Apologetic Power
Ego Bust
To become Catholic you become so small
Your theological convictions are trumped by another
You become a part of the lay class
You open yourself to bureaucratic abuses
Humility is non-negotiable
Identity crisis ensues
Obedience is learned apart from you being in control
Dissidence is tolerated and you can do nothing but blog ; )
Ego Burst
To be Protestant you are so big
Your theological convictions reach the stars
You are a Priest
No abuses, for you are King
Humility–what’s that?
I am whatever I think, without challenge
I wield the Holy Books without accountability
If dissidence is present, just leave
One is a mirage and the other is true. Many prefer the mirage. In fact, I prefer the mirage; the only problem is it is not true. No argument under heaven could even win a protestant to our side, unless truth was paramount to them. Would you prefer to be a serf or think you are a King?
I have seen a friend get hit by the Holy Spirit regarding the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. His response was that He could consecrate the host in the privacy of his own home. He’s an engineer smarter than I’ll ever be. No reasonable argument could sway him, and if I were honest this guy is pretty open to the touch of the Holy Spirit. He is disillusioned by the Protestant world, yet unbelief continues. We think too much of this is a wrangling over truth. I think not.
The battle fought is really over control and identity. It is more a sociological problem than a doctrinal problem. To battle over doctrine only feeds the ego of the crown. You dialogue them into an air tight case and the response is the deer in the head lights, with some irrational response, or weird justification. Like, God is doing something different now. Subjective experience wins over objective truth.
So we must go after the one thing they love, they value more than anything, even their ego bubble. That one thing is Jesus Christ Himself. We must drive it home, like a nagging spouse.
Use the early church Father’s, over and over again. Every conversation bring it back to Him.
CHRIST IS MADE INCARNATE ON THE ALTAR! CHRIST IS MADE INCARNATE ON THE ALTAR! CHRIST IS MADE INCARNATE ON THE ALTAR!
This is not argument but the one they love, their greatest sociological desire, waiting for them. He and HE alone is enough to bust the ego. If this gets in then they will have to wrestle in their own way. There are always exceptions. A remnant love the truth where ever it leads them, but this is not common to man.
Jesus Christ is the desire of all men; only in Him shall they be moved. He is the pearl of great price and the appeal to them begins and ends with Him.
“This is my body broken for you,” is our apologetic that breaks through every argument to heart of the cross. He is power, friends! He is our apologetic to win our separated brethren over. I say this with tears of the heart, brothers and sisters. He is our apologetic. “This is my blood shed for you.”