I am 69- non-denominational most of my adult life. I have been Catholic for 4 years. My mission is to help Catholics come alive in their faith as I grow in my new way of seeing the Gospel- through Catholic theology. My prior experience has not been cast aside. I am a Charismatic Catholic.

My late uncle, a Catholic, was amazing at reaching people. In the last year of his life, he moved to a new city, and within weeks he was already making friends not only at the local parish, but everywhere he went. He was always one to strike up a conversation and couldn't neglect to mention God in a noninvasive way. If you knew him, you knew he was a Catholic and wanted to share his Faith with all. I do, of course, agree that this is rare in the Catholic Church, but having a role model in the family has inspired me to live this way.

As a lifelong Catholic I would just say that we probably should do better to evangelise. However i cringe at thinking about approaching people in the mall and asking someone if they are saved. I hate when people do that. The way I evangilize is wearing a cross on display when I can and also doing my best to conduct myself in Christian virtue and with joy. Then if someone asks me the source of my peace and joy I point them to the Eucharist. My spritual food for the week.

This is where I’ve been for years. Some of us have simply lost our first zeal/love trying to prove ourselves and “be correct” so much that we have forgotten what everything is about and it’s not us. May we be all stripped of our idols and conceit. God Bless.

It's interesting to observe the Evangelicals who convert to Catholicism. Men like Scott Hahn and Peter Kreeft, for example, really took that spirit into their new context.

Protestantism works very well for evangelization because most Protestants seem to take Paul's concept of missions quite seriously: they resolve to know nothing but Christ, and him crucified. For good or ill, protestants don't have an 800-word catechism you have to learn to be equipped to tell people about Christ and what he has done.

Orthodox do not think of the Church as an institution. They would say that's a more Roman way of thinking about ecclessiology. Frankly, alot of missiology, especially in the US, is framed by Evangelical Fundamentalist presuppositions about the nature of salvation.

I grew up non-denominationally Protestant & was baptised Orthodox in 2002 at the age of 23. I had a sense then of where God was calling me to in terms of mission, but it's really only been in the last couple of years where some of that is coming into clearer focus. While I do believe that there's a portion of this that casts a wider net, so to speak, what has really become clear is that a lot of the most important work is with people we already know, from, say, meeting with a friend who is having a difficult time in life for coffee on a regular basis, to calling an old widow who is nearly shut in, to being very kind to clerks in stores, etc. As simple as some of that sounds, a lot of that just doesn't happen in American Christianity these days - we're looking for something more "important" - it takes humility to keep covering those "un-glamorous" bases.

This is so important. Evangelism is our mission, not sheep stealing. I understand wanting to correct error, but Jesus is our Lord.

A fair and valid point. I feel it as a former Protestant and a Catholic . The Catholic Church was aware of this and JPII called for the “New Evangelization ”. But it has to date, not taken life broadly, at least in the US Church. I think it will because we can’t just rely on handing it down in the family anymore as all the parish mergers and closures are demonstrating. Ironically (or hopefully) I saw the most 20 and 30-year-old males coming into or involved in the church in my last parish. That parish in NYC was a Dominican parish with a liturgy much like St John Cantius Novus Ordo (with occasional Dominican Rite which is basically the TLM). And relatively intellectual preaching but which could also be very personal with evangelical urgency depending on which Friar was preaching . When I went to the coffee hour as a boomer, I was in the minority. The majority were in mid 20’s to mid 30’s . I met one former “none” coming into the Church a year ago at Easter . He was late 20’s and interestingly his wife is a lapsed Catholic and at the time of his joining was still not attending mass . But he was very committed and also was not overly disturbed by her current non- belief . He seemed to have a trust in Providence . He also was very smart and had a great sense of humor. He gave me a lot of hope for the future . As did the others (who were very involved in the liturgy as basically older acolytes - cross bearers, candle bearers , incensers , etc)

This was a great video! Coming from Protestantville, I totally understand what you're saying. In fact, when I knew Catholicism was the way to go, I went and found a priest and was discussing with him. One thing I asked was, what about the Gospel? So, this is my experience: I felt as you do about a certain box that we are in (as Protestants) and that things may seem clear about certain things (such as the need to share the Gospel) and that perhaps when you look into Catholicism, you don't see that. But, having gone through that now, I can see why. In Catholicism, it is a vast ocean! There are various places that you will end up as your vocation or just which area of the Church you will end up (using your gifts and talents in that area). And there are many different devotional practices, and it can first be overwhelming and you don't know where to start or which to do, or you start by doing too many, etc. So, I say, continue, follow your conscience, and when you come into the Church, you won't be disappointed and you will actually forget about some of those things you thought were super important, or, you will actually implement some of those things in the Church when you join. God bless.

One of the reasons I care so much for theology is exactly because of new converts. Because if you save people, you light a fire in them to know Christ, to know the truth. And if then you introduce them to a shallow or self-contradictory understanding of Scripture, Christ, etc. those people find it hard to keep the faith, and their state becomes worse than before. Some do join more traditional expressions of faith instead, but not as many as we would like. Also I like how Ralph Martin spoke once on PwA that the Church needs new converts. The Body of Christ is not complete without you. The Catholic Church won't make your evangelization weaker, but it will give you a nuclear arsenal of theology to enlighten the mind with God's wisdom, devotions to soften your heart to God's love and Sacraments to strengthen the will with Christ's fortitude. Granted that after conversion you shouldn't be in a hurry to evangelize, but you should take care to fill your own soul with the riches God has bestowed, so that evangelization naturally comes as an outflow of Christian life, and an overflow of internal spiritual peace. (Also the first people you'll need to evangelize might be your own lukewarm brethren in the pews 😅.)

Our perspective changes with age. 40+ years in evangelicalism and unfortunately the data (Pew / Barna) confirms my experience: a lot of seed is being spread on rocky / thorny (aka shallow) ground, and many of those we've seen baptized will likely not cross the finish line. Many people "convert" in their youth, only to fall back into non-belief as they get older. What counts is how many people actually FINISH the race: all church success should be measured not by converts or baptisms, but how many people pass on as active members of the church, thus finishing the race. It's no coincidence that many non-denominational churches are primarily composed of a younger demographic. A truly healthy church ideally should be filled with elder members who've spent decades there. Currently an Orthodox inquirer after wrestling for 2 decades with feeling that something was deeply "wrong" in evangelicalism. I currently believe what is "wrong" goes beyond evangelicalism to Protestantism itself. Not sure where my future leads, but God is faithful and promises to reward those who diligently seek Him. Let us never stop seeking the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

You probably already know this, but if you judge Orthodoxy based off of Orthodox Christians' activity online, you will end up with a distorted picture of the Church. Probably a majority of my church's recent converts were atheists, pagans, or otherwise irreligious. I think the main reason there is so much focus on evangelicals by some Orthodox is because they are some of the loudest critics of Orthodoxy and answering their critiques feels like low-hanging fruit. Have there not been many evangelicals that have focused on converting Catholics? As an aside, I agree with you that Orthodoxy in the modern day struggles with this, but I don't think it is without good reason. Most of the centers of Orthodoxy have undergone significant persecution over the past 1,000 years (Russia under the communists, Constantinople under the Ottomans, the Middle East under ISIS, etc.), which takes a toll on a people. Many of our people are still recovering from this. Evangelicalism, by contrast, has its primary centers in first world countries with plentiful resources and minimal persecution, which makes it much easier to fund and focus on global missions.

