December 2025
Beauty, Tradition, and Faithfulness
Feature Article
December 2025
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In recent years, there has been a discernible increase in converts to both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy from a Protestant background. A study published in 2024 showed that in the previous ten years, more than 65 percent of converts to Eastern Orthodoxy were former Protestants. There have also been some high-profile converts to Roman Catholicism, propelling an increased interest in the tradition from evangelicals. Why are people leaving the Protestant faith?
Many have grown tired of the celebrity-pastor model that is popular in evangelicalism. Others have felt spiritually malnourished and underfed by shallow teaching and trite worship services. Still others have become disillusioned by the seemingly unending factions within Protestantism that lead to the formation of an ever-increasing number of denominations. Though Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have their significant differences, they offer a similar appeal. To those sick of the platforming of human personalities, these traditions present something transcendent. To those who are put off by entertainment, they offer something serious. To those saddened by divisions, they seemingly give stability. These are some primary reasons that account for the rise in their Protestant converts—and perhaps you know someone who is thinking of becoming one.
If the above does indeed describe someone you know, let me first say that I sympathize with the frustration. There are many churches that wave the Protestant banner and yet have fallen far short of the goals that their Reformer forefathers set. Many have been let down, disappointed, or misled by such churches. Furthermore, the desire to find something more meaningful, something that will offer spiritual renewal and a firm foundation for faith, is entirely commendable. Such a desire can indicate that one is taking his faith seriously and demonstrating concern for his (and possibly his family’s) spiritual well-being. Perhaps someone you know is feeling that what these other traditions offer is just what he needs to reignite a connection with God and feed his languishing soul. But you should caution him that if he gives up the Protestant faith, he might be giving up the very things that he is looking for, the very things that will support and nourish him. Therefore, I urge you to prompt him to consider three things that he’ll be leaving behind.
First is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. As defined in Westminster Confession of Faith 1.6, this doctrine teaches that “all things necessary for [God’s] own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” Put another way, everything that we need to strengthen our spiritual walk or to provide richer communion with God is found in the Bible. This is because God has infused His Word with power to revive our souls (Ps. 19:7). The path to true blessedness is to meditate on and delight in God’s law day and night (Ps. 1:1–2). Consider the vivid way that Jeremiah teaches this truth: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jer. 15:16). If you would keep your heart happy and holy, then you must keep it in God’s Word. The Puritan John Flavel puts it like this: “Keep the word, and the word will keep you. . . . We never lose our hearts, till they have first lost the efficacious and powerful impression of the word.”
While both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches respect the Bible, they devalue its authority and hinder its access by elevating other things such as church traditions alongside it. The result is that the very thing that the people of God need most of all—the clear exposition and application of God’s Word—recedes into the shadows in worship and ministry. Rather than offering counsel exclusively from Scripture, pastors will assist struggling parishioners by prescribing rote prayers and meaningless penitential exercises. The medicine for sin-sick souls is locked away in the cellar rather than dispensed readily, freely, and unreservedly. Reader: If you are spiritually flagging, the resource you need for renewal and restoration is nothing other than the Word of God. It is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” that we would be “complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). If we would not wilt, we must be watered, and it is the Word of God—which is freely preached and promoted in faithful Protestant churches—that alone is sufficient to make us like an ever-fruitful tree, prospering in all that we do (Ps. 1:3).
A second thing that someone who is considering leaving Protestantism might not realize that he is leaving behind is the beauty of worship. This might strike some readers as odd, as what has often been the most alluring aspect of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions is their visually stunning worship aesthetic. All should agree that what makes worship beautiful is the fact that we get to encounter a beautiful God, but the question is, How do we encounter Him? The answer is “by faith”—and faith is fed by the Word of God, not by relics, icons, or ritualism (Rom. 10:17). Therefore, worship in which the Word is not central is worship in which God is not central, no matter how mystical the atmosphere. The beauty of Protestant worship is that, through its commitment to the Word, it actually brings us near to God (see WCF 7.6).
Of course, there are many churches in the broadly evangelical world that have obscured the Word of God, or lost it entirely, through man-made, culturally informed gimmicks. But these have abandoned what their tradition stands for and are Protestant in name only. While I will not disagree that such worship is shallow, I will not concede that Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox worship is deep. The sacramental system and iconic venerations take people further from God, not closer. In many respects, these methods are no different from the ridiculous tools that some evangelical churches employ. The tone is different, but the result is the same: God’s glory is obscured, and man is left without the soul-reviving encounter that worship is meant to provide (see Pss. 63; 73; 84).
This is why, during the time of the Protestant Reformation, a concerted effort was made to return to the ordinary worship of the Apostolic and early churches (e.g., Acts 2:42). A key principle to the Reformers’ public worship was simplicity. There was no need for ornamentation, either in the building or the liturgy, because through the Word and sacraments worshipers were beholding true Beauty: God Himself. John Cotton summarizes the tradition when he says “our principal care and desire is to administer . . . the ordinances of Christ himself . . . in their native purity and simplicity, without any dressing or painting of human inventions.” More than mystical experiences, it was the splendor of holiness that they were after (Ps. 29:2), for this is what does us the most good and brings God the most glory. It might seem ordinary (because it is), but the Protestant tradition seeks to find God in the places and ways that He has promised to show up. Don’t miss out on Him.
Finally, someone who is considering walking away from the Protestant faith should be aware that to do so is to possibly walk away from the assurance of salvation. One of the greatest recoveries of the Protestant Reformation was the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone. We are made right with God—our sins are forgiven, our debt is paid, our righteousness is earned, and heaven is opened—not through any merit of our own but through the completed work of Christ on our behalf (Phil. 3:9). All we are called to do is repent and believe. There is nothing that suffocates assurance quite like wondering if you are on good terms with God, if you have done enough, or if you are really saved. But the gospel message that is the very heartbeat of the Protestant faith won’t permit you to wonder that. Instead, we are told that “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). If one is looking for something to comfort and fortify his soul, this is it. If someone instead steps into the Roman or Eastern traditions, he is stepping into an intricate system that places peace with God at the end of an impossible maze of works-righteousness. The gospel is too sweet and the stakes are too high for one to walk away from it. So stay where Christ is preached and assurance is promoted.
As I’ve already mentioned, not all Protestant churches live up to their name. But the tradition safeguards some of the most precious treasures this side of heaven, and we can’t afford to give them up. If we are languishing, we should be cautious of placing our hope in a change. Our hope must always be in the Lord, so seek out a sound church that will point you to Him. I suggest that this will not mean leaving the Protestant tradition, but it may well mean leaving a church that merely claims to be Protestant for one that actually is.