. But in these last few posts I have spoken what I believe to be the truth about the topic/circumstances that came my way with the same goal as always in faith matters - seeing the lost saved. If I had worried about how others may view me, I would have missed out.