I did have this question in my head early in my journey to Catholicism. I was coming from a very good Protestant church that had great worship and great preaching and was impacting people positively. I especially struggled with married pastors. If they became Catholic would they be as effective for the Kingdom as they are now? One of the things that answered my questions was what happened as time went on. These protestant communities struggled. They split apart over questions related to homosexuality. That really was not a big issue 20+ years ago when I converted so I did not see this coming. So yes, those folks would have clearly done better if they became Catholic. Really what Protestants do is conversion lite. It is a powerful experience that lacks a solid theological foundation. It is rooted in bad doctrine about salvation. Just get them to say Yes to the initial conversion because that is all that matters. A foundation to last a lifetime is simply not on offer. The community is the key and the community does not last. The church can split. Doctrinal questions are often dodged rather than answered. It all feels good. There is definitely some good there. The good feelings point to a good reality. Yet it is not enough to base a life on. I do think that if all evangelicals became Catholic it would be a good thing. IT would change the Catholic church for the better. You are right that those who have a passion for friendship evangelism tend to gravitate towards Protestant churches. We miss them in the Catholic church. As a former Protestant who knows what a few people who are really excited about evangelism can do for a church, I do wish we have a few of those in my parish. I believe it is God's will that they are there. We have just structured Christendom badly because we do not trust God and we want to make out lives easier. Lack of unity does make evangelism a losing game. As zealous as Protestants get, they cannot answer the fundamental incoherence of Protestant Christianity. The inability to discern which biblical interpretation is right in a non-arbitrary sort of way will always mean that the faith cannot survive real scrutiny. Catholicism grew before the reformation. It had answers it was confident in and they were actually true. Now Christianity presents as many different doctrines and no real way to choose. Terrible for evangelism.

You are right about this. I’m going to say this, right now and it’s hard to admit it. I converted to Catholicism and I regret it . Catholicism as a whole is beautiful but it’s failing it’s people miserably. Since converting , I have grown in some ways but I can’t remember the last time I shared the gospel with anyone. My mind is not active to the word of God as it used to be. I haven’t experienced that koinonia type of love in a year I’ve been Catholic. I met an evangelical the others day and truly I believe they were sent by God. My spirit has been renewed , my eyes opened, my hunger for His word has grown again and I understand the importance of the simplicity of the Gospel message once again. I went to a evangelical little non denomination church down the street from me once the other day and I’m telling you, there is a difference in the spirit of these Christian’s versus Catholics. It’s apparent . It breaks my heart to say it, and I don’t know what it is, but it’s like there is some type of disease in the modern Catholic Church. I think it’s because there’s so little emphasis on the written word of God. A bunch of people receiving the body of Christ every week and yet.. they don’t get excited about Jesus Christ and the gospel… I’m strongly considering leaving as sad as it makes me; I cannot take being around lethargic and dead Christian’s anymore . Life is too hard . I need to be fed with the written word in order my kind might be renewed and I might be able to resist the devil because lemme tell you, he’s been coming after me hard. And while this happened I begged God to give me wisdom and help and I find myself being so edified by Protestants in their proclamation of a Gods word, and their love . Just today , some Pentecostals were preaching on the side of the road and I heard them after praying to God for a sign that He sees me and I heard exactly what I needed to hear from them and I was prayed over. I’m not saying I don’t believe Catholicism is true. I believe there is very good reason to be Catholic but man, I just don’t think I can do it for the rest of my life with the church being how it is. I also want to talk about how I view the sacraments because I’ve thought about this for a bit now. Catholic confession IS biblical yes. But in my experience, it’s of little benefit when our minds are not daily being renewed by Gods word. How can I confess sins when I don’t know that I’m sinning? I know so many Catholics just go through the Ten Commandments before confession but we need to do so much more than that… if we are being fed MILK and not MEAT then it will be of little benefit to recieve the Eucharist ect. I always wondered WHY, HOW is it Catholics recieve the body and blood of Christ every week and yet they have NO zeal. NO desire to see souls be saved like talked about in this video. NO Christian brotherly love in the way we see Protestants are. There’s no effort put into convert in lost sinners as he stated in the video… even if you look online just on Instagram it’s true, all the Catholic accounts I follow are trying to convert Prots to Catholicism … all the Protestants are just trying to share the love and word of God and get sinners to come to Christ. It’s because the WORD OF GOD is not preached in the Church and therefore many of them know not God. Simple.. Wow I said a lot but do what you will with this info. lol

I think these differences are something very special. I am an American-Latino Catholic who loves the Orthodox liturgy and churches, and have close friendships with a large amount of protestants. All three branches have their own issues and their own benefits, but I very much think that it is for the greater good for the true church. One day, all Christians will unite in communion once again, and with that will bring their culture. I can only dream of a future church with a mixture of Orthodox attention to tradition and history and their strong connection to their saints, Catholic institutions with convents and massive religious education and a strong connection to Mary our queen, Protestant sense of mission and spreading of the word of God and their connection to Scripture, a fine mixture of all the strengths will one day make up the ONE, TRUE, UNIVERSAL, and APOSTOLIC CHURCH. One can only pray

I have been thinking about this for some time, Austin. You have a good point, really. The way I see it, Catholic (and, presumably, Orthodox) missions are movements of great effort and sweat, which modern times have not adapted well to tolerating. And this happens for a myriad of reasons. In these missions, priests and members of religious orders generally move to found villages or, where there are denser human occupations already (which tends to be the case), to start parishes or small monasteries/ religious communities that will lead the missionary work at the “ancient” speed of events, with the approaching of lay leaders in families to take on the missionary role altogether with the clergy and the religious fraternities. Religious schools are progressively founded. Just in this description one can see that the effort is almost Herculean - mostly if we see it from nowadays angles. On the contrary, full adaptability is a clear advantage of Modern evangelism: now it has tools that not only make the work easier, but instruments that make the old way of working kind of obsolete. The Catholic Church has been thinking this over, but she is a now giant ship, not a small barque. It takes time. For Evangelicals, a group of young people can move temporarily with a lot of faith and love to make preaching happen in the world, led by a more experienced pastor. There may be a rotation such as excursions paid for by the churches who are financially wealthier. They can train a local community leader in the act of pastoring, distributing pamphlets and Bibles and finally setting up temples for their religious services. Their “unpretentious” nature, alongside the enormous speed and gigantic scope of the work, ends up being a competitive advantage - mostly in areas of extreme poverty - when compared to Catholic missionary work to reach out for them. And the difficulties of the modern world (mainly the challenges of the cost of living and the appropriate choice of professional careers, which was not a primary concern before the 1960s) have made Catholic religious schools, due to their need for survival, little or no different from the secular ones, with just a few extra subjects and perhaps religious services within. Ideas such as volunteering are, on the other hand, innate in the lives of Evangelicals. This is following a rise in the Catholic lay apostolate, which has learned much from them. But it's still missing. I guess we all learn. So I don’t see it as Catholics “robbing” Protestant faithful or otherwise in those Evangelical communities: it is an act of love to want them to have the full expression of God’s love in the Catholic faith, at least from the Catholic angle and point of view. Evangelical missions in Latin America were moved, on the contrary, essentially by the wish to save “paganized Christians” who would go to hell because they followed a “false Gospel”, supposedly. The way I like to think is this: for one reason or another, God has permitted that the Reformation happened and that it tore down Christianity; then for sure He will grant the lesser evil or some good that otherwise couldn’t be achieved without the very fact of division to happen instead. That’s a kind of mild intellectual “Theodicy” that one has to personally embrace to understand why a good all-knowing God would permit the harsh reality of divisions. But unity is not eschatological, as someone was saying in another of your videos; division, actually is (when goats and sheep will be separated from one another), therefore we MUST seek unity - and the unity of Eucharist, under a bishop with apostolic powers and the universality of a Petrine ministry in confirming his brother apostles on the faith is (actually) the only one Jesus has taught us, at least from the strict Catholic point of view. It’s impossible to prevent us sharing it with everyone, as an act of genuine love. Yet we need always to humble ourselves and learn there is ALWAYS someone doing better than us.

You hit the nail on the head regarding mission and the ethos of Evangelicalism. I attend a non denominational church and a statement used to define our mission is love God love others and make disciples. Thankyou for your insight and why it not just about doctrinal issues.

