I'M NOT A VERY GOOD PROTESTANT

July 23, 2026

I'm Not a Very Good Protestant

For most of my Christian life, I assumed I was supposed to defend Protestantism.

Not simply the gospel. Not simply Christ. Protestantism itself.

Whenever conversations turned toward Catholicism or Orthodoxy, I instinctively reached for the familiar arguments.

"They worship Mary."

"They believe in works."

"They added traditions."

"They don't believe the Bible."

"Icons are idolatry."

"Praying to saints is necromancy."

I had heard these arguments for years, so I simply assumed they were true.

Then I started reading.

Not books about Orthodoxy.

Orthodox books.

The Church Fathers.

The early liturgies.

The councils.

The history of the Church before the Reformation.

And something unexpected happened.

Many of the things I had always been told to reject weren't actually what these Christians believed.

Some things I still disagree with.

Some things I'm still wrestling through.

But many of my objections simply disappeared.

I found brothers and sisters whose love for Christ was unmistakable.

I found a breathtaking vision of worship centered on the holiness of God.

I discovered a theology of salvation far richer than I had imagined.

I found an understanding of the Kingdom of God, participation in Christ, spiritual formation, and the Christian life that often resonated deeply with Scripture.

Perhaps most surprisingly, I found that many of the things my own evangelical and charismatic tradition celebrates were never absent from the historic Church at all.

I don't feel threatened by icons.

The sign of the cross doesn't offend me.

I appreciate liturgy.

I understand why Christians honor Mary.

I understand why they ask the saints to pray with them.

I appreciate apostolic succession, even if I'm still sorting out exactly what it means.

In other words...

I'm becoming a rather poor Protestant.

At least according to the old categories.

Yet here's where my journey becomes unusual.

I haven't become Orthodox.

Nor have I become Catholic.

Some people assume that if you become convinced the historic Church has more to offer than you once believed, there is only one logical destination.

For me, it hasn't been that simple.

I remain convinced that God has worked powerfully throughout Christian history—not only within the ancient apostolic communions but also through renewal movements that have arisen in unexpected places.

I've witnessed lives transformed.

I've seen genuine repentance.

I've seen healing.

I've watched people come to faith.

I've seen the Holy Spirit produce Christlike fruit in believers from traditions that would never claim apostolic succession.

I cannot simply pretend that history didn't happen.

Nor do I believe the Holy Spirit was absent whenever Christians found themselves outside one visible communion.

Instead, I have come to believe something that may frustrate everyone equally.

God's Church is older than Protestantism.

It is richer than Evangelicalism.

It is deeper than modern revivalism.

And yet God's mercy has never been confined to the limits of my understanding.

The older I become, the less interested I am in defending a tribe.

I'm much more interested in following Jesus wherever the evidence leads.

That means learning from Christians who came before me.

It means receiving correction.

It means admitting when my own tradition has misunderstood something.

It also means acknowledging when God has done beautiful things through people outside the traditions I once distrusted.

Today I remain where God has planted me.

Not because I think my tradition has everything right.

Not because I think everyone else has everything wrong.

But because I believe faithfulness sometimes means serving where God has called you while remaining humble enough to receive gifts from the rest of Christ's body.

Perhaps that doesn't make me a very good Protestant.

As long as I'm becoming more like Jesus, I'm okay with that.

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