Saving the Catholics

Much of our conversation on MoJ explores the Gospel's power to transform culture.  What happens if the focus on culture means that the individual never experiences that transformative power?  In other words, are there gaps in the current practice of Catholicism that warrant Protestant evangelism efforts geared specifically toward Catholics?  Here are recent comments by the Southern Baptist Mission Board President:

Rankin added that nearly 1,200 Southern Baptist missionaries continue to serve in 65 predominately Roman Catholic countries where 852 million people live.

“Why would we invest such efforts in Catholic countries? The answer is quite simple: It is because they are lost,” Rankin said. “The people may be identified as cultural Christians since that is their socio-religious profile, but most of them do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.... They, too, deserve an opportunity to hear, understand and respond to the life-changing message of the Gospel. They cannot be ignored in our commitment that all peoples would know our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The debate is raging over at Open Book.  (See here, here and here, along with the voluminous reader comments.)  In Amy Welborn's view:

North American Catholics can be easy pickings for evangelical Protestants for a number of reasons, and the reasons cited for leaving vary, but one of the big ones, aside from marriage and kids' programs, is the centrality of Christ. Is Christ preached in your parish? Is the life you and your fellow parishioners live now, in 2005, being actively engaged and enlightened by the Gospels and the richness and wisdom of 2000 years of tradition and, in the end, drawn to the reality of Christ in the Eucharist, here and now? Is Christ being preached as your savior, as the way, as the One to strengthen and guide you out of a place in which you are lost? Not in my parish, not in many parishes I've been in.

In my view, this is a context where the marketplace of religious experience has some value; if Catholics find the transformative power of the Gospel best embodied in the megachurch down the street, the burden should be on the local Catholic parish to recommit to constructing an authentic caring community, focusing especially on vibrant spiritual formation among adults; the burden should not be on the megachurches to keep their hands off Catholics.

Rob