"Why should God let Protestants become Catholics when many Protestants, perhaps most, already know Christ more intimately and personally than many Catholics, perhaps most! How can God lead Protestants home to the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church until the Catholic Church becomes that fullness that they knew as Protestants plus more, not any less! When Catholics know Christ better than Protestants do, when Catholics are better Protestants than Protestants, then Protestants will become Catholics in order to become better Protestants!" -Dr. Peter Kreeft

Enjoying these solo videos, nice work! 👏🏻

Great commentary! I had an epiphany recently-The Church today _isn't divided!!_ The Church today _is united!!_ We are all sharing the same mission. We are all intending to love the same God. Sure, there's many institutions. Sure, there's variations on statements of belief. But these are 'forms', not the essence. Because the real issue is: what is the principle of Christian unity? "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am." Let's not make this more complicated than it is! When we do that we get sidetracked to secondary matters like allegiance to one team versus another. But in Christ we are all the same team!! Anyone who has been moved to repentance and love of God by Christ is a "member" of his Body. Every member has a different role to play. God is the master of the universe: this diversity is not a _mistake._ We are all being transformed and transforming others in unique ways. Our diverse efforts combined are better than our efforts merely conformed to one model! Christian YT and this channel is a perfect example: it demonstrates (even if we're debating) that we are unified in seeking the truth of God in Christ. My point is: maybe we just need a broader outlook on, a better _concept_ of unity to see that, actually, the denominations aren't divided like our human mind thinks. Christ is clearly working in different ways through _all_ these avenues. Justification and sanctification is a multi-front battle for sure! I say this to encourage anyone who laments Church "disunity". Perhaps with just a little shift in perspective we could rejoice in the immense symphony of Christian movements and see: there is no division if Christ is the center and principle of our being... 🙏🙏🙏

I 100% agree with you. Thank you for making this video. Imagine a world where the Roman Catholic zeal for converting Protestants and arguing against Sola Scripture was surpassed by their zeal to seek and save the lost.

I am a member of a local non denominational and share the sentiments here regarding evangelism and missions (this is something our church excels at along with biblical exposition, people on fire for the Lord, great worship music, big families modeling Christian homes, excellent fellowship with love and unity, small groups/bible studies and a great Pastor/Elders). I also go to mass as my wife is Catholic and frankly I do not see much of these attributes there. It seems like many going through the motions of their holy day of obligation.

This is so refreshing! I’ve found such a beautiful balance in my Anglican Church now in the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina where we are steeped in our tradition AND are committed to planting churches and teaching the unchurched/dechurched neighborhoods. The two shouldn’t me mutually exclusive but sadly it often becomes so.

As an upcoming student at Moody (familiar name to you 😉) and studying Intercultural Missions, I’ve felt encouraged by your explanation of why we should live on mission. Not only have you talked about it from a somewhat theological standpoint, but I’ve come to realize that it should be practical common sense that we should be the church and outwardly approach the unreached with the Gospel. However, that practical common sense of living on mission seems to be “fogged” up a little bit, if that makes sense; and your video / explanation has really provided transparency that others should hear. Nailed it on the spot! 🙌

I think on-fire Protestants entering the Catholic Church is sooo good for the evangelization of unbelievers. Protestants generally are more enthusiastic about their faith and bringing that into the Catholic Church will reignite it.

This is definitely a topic that I feel like doesn't get enough attention. Great video!

Great video. It is amazing to hear that over 100 people were baptized in your church last year!

Austin, perhaps you should look more into the existing AND New Evangelization entities already present WITHIN the Catholic church; ACTS, Family Apostolate, parishes with schools, Knights of Columbus, Cursillo, etc just to name a few Nationally known ones; there are sub-organizations out there suited for any person/couple/family at there state and stage in life. Mission/Evangelization is an integral and intertwined portion of the full life of an active Catholic - and not just something that happens at 'Mass'.

I know this is a really complex conversation, and I don't mean to address it superficially, but well, this is just a comment section, right? That said, I'm going to try to be straightforward and skip details as much as I can, so bear in mind there's much more to it than what I'm going to say. When I was a protestant I was involved in missions, music, teaching and discipleship. When I realized the truth (that I should never have become a protestant, and now I should just come back home and be in full communion with the Church), I didn't do that disregarding the importance of all the work I had been doing for the previous 25 years or so. Instead, I knew that responding to the truth was the number one thing to do, but there were many other things to be taken into account following that. So what I first did was to take care of my own soul, entering into full communion with the Church and submitting my ideas to the universal magisterium. Then, I took the steps needed to start receiving the sacraments. There. That's when I started praying about and looking for ways to be useful (in the Catholic conext) using the gifts Christ gave me - which should have always been used in the context of the One Church. This is what I have been doing, and (obviously) not only me but countless converts I have been in touch with - friends, acquaintances or people I've just met. I believe the key for understanding this matter is to see it this way: It's (really) not about Protestants doing something that the Catholic Church doesn't do. It's about us, as Protestants, realizing that WE ARE catholics in imperfect communion with the Church, now, coming back home and humbly finding ways to keep developing the service for which we were personally (or as groups) appointed by God. So I don't see missions (or any other topic) as a barrier to honestly responding to the truth. Quite the contrary: realizing the truth will help you to take a path of humility towards serving the Body of Christ, which you should have been doing since the begining anyway. This is how it works for me. I am currently involved in activities friends and I have been developing that allow us to be faithful to each of our vocations, just that, now, in communion with the Church. If every convert sees himself as someone who (out of ignorance, of course) had been dedicating his time, energy and resources to respond to a vocation in an imperfect way, they will find ways to do that, now, the right way, instead of hesitating. Again - it's not about what Catholics do vs. what Protestants do. It's about coming back to Unity around the truth and contributing with our gifts, all as (truly!) One Body!

I think it definitely depends on the church. At my RCIA class there were, of course, protestants converting, but there were several that used to be atheists too. I've also seen those within the Catholic Church that feel the pull to street evangelism. I also remember in my RCIA class that they said all the people (Catholic or not) in the local bishop's jurisdiction were his responsibility to bring to the Lord. I think they also know that the Lord works in everyone's heart in the way they need. Most people are not going to be converted by street evangelism, but by seeing generosity and lives changed in the living out of the gospel. I do also think that the church would have an easier time converting unbelievers if we were all one as Christ wanted for his Church. He didn't want division among us.

I admire what has been done to bring these questions to light in this video. But from the Catholic perspective, I would like to point out a few things that Austin is not taking into consideration. For one thing there are organizations like Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services that are boots on the ground, working with homelessness, poverty, the marginalized, disaster victims, refugees, etc. and that sees the face of Christ in their neighbor and strives to be the face of Christ to them, so that the recipients can witness people living out the gospel in real life. The other issue is that he has not taken into account the consecrected men and women, some of whom are involved in Catholic Charities or CRS, but who also run many other countless ministries such as encountering women in a crisis pregnancy, prison inmates, homeless, inviting people on the street to come into a Eucharistic Adoration and explaining the gospel to them in very meaningful ways as they do so. These men and women accept a calling to surrender 100% to God's will and devote their entire lives to serving their neighbor, whether in physical need or spiritual need. Some live out a contemplative life offering constant prayer in their "house", which may not look like "evangelization" per se, but prayer is a very big part of the Christian life and does bring about conversion, and this role is no less important. We "laity" do try to work in our parish's ministries, whether it's food pantry, taking the Eucharist to nursing homes and prisons, working to help moms who have chosen life, etc. Yes, conversions from "Protestant" to Catholic are very dramatic, but once you are Catholic, there are many ways to be called to serve in your station in life, which may be as laity or consecrating your entire life to God in a religious order or as a priest. So I cannot agree with Austin's point of view of the lack of emphasis on evangelization in Catholic/Orthodox Christianity. If your only POV is on the internet, you're missing a huge part of the Catholic mission out in the real world.

What matters the most is not any particular denomination, what matters is that people are converted to the Lordship of Jesus the Christ and experience the filling of the Holy Spirit. Too many dead churches , no Spirit......might as well paint ICHABOD on the side of them. We need to read John 17 and answer Jesus' prayer for unity. Remember what we need to do is to he in obedience to Him, and repent of what sin that each of us needs to repent of. Jesus wants His church to be Holy. Repentance is in order, my Brothers and Sisters. Amen and Amen 🙌🙏😇 Sister Monique 🙂🙏🌷💗

I'm hoping more Catholics will become more 'mission' focused. Jeff Cavins would be a good interview on the gospel and evangelism from a Catholic perspective.

The way you started this video really got me thinking about what I find missing in the debates about technical issues. Your talk took a different turn than I expected, but I’d like to talk to you about the entire thrust of your video if you have a chance sometime. It essentially hits on the whole essence of what is nearly always missing from the Orthodox side of all these debates.

