Robby Gallaty Says Catholics Can Be Christians and Warns Protestants Against Empty Faith

Pastor Robby Gallaty grew up in a Roman Catholic family that took its faith seriously. So when the Long Hollow Church pastor addressed whether Catholics can be Christians, he was thinking about people he loves. His answer was yes. Then he turned the question back on Protestants who assume their own church habits are proof of faith.

In a November 2 episode of his Get Into the Word YouTube series, reported by ChurchLeaders, the Hendersonville, Tennessee, pastor said he believes many Catholics genuinely love Jesus. From his Protestant perspective, he argued that Catholics who trust in Christ alone do so despite what he sees as a conflict with official Catholic teaching on salvation.

Gallaty also challenged Protestants who mock Catholics for praying the rosary, displaying crucifixes or genuflecting. He said that treating Catholic friends and relatives as arguments to win overlooks how Jesus reached them in the first place.

"Sadly, some have a faith that is just as empty as those we criticize," Gallaty said.

He pointed to a familiar evangelical example. Someone may remember praying a prayer years ago and take that memory as assurance of salvation, even if they rarely think about Christ now. Gallaty said Protestants can place similar confidence in how often they attend church, how many times they have read the Bible or how faithfully they pray. He also warned against making political affiliation or Christian nationalism a measure of faith.

For Gallaty, the dispute over salvation has a practical consequence for how Christians speak to their own families. A Protestant can make a case for trusting in Christ alone and still rely on a conversion prayer or years of church attendance for personal assurance. That possibility, Gallaty argued, deserves the same scrutiny Protestants bring to Catholic practice.