My wife suggested that I should blog about an analogy I used to explain why I felt the need to point out teachings that are damaging to the Christian faith. She said I should not judge and argued that believing in Jesus is better than not believing at all. I used the following analogy to explain why it is important to explain false teachings:
Imagine someone taught you an investment method that would generate over a billion dollars in monthly income. Your monthly investment income will be more than you can ever use in a lifetime, but you keep on receiving billions of more dollars every month. There is nothing that anyone can do to you to take away that ability. Only by your own sins can you lose this incredible stream of income. With such security, you become magnanimous. You become very charitable and want to teach others how to also make a billion dollars a month. It’s so easy!
Pointing out false teaching is like warning other investors about bad financial advice. Some financial advisors may even genuinely believe in their own advice, but they are scams. People will lose their hard-earned money. They will lose their souls. I point out the financial scams not because I will make more money; I don’t need more money. I want to teach others how to make a billion dollars a month out of gratitude for the Person who taught me. It’s out of love for the Teacher. This Teacher merely wants others to enjoy their original inheritance: to be divine sons and daughters of God. He already has everything He needs. All he asks is for the nouveau riche to teach others how to also become rich. Everyone can make a billion dollars a month! There is no inflation in Heaven.
So, calling out bad financial advice is not being judgmental. It’s being charitable. And it is not with my own investment knowledge that I speak, but from the wealthy storehouse of knowledge that is the Catholic Church. Whether or not they believe is their choice.