Great points and thoughts, and I had similar concerns at first as well. Could the Orthodox Church in the US have a bit more zeal in outreach locally, yes. That said, I have been hearing, anecdotally from Priests, that they are seeing a change in the makeup of new converts. For a long time, it tended to be either people marring into the Church, or Protastants reading their way into Orthodoxy. Now, we are seeing an increase of new believers that weren't 'poached' from protastant or Catholics. I'm not exactly sure why that is happening there. That said, I do think Orthodox missions is a bit overlooked. Russia had a very active missions in Alaska and on the West Coast, that was sadly ended by the Soviet Revolution. The next larger groups would be the Greeks (who's freedom is very recent), and the Antiochians who certainly have great difficulties at their home. Alexandria as I understand it is very active in missions, but mostly in Africa. What I am seeing on the Parish level, are people bringing people through relationship. In some ways, I see Orthodox activity as being very similar to how it was for the early Church in Rome. The first Churches were mostly Jews, and centered around areas of Jewish populations, and from those seeds she grew. Orthodoxy first came to the US from Russia and from others in exile. Then in the 1980s you start seeing larger number of protastants join, founding more parishes.

Amén Austin, I am a cradle Catholic and I think we should put as much effort evangelizing our our church first ! Just came back from México my native land and was shocked at the indifference I found amongst the young catholic people in our church! But found them so interested about learning about it when I was sharing it with them. I passed miraculous medals and they wanted more ! A good king starts in his own home!!!!!!

A greater " mission" is to Live Out The Gospels, not just share them.....

I was a protestant until 2016. I was unchurched at the time. I grew up sort of a blend of Baptist/Presbyterian/Methodist because I went to church with friends as my own parents were not religious. As a teen I briefly converted to Mormonism, but it became clear in a couple of years that there was something missing. But a Mormon book I read called "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder" had a passage in it I never forgot. It relayed a conversation between a Catholic and a Mormon where the Catholic was reported to have said something along the lines of, "You Mormons don't know the strength of your own position. Either we are right and you are wrong, or you are right and we are wrong. The protestants haven't got a leg to stand on, because a living branch cannot come from a dead tree." It took about 30 years for that to truly take root, but the more I read the Bible the more I ran across passages that went counter to the "once saved, always saved" protestant belief. I realized that works do matter, there must be works to demonstrate faith. We are not saved by faith "alone" (indeed, "alone" was added to the passage). We are saved by faith AND works. Which makes sense- how often do we see people who claim a deep faith in God, but their daily actions run counter to it? When I converted to Catholicism, I was actually a little angry. For years I had been robbed of 7 books of the Bible due to Luther's meddling, and more importantly, robbed of the sacraments. Protestants have baptism and marriage. But I had been robbed of confirmation, reconciliation, and the Holy Eucharist. I am so grateful that I now have all the sacraments, and when I did I'll have last rites as well, and a funeral Mass. I never deny that there will be protestants in Heaven (and Catholics in hell, for that matter) but there is one thing that protestants should be aware of. Protestants *hope* they have forgiveness and are bound for Heaven. A Catholic in a state of grace *knows* they have forgiveness and are bound for Heaven. That is priceless.

Thank you for addressing this, and from my perspective I agree that the strength of the evangelical church is its desire for mission, and it should urge the Orthodox and Catholic faiths to examine itself. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having the heart and mind of Christ when it comes to theology and tradition, but we also need to be the hands and feet of Jesus!

I appreciate the honesty and genuinity here. As a former Protestant who was an avid evangelist and even lead an evangelism ministry, I have found that there are ways to minister in the same exact way within Orthodox Christianity. Reaching the lost is indeed the mission but one thing to keep in mind is that real Christianity shouldnt be a sales pitch. The gospel is the good news but its also the death of oneself and I think thats why many will reject later on if an evangelist isnt honest about that. This is why I think I had such success getting people to "convert" before was because my gospel and the "church" I was a part of didnt demand a commitment to holiness and repentance in the way Christ really commands. In Protestantism obedience matters but it doesnt play a role in your salvation because Jesus death in their paradigm pays for all of your sins even if you dont repent or fully obey God. I would rather evangelize slowly and introduce people to Christianity properly then the sales pitch quick pitch version of the gospel I used to employ to bring them into a religion that isnt truly going to save them. The real question that needs to be asked is what is the truth? Whether others are evangelizing the way they should or not is irrelevant. If you come to Orthodoxy and evangelize the lost you can make a difference!

I agree a lot with you. And I say this as an Eastern Orthodox. I have read and heard many times here in my country that our bishops say in interviews: "Our Church doesn't proselytize!" Seems harsh first, but on the other hand, in a spiritual culture like Finland, there is indeed a glimpse of wisdom in such "reverse psychology", as most people here abhor every door knocker and tract distributor.. 😉 Cultures are different and I'm not sure if such an approach works in US for instance. Quite a few previously non-religious people join the Church here annually(not just faithful protestants), and many have said that one of the reasons, why they started attending services and liturgies in the first place, was they could just focus on the service and prayer without any fear of 'proselytizer attacks' around.. But yes, mission is a lot more than saying: "Our Church doesn't proselytize!" 😅 We need to pray for wisdom to find more effective ways to share our neighbors and loved ones the Love of Christ in His Church also during personal encounters , because mission without Love and encounter is mere proselytizing..

Catholic and former Protestant here. I agree wholeheartedly. It's that evangelical dynamic of having 'tasted that the Lord is good' and wanting to share one's faith and grow community. Catholicism in South America is currently missional in that way. Catholicism in the West is now so well diseased with liberal progressivism that it's generally no longer fertile ground for new believers to take root and grow in the Christian faith. Also, traditionalist-conservative cradle Catholics can be defensive toward outsiders (and especially Protestants) by continuing to hold up a series of formal and moral hoops and hurdles, demanding conformity and subjugation to the institution as the price of admission. So why did I become a Catholic? Primarily dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the various theological conflicts within competing Protestant schemas. Consequently, I'm very happy with the depth and consistency of Catholic history and the magisterium. As for liturgy, not so much. While I have a long history across several Protestant evangelical denominations, I came into the Roman Catholic church via the Anglo-Catholic branch of Anglicanism, and frankly Anglicans generally do liturgy much better than Roman Catholics (Vatican II stripped out much that Anglicans have retained). Regardless, I continue to quietly hold and treasure the good and excellence from my Protestant journey, both Evangelical and 'Catholic'. There are insights and experiences from all I still find generationally and culturally absent within western Roman Catholicism, so one needs to remain somewhat patient and circumspect when those around you have not yet had the benefit of one's own journey. I'm absolutely sure renewal and transformation will come in time. On the cusp of my move into Roman Catholicism but still carrying several Protestant misgivings, I randomly encountered a well-known Pentecostal prophetic type who without knowing me or anything of my intended journey, said "The Lord says...don't call the Roman Catholic church a cult, call it what it's going to become..."

Very well said!

Hi, Austin. I have been in the Catholic Renewal Movement since the 1990s and I can say that evangelism is still very much alive in the Catholic Church, whether from the Charismatic movements, lay catechists, and definitely from the clergy who go into the most risky mission fields, particularly in countries where Christianity is repressed or outright prohibited. In my part of the world, we have gone to schools, rural and remote areas, to share the Gospel and help bring people closer to Christ. But I do understand that, in other segments of the Catholic Church, the mission appears more pastoral than evangelistic and I agree that both must go hand in hand. Precisely, each time we finish celebrating the Eucharist, we Catholics are always SENT (or Missa in Latin, where "Mass" comes from) - SENT into the world to proclaim the Good News. I don't think the focus has been towards Protestants or Evangelicals (for the most part) although it may seem that way (maybe on the internet), particularly because of some high-profile Protestants becoming Catholic. I am happy though that through technology, we can communicate more and make our positions clearer, removing the caricatures and presuppositions that deepened division. It has opened the doors to greater dialogue, understanding, and strides towards unity. I'm with Pope Francis who recently proclaimed that the Gospel is FOR ALL (PARA TODOS). For those who appear far from Christ, who calls them to repentance, and for us who constantly need to have our minds renewed by His Word. I'm still praying for Jesus to make us all one, Austin. One Lord, One Savior, One Church.

