Quote:
Originally Posted by OnHisPath
Nope, that's not where my logic leads at all. Christ spoke against those who were self-righteous, prideful and trusted in their own works to save themselves while disdaining others. Many Pharisees were in this camp. But it wasn't the name "Pharisee" that was at issue. It was the state of their heart and their unbelief. Remember, some Pharisees did believe.
My logic is illustrated in Luke 18 when the Pharisee and tax collector prayed very different prayers, and only one went home justified.
As Christians, we should all be begging God to be merciful to us, not pointing out the way everyone else sins and the way we believe we are "right" or even "ordained". As a Christian, I am one with the Christ in every other believer, no matter how nominally or incorrectly I believe they practice their faith. I don't have to agree with their practice, or copy their practice, or even participate in their practice at all. But I don't judge where the Lord has led them up to this point in their lives. When it's clear that they indeed have Christ in them, we are one. I am not Catholic and I wouldn't bow to a statue of Mary, but I am one with Catholic believers who trust in Christ.
Why do you think asking what denomination someone attends is divisive? I love finding out where others fellowship and attend church. But I'm coming from a viewpoint that we are already one. Maybe that's the difference.
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But you are not one with the Catholic in practice, because they would never take communion with you unless it was in the Catholic mass, and they would never take mass in your home for example, without a Catholic priest. So your idea of oneness is a fantasy that cannot be realized in practice unless they remove themselves from the Catholic church, unless they remove themselves from that degraded system. I am not talking about the spiritual truths but the practical reality.