To My Protestant Brothers: You’re Not Crazy

Executive Summary

On May 20, 2025, We Need to Talk (487K subscribers) premiered an episode titled “Catholics Worship a False Christ? w/ Mike Gendron”, which has since reached over 176,000 views. In the discussion, Gendron asserts that the Catholic gospel is fundamentally different from the “true gospel,” accusing Catholics of worshipping a false Christ, practicing idolatry, and adding human achievement to divine grace.

This white paper acknowledges that many Protestants resonate with such critiques — not because Catholic doctrine itself is false, but because countless Catholics have indeed lived within shallow parish cultures that fail to provide biblical literacy, Spirit-filled discipleship, and authentic encounter with Jesus Christ. Their departure from Catholicism was, in many cases, an act of spiritual survival rather than rebellion.

1. Understanding the Critique

Mike Gendron and others level recurring charges against Catholicism:

• Eucharist as Idolatry – Priests “call Jesus down” to re-sacrifice Him, turning the Eucharist into a “false Christ.”
• Purgatory and Indulgences – Unbiblical inventions that enslave Catholics and deny the sufficiency of the cross.
• Mary as Mediatrix – A “different Mary” who eclipses Christ as sole mediator.
• Justification by Works – Catholicism as “human achievement,” in contrast to “faith alone.”
• Tradition over Scripture – Catholicism as a corruption of apostolic faith beginning in the 4th century.

These points were not unique to Gendron but represent a broader stream of evangelical polemic against Rome.

2. Why Protestants Resonate

The appeal of such critiques is not purely doctrinal. It is experiential. Many Catholics:

• never learned how to pray with Scripture,
• never encountered the Holy Spirit’s gifts (tongues, prophecy, healing),
• never experienced robust catechesis,