My two cents worth - I was raised Mormon and became an evangelical in my twenties. I was drawn to sharing my new faith with Mormons because that’s what I was familiar with, and that’s who I knew best. Fast forward 35 years and I became Catholic. Again, I’m drawn to evangelizing evangelicals because that’s who I’m most familiar with. I’m sure if I’d been an atheist I’d feel a particular affinity for atheists, or if I had been Hindu I’d feel a pull toward reaching that population. When my husband and I started RCIA we thought we were surely the first evangelicals to become Catholic because we had only ever heard that the opposite happened. Then we met all these on-fire Catholics who used to be Protestants and knew we had found our tribe. In any case, I agree that we must show love to our Christian brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, there seems often to be a lack of charity toward others on all sides. It’s one of the reasons I love you, Austin. You’re always kind and charitable in your interactions. God bless you!

You are right about the 'sence of mission' being largely absent from the larger part of the body of the modern Catholic church. But, it wasn't always that way... It is still found in abudance in various religious groups. One has to look around to find groups that have it and that can be difficult today.

There are nearly 100 “one anothers” in the NT and only a couple of references to being “in mission”. Look at Acts: not everyone was an evangelist or apostle. Most were believers taking care of each other.

thanks to your work, i have left my protestant denomination and my family and i have all become eastern orthodox. thank you for the work you do.

Hello Austin, as someone who has gone through a similar journey as yourself, I have come to realise that it was all in vain. Because there is no Protestant denominations or Roman Catholic denomination, or Eastern Orthodox denominations in the Kingdom of God. There is one Church, and all who confess that Jesus is Lord shall be saved. Those who have believed in the name of God's only begotten son are saved, but those who do not are condemned already, because they do not believe in the name of God's only begotten son. Remember it is through the works of the devil which seeks to scatter the flock. I don't care if I'm rejected by men for this. If you believe in Christ, despite us having theological differences, I consider you my brothers and sisters in the faith.

On the flip side, as someone who converted to Orthodoxy from Protestantism over 30 years ago, in my experience many Protestants seek to have constant short term "conversions" simply to bolster their own wavering faith. Their life in Christ is treated as just a one time moment of repentance, and the rest is just trying to feel better about their choice by seeing other people choose the same. Thus, a lot have replaced what I now view as the actual worship of the Church - receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ, with a pep rally trying to motivate a new group of visitors to come join the club, Helping bring others to Christ is of course absolutely necessary, but it should never replace the actual worship of God. Christ Himself proclaimed, if we do not eat of His flesh and drink His blood, we have no life in us.

I'm a cradle Catholic that stopped believing as a teenager, and now in my 30s I'm being pulled back into the Church to the extent that I'm actually going to Mass (though I'm not back into partaking in the Eucharist yet). For what its worth, most of my renewed interest in Christianity comes from a vigorous interest in Church history. But I do think one of the times that I was made to reflect the most about the value of Christianity was watching a video of Cliff Knechtle preaching on an American campus and being moved by it. Now, I'm pretty sure that if I didn't choose Catholicism I'd just choose Orthodoxy, but I do have to accept that you have a good point considering it was a Protestant preacher that moved me into reconsidering Christianity.

I’m about to do some evangelizing hopefully sparking up convo about the eucharist this week. Please pray

I think the name of your channel sums it up well. For so many, Orthodoxy or Catholicism are foreign and appear so rigid and cold. They dont understand. Heck, I've been a protestant follower for 15+ years, and i dont understand much of what Catholic or Orthodox do, or believe. But. I am so close to becoming an Orthodox Christian, standing at the edge and considering taking that plunge. Scary. I really, truly believe Christ will meet each of us where are, and the Holy Spirit will guide the flock accordingly. If someone needs the gospel simplicity, repent and believe on the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, Christ will meet them there and so the journey, or pilgrimage begins. At this point in my own walk, I am ready to climb higher and look for the depths (or heights 😊), and that is bringing me closer to the realm of Orthodoxy. I am in a place where I have followed Christ as a protestant for so long, it is becoming dry bones in a way, I need more and He is faithful to shepherd us where we need to be. If someone needs to start simply, bless them, pray for them and get out of the way of putting pressue to be or do anything that's to heavy for them in this process.

The Protestant view of evangelism is to preach the gospel from the streets... but the Catholic approach is somewhat different. Catholics practice evangelism in the form of service based on Matthew 25:31-40, (James 2:24). Educational Institutions, Orphanages, Nursing Homes, Prison Ministry...etc Catholic missionaries generally went to each area and knew what they needed and worked towards it... (Matthew 5:16, Luke 13: 20-21) The best way to evangelize is through living examples of Christ... god bless you dear ❤❤❤

Back in the 80s and 90s I remember when the evangelical movement converted many Catholics. The pendulum has swung perhaps? I think social media and youtube has engaged more discussion on religious matters, a good thing as it helps with people’s discernment. Not only with conversion but to allow those thinking of converting to remain in the faith. That would have kept many young Catholics in the faith as catechesis from local parishes post VII were not stellar.

Good point!

Amen amen amen! Generally speaking, in the Catholic and Orthodox communities I see a lot of focus on the interior life. Where with protestants, there is a lot of focus on outward mission. These two are not mutually exclusive and there are those in each community who do both. However, at large the interior life of Catholics needs to inform a zeal for souls as well. This needs to be accompanied by a genuine personal love for others...the culture of "argument winning and point scoring" needs to be seriously revamped because it is a hinderance to evangelization.

Absolutely right. My line of work is often to convert Catholics to Catholicism. Preach on brother. =) We approach this issue from the lack of humility and the development of the virtues. Take the post out of your eye before attempting to remove the mote out of your brothers eye. Often these are boys that cite Saint Thomas but never read the Catechism. With that said, to all that don't understand: I can agree and see his good work WHILE still want him to enter the fullness of the body by reviving the sacraments and accepting/submitting to/our his spiritual father.

Very well said

I think this is a really good point you are raising. I reverted from atheism to catholic in 2021. Lets just say God was very obvious in my case, where He wanted me. I do really love God, in all His beautiful, mysterious, trinitarian form. I am on FIRE for Him! I have heard people say: you seem like you are in love. And i am! All the teachings and the symbolism and the liturgy just help focus my will on God, and so i love that too and yes, i am on a mission! I want everyone to feel Gods love! But it is not easy. The potential of the Catholic Church is enormous! I mean, if we are right we get very close to Jesus every mass, because He gives us Himself in bread and wine. Mind blowing how much God loves us! And yet, most of the people in the Church treat Church like some cultural thing. Even some of our clergy... Lukewarm at best. A tragedy of huge proportions... They may even get offended if someone on fire like me shows up. Honestly, we need the fire of some free Churches. Because the people are there because they WANT to be there, want to love God! The Catholic Church has Beauty without end! And problems without end, because the beauty is buried beneath loads of lukewarm boomers. (There is wonderful, faithful boomers too! I love those, but the other ones are trying to tear my parish apart and so i'm a bit miffed about that). You CAN be catholic and on fire, and on a mission, i would argue that would be the ideal, if we look at our saints. It's just not easy and the first ground to evangelize on is the Church itself. Btw, my mission is youth ministry. I got put in charge of some youth projects and i will start to teach school children the faith after summer, so perhaps i can really light the love of God in some children, God willing😊

I live in a place where the Catholic or Orthodox forms of Christianity are in the extreme minority and the varied and many Protestant forms of Christianity are in overabundance. There are many campaigns from these Protestant churches to "convert" the Catholics. As a Pentecostal Christian, I have *NEVER* appreciated that. I consider all Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants to be members of the household of Faith, despite our major doctrinal differences, and would never treat them as unbelievers.

I'd like to see the Evangelical Church come, not individualally and piecemeal, into the Catholic Church as a rite. The Catholic Church already has something over a dozen different rites in full communion. I think the Evangelical Church wouldn't exist if folk didn't like that style of worship. Often we can be like Mikael looking down on other charisms and worship styles, and not like her husband David. A unified Church in full communion with the Church Jesus founded is the result of my prayers, not a singularity of style. God created us too diverse for that.

