Ecumenical charitable efforts seem really great on the surface.
I agree that we need to cooperate on some things and that it is good to help people.
The thing is, it does no good to help people without presenting them the gospel.
It is great to give food, comfort, shelter, and clothing to those in need. However, to give people these things without the gospel only makes people more comfortable living in their sin.
It is akin to giving someone a glass of icewater on their trip to hell.
How loving is it to give someone a pair of shoes when they are fixing to walk off a cliff?
Fine to give them a pair of shoes, but also turn them in the right direction while doing it.
The problem with ecumenical efforts comes when it is time to present the gospel…
Which gospel do you present?
Do you tell them they need to confess their sins to a priest, take the euchrist and perform seven sacraments in order to maybe reduce the time they spend in purgatory?
Do you tell them they need to be a good person, wear special underwear, baptise the dead, have lots of kids, and tithe every penny faithfully so that they can get access to the temple and maybe someday get to one of the levels of heaven or even become a god?
Do you tell them that, since God loves everyone, that everyone who is a “good person” is going to heaven and it doesn’t matter what you believe?
Or, do you tell them that we have all sinned against an eternal, Holy, and Perfectly Just God and that the only way they can pay for their sins themselves is death and an eternity in hell. That God Himself, because of His Perfect Love, made a way out for them by becoming a man, Jesus, and paying their debt for them, then rising again in victory over sin and death. That they need to repent (turn) from their sin, turn to Jesus, accept what He did, and live for Him.