I am a Catholic. Popes, bishops, and priests speak and write about the need for ordinary Catholics to evangelize, but most ordinary Catholics don't accept the responsibility. Ordinary Catholics argue that evangelization is the responsibility of priests and those in religious vows, but there aren't enough priests and professional religious to do all the work of evangelization. Part of the problem is a feeling of inadequacy for the task, and part of the problem is lack of courage. Trying online to convert Protestants may seem easy, but people won't go on to streets and try to convert unbelievers, because it's harder. I've had Protestants online try to convert me, and I've thought, why don't they put their effort into preaching the Gospel to people who do not know it and do not worship God.

The Catholic and Orthodox way of living religion is WAY more focused on investing in one's personal relationship with God rather than preaching to the lost, and a lot of priests recognize that. And as a member of a more traditional evangelical heritage, this is something I also recognize other protestant sects do better than mine, specially pentecostals.

workplace is making it more difficult which can flow into everyday interactions imo; I work in banking and one of the best managers I had was a fellow Catholic and she had couple of pictures etc., that made me realize this. She just excelled at how she treated clientele (struggling businesses & owners) and divisions & staff, she was kinda living her faith with tolerance, empathy and general fairness. What's interesting however is what's creeping into the workforce is mandatory trainings that in my bank alone, 100s of 1,000's across several states on the West Coast are mandated & exposed to, is (for lack of better way of saying it), tolerance trainings which are geared for and benefit the current secular populations but doesn't cover aspects/employees with or promoting christian beliefs - case in point, my workplace offered online/zoom-style drag queen bingo just a few mo's ago, but bet my last dollar offering same led by someone with Christian beliefs will never ever happen, sad to say.

I prefer not to even use the word "conversion" when a Christian moves to a different branch of Christianity. In my vocabulary the word "conversion" is a more radical change than from Protestant to Catholic. When an unbeliever comes to faith in Christ, that's a real conversion.

It's interesting to consider historical factors that might affect the attitudes towards missions. Orthodoxy has been based in parts of the world that are deeply Christian for centuries, and that Christian culture has only been bolstered by things like war with the Islamic Empire and oppression by the USSR. Orthodoxy has also been sheltered from the outside world some by these factors. So it's possible that in a way the Orthodox Church has lost her way when it comes to proselytizing non-believers. Most of her mission in the past millennium has been combating heresy. For the Catholic Church, a period of massive expansion in the 1600s-1800s has lead the Vatican having poor control of many of it's mission parishes. There are places where the "Catholicism" being preached is thinly veiled paganism. This has lead to the Catholic Churches mission being primarily focused on house cleaning and trying to re-evangelize and correct her parishes. Both of those traditions are also very communal and traditional. Evangelical Protestantism on the other hand has enjoyed relatively unchecked growth over the last couple centuries in an increasingly modern and individualistic world. Traditional forms of Christianity where easy for pagans to understand, because it still spoke in the language of sacrifice, liturgy, and worship as a communal act of dining with your god. But proper paganism and traditionalism has been shrinking even in the remote parts of the world, and now Protestantism is what speaks the language that the world can understand. Even in the most remote tribes in South America, the children wear polyester Messi jersey's. Remote places I've done mission work look more post apocalyptic than they do pre-modern. As secularism wanes and paganism (albeit a silly witch-tok version of paganism) begins to rise again, it will be interesting to see how the different traditions grapple with the changing cultural landscape.

A question. How do Protestants evangelize? I hope there’s more than “come to my Church we have a great kids program or coffee bar or sports program.” I hope evangelization isn’t a crowd of people who close their eyes and raise hands to accept Christ where nobody can see them and then go home. (A heart can be sincere but Christian evangelization is more than ticking off numbers of hands raised. The temptation is to emotionally manipulate people.) Methods matter and what is most important matters. Respect for Christ and the individual shouldn’t be compromised. (A lesson for all traditions)

The biggest issue for Roman Catholics when it comes to evangelizing is that there’s so much more to it than what evangelicals offer. The RC gospel contains the necessity of belief in certain dogmas as part of the gospel because a lack of belief in papal infallibility (as one of many examples) alienates one from the faith and the church. While at the same time, it’s gotten to be so convoluted that it’s almost completely unnecessary to evangelize in RC thought. The Pope, head of the church, vicar of Christ on earth, infallible in matters of faith and morals has urged us to stop proselytizing Jews, that at least one atheist will be in heaven because he had a good heart, that Muslims worship the same God, albeit through unclear lenses. The point is, if everyone is essentially good already, except the really bad actors, then how necessary is it to spread the gospel, really? How much zeal should I have to reach people who don’t submit to the Roman Pontiff when the Roman Pontiff himself tells me not to worry about it?

If I can speak up for the more apostolic side, it's not that we aren't interested in converting large numbers of individuals. But we are more interested in converting on a more corporate level, by baptizing what are increasing un-Christian and anti-Christian cultures, nations, etc. In my humble opinion, the reason for this difference is we tend to lack assumptions that protestants tend to have like equality and individualism. With the logical entailment being that it is more important to convert from the top-down since, frankly, the top is more important than the bottom. For us, a revival isn't a bunch of people showing up to a tent, it's a leader of a nation declaring that the nation including everyone in it is now Christian. I also think there is a danger in taking the more egalitarian, individualistic approach: It can tend to incentivize reducing Christianity to a lowest common denominator, making it an easy pill to swallow just to pump the numbers up. But I'll admit that I am woefully oversimplifying and generalizing here - still hopefully my point is clear.

Good video. A few points based on my observations as a Catholic Asian-Canadian and world traveler: 1. Catholic evangelization is very much alive in the East. In the West though, the Catholic Church has been the subject of numerous attacks by society (some deserved, but mostly undeserved). This has led Catholics to do less of the visible evangelization. However, invisible evangelization through praying for others and setting a good example of living a life touched by Christ as Christians have continued. In fact, often this invisible evangelization is seen to be more effective in producing truly deep spiritual conversion. 2. This invisible evangelization is also directed towards atheists, agnostics and other non-Christians by Catholics in their schools, workplaces, extended families, and friendships. Many convert to Catholicism this way. However, from what I've seen (i have no stats to back this up, just my observations), a good number of people touched by the examples of Catholics living Christian lives start searching for Jesus and end up becoming a Protestant because the Catholic Church just demands more from its members. Thus, non-Christians might think converting to Catholicism is too big a step. This is still seen as a big win by us Catholics though - a non-Christian becoming a Christian (even though not a Catholic) is still one more soul for Christ.

Interesting video, When you mentioned what would happen if every evangelical became Catholic I think it would be a net positive as some protestants and evangelicals have an approach that is lacking within both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. In my Orthodox parish when people convert there is a want and effort made to bring friends, family, etc to the faith. Among the converts in my parish, there are a number who were raised very lukewarmly or raised atheists that still have an approach to wanting the faith to spread and reach more people despite not being familiar with that in other Christian environments prior. My area is quite secular and there are few sincere Christians among the various churches. The evangelical church I was apart of when I was young will likely close within the following years same can be said for many of the protestant churches here. That includes some Orthodox churches as well the numbers have gone down in recent decades and are too ethnically oriented in my opinion. However our church has grown steadily. I am suprised you have had so many join your church if that happened here it would be a miracle. I also just wanted to add there has been a radical shift within Orthodoxy the past few years towards misson work and some Orthodox nations have made great strides to evangelize within and outside their nation. It will be very interesting to see the information for parish growth and new churches when that comes out. Additionally you should expect more numbers within evangelicalism as that makes up a huge amount of the Christians in the United States. However atheism is a product of many churches failures not just one. It is more than winning a argument as one argument rarely changes someones mind but living for Christ daily is more likely to make them reflect imo.

I’m not sure a lack of missions is the problem in the west, but rather obscene wealth & comfort. As Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, only with 👉difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matt 19:23-24) Western Christians need to do better to live radically different lives. We are way too stained by the world in our comforts & pleasures & how we use our wealth.

It strikes me as the difference between child-likeness and childishness. The childish says (what I hear a lot in these discussions), "But you're not doing it like I want you to!" The childlike is simply saying yes to submission to-devotion to-Christ. And then telling others how great he is. Intellectual discussion is a product of maturity, but needs to be attended by profound humility. We wash brothers' feet, we're not intended to Lord our will over others. 👍 It's a really really good question whether it would be a net positive if denominations were lost in our call to unity. We should be radically united. But there's a lot of sharpening happening among, again, the humble who are studying one another. Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants should remember Luke 9: 49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.” 50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

As a Protestant currently transitioning to Catholicism, Evangelicals - as "low church" as they may be - do have a way of engaging the culture that Catholics could learn from. Music, media, outreach, and even sermons/bible studies. In a way, I do feel like I'm giving up a lot by becoming Catholic.

One of the things that I have recently seen in the Catholic Church in the "New Evangelization" are apostolates and organizations such as FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) take those steps of evangelization and living on mission every day. I will say that I think this has been a thing Catholics have been in a catchup with our Protestant brothers and sisters

Great video. Remember this- it is the Catholic Church which evangelized the entire world before there even was Protestantism. There's a reason that there are 1.5 Billion Catholics in the world. Having said that, the Catholic church has indeed lost its focus on outreach, and this is where Evangelicals shine.

Fascinating. You seem to hit that particular nail on the head. I do wish that Protestant converts to Catholicism would leave their "hard sell" methods behind, but I can see that that approach is deeply ingrained. I suppose that it has something to do with definitions of salvation as a one-time event vs. a lifelong process, maybe something like selling someone a car vs. teaching someone to be a good driver of their own car. Maybe that's why I enjoy your channel. You strike me as a truth-seeker and not a "salesman". I've learned a lot from the discussions on your channel and don't sense any of the sales approach that I feel is actually dangerous and lacks integrity and truth. Personally, I think that any religion needs more truth-seeking and soul-searching. Just my perspective...

Other barriers to converting … emotional reasons … ex: my whole family & friends are Protestant and it would be difficult to lose friendships

I think lutherans and catholics are also very welcoming and excited to talk about their faith. Non denominationalism is popular because it's casual and easy to consume. You don't have to understand what's going on at a non denominational church. The problem is the doctrine is typically theologically weak. It's all about your life now which makes people feel good.

What's interesting about all of this.. I saw an article once , It was called How Orthodoxy evaded the culture wars. Both Catholic and Protestant have changed to adapt to a modern sociopolitical climate, While Orthodoxy has remained the same ( so has Byzantine Catholic, Maronite, Syriac) Not All Protestants or Catholics have bowed to political pressure, However, Many have in an attempt to be more " inclusive" Capitulation and or compromise is Not the way to bring more people in to the fold. Politics should not be the focus of faith life. The Apostles and Martyrs of the Early Church didn't see it that way As for " conversion", This isn't the middle ages! The Crusades, The Spanish Inquisition, The Reformation.... All of that is in the past! It's been almost 700 years since Constantinople fell! The Hundred Years War? Rather than warring against each other, We should unite to stand against progressivism..

One thing I will say, the majority of people who join Protestant churches are ex Catholics, not atheists. So evangelicals are great are turning people back to Christ, but clearly not very effective at converting pagans/atheists back to Christ in the west. That’s not a dis, Catholics are the same way with the exception of evangelizing pagans.

I think there’s a lot of wisdom in what you’re saying.

Pray for the lost daily.

St Paul Street Evangelization is a fantastic Catholic outreach geared towards any person they encounter on the street. atheist, protestant, fallen away Catholic- you name it!

Excellent. Nothing wrong with low church non-denominationalism. Stay where the Holy Spirit is at work, brother. God bless!

Just speaking from my experience as a convert going, mainly, to convert-heavy Orthodox Churches (many of which were formed from the Evangelical Orthodox Church in the 90s), the evangelicals who convert because they have found the "pearl of great price" in the Orthodox Church, bring that sense of urgency with them. The church maintains that level of evangelism and transformation precisely through those who convert and are transformed. And that is not to mention the quiet work of the Orthodox saints like Paisios, Porphyrios, and Nektarios of Aegina, whose presence in the Church continues to help people transform their lives. It's just that sanctification is not always a flashy thing, particularly among those who have always the faith.

This might be verging a bit on a hastey generalization when we assume all or even most practicing Catholics always turn to straight up, pure Catholic doctrine when it comes to evangelizing. The Catholic mission first and foremost is to live the faith and then spread the Gospel message with love and charity. The attractiveness if more traditional churches like Orthodox or Catholic is the way of living, and the realization that it comes directly from an authoratative source, Christ himself, through the teaching Magisterium or for Orthodoxy synodal councels.

I also go to a low non-denominational church and I feel the exact same way. I mostly stay because this is where God has us and is using us. My wife, in particular is now on staff there in the childrens ministry. I used to work at our church as well.

yes man!

Yes!!! This is one of the main concerns I see when I think back in my Catholic upbringing as compared to my last 2 years as an evangelical non denominational Christian. I struggle to make sense of the lack of passion and life in the Roman Catholic parishes all around me, though they claim to be the one true church. I can’t personally reconcile that I , and so many others in my area at non denominational churches came there out of Catholicism, all with the same story that they didn’t understand or care as a Catholic; that being Catholic was just about ritual and attendance.

I have a few things to say in this as a Catholic. 1. I would think traditional Catholics convert people into the church at way higher rates. The falling away from this form of Catholicism after Vatican II has really left the Church in a dire position. When the Church was fully united and traditional, nearly everyone was Christian; however, it has been a long time since then so it is difficult to compare. But I can say that the Novus Ordo is not convincing anyone, nor is it retaining anyone. 2. More importantly, evangelicals should still 100% convert even if they bring more people to Christ for two reasons. First, they could bring that same zeal for mission to the Catholic Church with no issue. It’s not like being evangelical is what converts, it is the people who are evangelical have a strong desire to convert others. They could do the same thing while being Catholic. For that matter, any single evangelical who wants to convert could do so and still participate in mission with their evangelical friends. Second, if Catholicism is correct, being Christian may not alone be what is necessary to save yourself (Eucharist, Confession, etc.) and bringing others into mere Christianity might not guarantee their salvation.

A good way to evangelize is to invite people to attend Mass. That is where you can witness a miracle every time. You get to see bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ. *That* is a miracle! As for young people, they aren't getting what they truly want. There was an article recently about how American Catholics are becoming more conservative. They have compared the old ways to the new and prefer the old. These are people who were born much after Vatican II, so they shouldn't know anything but the new, right? But they hunger something deeper, I've heard it's sort of the same way with other denominations. They've tried contemporary services etc. thinking it would draw young people in, but it hasn't worked.Isn't the definition of stupidity trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

Yet, evangelical Protestants have different gospels with different interpretations! The Catholic focus is not so much Converting, but service to those in need and perpetual Eucharistic adoration! This is truly how one evangelizes, such as Mother Teresa did! Peace always in Jesus Christ our Great and Kind God and Savior, He whose Flesh is true food and Blood true drink!!

Austin, could you explain to me what you mean by “mission focused?” How does the evangelical church evangelize to non-Christians in a way that the Orthodox and Catholic churches do not? Do you mean Orthodox and Catholics should publish more apologetical content directed at non-Christians?

This is very true about evangelization. But the scripture does say there will be a remnant. Conversion is very much God’s work. Since I’ve converted, I try to reach others, but people literally hate Catholics lol. I’ve never gotten so much hate before.. Mormons and JWs and Muslims are good at converting too. That doesn’t mean what they teach is true 😩

I think sometimes, evangelicals feel a calling to love people into an encounter with Christ. I think many Catholics may have good intentions but don’t know quite how to go about it. So in that sense you make a good point. However, in my experience most of these people who are loved into an evangelical church often are in a point of crisis in their lives. Again, in my experience, they appreciate the concern shown towards them by Christians but ultimately the vast majority leave in pretty short order because they are not getting anything if real substance spiritually. Even, worse this experience often causes them to become jaded and even less likely to turn toward Christ in the future. You are right, Christianity cannot be all about intellect. I realize that it is far more difficult to convince someone to attend mass with you when the option is a mega church with a rock concert and live bombing and 102 different activities they can be involved in. Many people find an instant sense of community there. I absolutely believe that Catholic parishes have a lot of work to do in fostering community. That being said, on a purely non intellectual basis, the spiritual depth and feeding of your soul (even if you can’t participate in the Eucharist) far surpasses anything you will receive at an evangelical service. By comparison it seems so contrived; like people believe that they must create this spiritual experience for others, rather than simply joining the creator of the universe in the place He specifically created for us to worship and commune with Him. In, my experience very few of these converts to evangelicalism stay long term, because, while they’re having some emotional needs met they aren’t getting anything spiritually in any significant way.

Eastern European from the Balkans here (well, I was born and raised in North America, so ethnically speaking) and I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for A LOT and my people are an absolute mess. A cluster of Eastern Orthodox nations, except for one or two, all killing each other and fighting each other in the chase of ancient pagan history. I've never attended anything wholesome be it a regular event, a holiday at Church or even merely visiting family friends or hosting guests ourselves. It degenerates into political arguments while everyone is stuffing their faces, getting drunk and overall just socially connecting, not spiritually. The charismatic energy of the Protestant churches that I was naturally forced towards living in NA and getting curious about the bigger picture when I was a teenager is still to this day the source of my faith. Yes, I said charismatic. You know, as in people who are great at speaking and delivering messages and speechcraft in general accompanied by a certain mysterious vibe or energy about them, a good kind. In case that reminds you a certain someone, I rest my case. Now, to get into a little bit of the bigger picture I see happening, I must first give a mild warning for the rest of what I'm going to say. I am noticing weird patterns and 'coincidences' occurring. There's predominantly two or three KZfaq personality's at the moment that are making the rounds and to be honest with you all, as a KZfaq veteran from all the way back in like '06 when the only video to watch that was interesting was that Resident Evil 4 parody video (if you know, you know lol), a lot of recent content has struck me as kind of coming out of nowhere and all at once, and as I mentioned I've crawled around every space on this forsaken platform and am familiar with a wide range of content and who is who. One person I am talking about has a name that rhymes with Day Plyer and the other persons name rhymes with Sandshrew Millson. I am not going to lie and I have been watching this content as a fan and as someone looking for ways to both defend the faith and reach out effectively. But I've been seeing some very troubling things. A lot of this will sound loony, so, as Trey Smith always says, I humbly just leave this in your hands to do with as you wish. If you guys do some digging into Norse mythology, it is quite something. There is the main backdrop of their mythology which is the AEsir-Vanir war. The 'AE' character is just pronounced as a regular 'Ah' sound, like in Assyria. Very much like in 'Assyria', or, The 'Assyrian', *wink WINK.* These two factions are literal family lineages of 'gods'. I forget what the term was, but the Norse mythos is written in a way that implies opposite of mythology and is a retelling and romanticized way of tracking their origins in a literal sense. There are popular theories now that many mythological characters were actually real, just deified since the far memories of each people. One example would be Odin. I'm Slavic as I aforementioned and cousin to the Nords. There are different spellings of his name depending on the dialect as some of you may know, such as Vodin, Wotan, Wodnasz/Vodnasz and is where we get the name for Wednesday. 'Odin' in Slavic literally just means a guy who 'goes'. When it is Vodin, it turns into 'leader' or 'one who leads/goes forth' and is implicative of a following of people. If I were to ask about elections (LMAO) back in my ethnic country in the Balkans, I would say "Koj (Koy, like Koifish - "Who") Vodit (Not Vawd-eet, but the 'O' sound like in college 'dorm' - "is leading?"). My favorite one Vodnasz where the 'sz' is just pronounced as 'sh' like Chuvash. Literally - "Our Leader" with the addition of the 'nasz/nash' suffix which means 'ours'. The reason I say this is because Odin is Odin The One-Eyed. The Antichrist, too, will have only one eye. The AEsir are the lineage of gods and are associated with strength, military power, you know... Valhalla and stuff. The Vanir lineage is associated with WISDOM, FERTILITY AND THE ABILITY TO SEE THE FUTURE. In the Norse poetic edda called Vafthrudismal, the main character, Vafthrudnir is a Vanir. Now, get this.... His name literally means Vaf 'to entangle or weave' and Thrudnir 'Strong/Mighty/Power'.... What parable did Christ give the Pharisees who were accusing Him of casting out Satan by the powers of Satan? Lol. The thing is, 'Thrudnir' in Norse means the aforementioned, however, in Slavic the 'Thrud/Trud' part means "suffering" or more accurately "longsuffering" with the 'nir' suffix just denoting an individual. "A person suffering". Example: When a woman is pregnant we would say 'she is thrudna/trudna'. If you aren't crapping your spongebob boxers yet there's even more. Odin the 'Allfather' hears about Vafthrudnir and his unchallenged wisdom, so, Odin, disguised as some other identity I forget the name of and didn't even bother trying to pronounce, approached Vafthrudnir and 'engaged in a game of wits' with him to see what's up. Yes, that sounds exactly like what it sounds like. Furthermore, in Norse mythology there are three characters known as Har, Jafnhar and Thridi. These names literally translate to "High, Just-as-High, and Third". Three persons that sit on a throne each and, when asked about the deeds, condition and future of the AEsir by King Gylfinning (spelling?), they responded to everything until that last question when they disappeared along with the hall they were in, in the Kings vision. All these three characters are understood to be names and referent to Odin. So... would you look at that? How interesting, even pagans are not only familiar with the idea of a Triune God, but also familiar with the interchangeability or alliteration of the three ultimately referring to the simultaneous Oneness of a god. Another story has Vafthrudnir explaining to the AEsir how, essentially, they got their asses whooped, telling them that the character "Njoror" was created in Vanaheim (opposite of Valhalla and the AEsir's cosmological kingdom) by 'wise powers' and GIVEN IN EXCHANGE TO THE AESIR AS A HOSTAGE AND THAT AT THE WORLDS END, RAGNAROK, NJOROR WILL RETURN AND COME FOR HIS VANIR.... LOOOOOOOOOOOOL.. AEsir (Assir) is the Assyrian ilk of nomad tribes (Tribe of Dan) that had the RED/BLONDE/OCHRE/BURGUNDY hair mutation along with very light-skin (white for all effective purposes). Odin is said to have been a literal leader of one of these tribes. It even tells the story of his excursion up and through the Caucus into Eurasia and Eastern Europe and onto Northern Europe. This is why Caucasian is the word used to describe a white person. You know the amazons from Greek myth? They weren't women... lol.... They were long-haired, blonde, white and very tall men who were almost hermaphroditic looking with skills using their horses and bows. The Vanir, I speculate to be the lineage of 'gods' that are the righteous seed of Noah, so-to-speak. The Ark landed atop Mount Ararat, which descends right onto Lake Van when you get to level ground. The other lineage is, once again, associated with metalwork, weapons, warfare, strength, might, etc. The AEsir, that is. Assir? The line of Cain? City builders, globalists and warlords.... This brings me to my recent venture into the crypto world. Everything is either Russian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Slovenian (servants of the Icelandic Commonwealth, yes its a thing, and I think its THE thing) Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, etc. The newest protocol for Bitcoin that was just released are called "Runes"... If you google the icelandic commonwealth, a famous libertarian philosopher explained it as an anarcho-capitalist state... "as if the country was founded by an economic madman who could see just how far the market and economy could replace government". Iceland is known as the "Island of Witches". The Vikings were known for their rather anarcho-capitalist ways such as raiding and pillaging and then selling the goods to, for example, the Byzantine Empire, the Abbasid Caliphate etc. Red-haired/Blonde-haired 'wildmen'. Russia has the prefix of red, no matter what anyone tells you. Red seems to be occultic. Rothschild means "Redshield". Rosicrucians and their legendary founder, Christian Rosenkreutz (Christian Redcross). The Knights Templar adorned red crosses. England's old flag is a red cross. The Russians had the Red Army along with the White Army. No coincidence. I don't even know where to stop cause there's so much more. TLDR; Protestants win