Church of Tares (Part 2 of 2)

 

Two weeks ago we began studying the flaws in the New Reformation and the many Megachurches that have adopted it.  We began our third objection, namely their message is not the Gospel as presented in Scripture. (It might be a good idea to read last week’s blog, Part I.) Let’s continue our study of that objection in Part II. 

A classic example of their feel-good doctrine, and the message it contains, came from Bill Hybels.  He did a survey of his vast church. But it found that a lamentably large percentage of his congregants were recently engaging in illicit sex (example:  41% of divorced people, 38% of single parents).  Did he call the congregation to repent for some of their rebellion against a holy God? No; he immediately exuded compassion, lest anyone feel guilty.  He said “We are a love-starved people, with broken hearts that need the kind of repair that only He can give.” Thus, he provided a great rationale for the fornicators to go on as before; now he can also think that he’s been victimized, not having an outlet for his love-starved need (ie, sex). Can you see a lack of exhortation there?  Any conviction?  God wants us to confess our sin (I John 1:9), not to find ways to continue in it. So these popular pastors treat gross sinners with a light touch, and condemn the Bible-reading devout by calling him a “jackass” or a “Pharisee” (Steven Furtick, another pastor among their movement leaders).

Yes, Jesus was kind to particular sinners.  Thinking of the adulteress, Jesus did not want her killed.  When He got the Pharisees to go away, He told her to “sin no more.” In His work of evangelism, He opened Himself up to anybody who had experienced lives of rejection and were hungry for meaning to life.  They knew they needed help.  The Pharisees’ problem was ignoring their sin. The “treatment” of immorality among these pastors needs to apply the Word; let it do its proper use as a sword, helping them to see their sin, exhorting people to stop, and pruning their lives (John 15:1-6).  Our depraved society calls us hypocrites for making this “tough love” part of our counseling, but Jesus’ mission is to save us for heaven and save us from sin.  He gives us the Holy Spirit for real help.  Sin is pleasurable; you have to reminded people of its consequences (yes, you can lose your salvation) before you want to let it go.  Also, imperfect people should exhort other imperfect people without being called a legalist, a judgmentalist, a  hypocrite, as if none of us has the truth or the right to coax our brothers to turn to the right way—because we love them. 

The proof of them being “vehemently anti-doctrinal” is on the surface; their movement’s church names are always non-denominational.  You could also dig into their introduction materials online, and generally fail to find much about their creed.  Those pastors I spoke to were unwilling to get beyond vagueness on important matters (at least, to me). But they know they generally don’t have to worry about it--people I talk to in intro groups don’t care about doctrine.  What does it say about today’s culture that doctrines that people died to maintain 500 years ago are irrelevant today?

These pastors steer away from any controversy, skipping verses, even books, to prevent argument.  Many of them never deal with prophecy, even though whole books of Scripture are devoted to it; many avoid discussing things like gay people, or the role of men or women. It would be nice to learn from our pastor something to say to witness to people what God’s Word says about a current cultural obsession.  People might even get the idea that the Bible is actually relevant, and isn’t just loving speeches on being kind, and humble, or giving them moralistic goals that are “impossible” to meet.  Many pastors would never preach on what Jesus said in John 6, or would call Paul a “sexist” (despite his words being God’s inspired Words), because of what he said about women’s role in church.  May I say, ignoring large portions of God’s Word is just deception.  As if Jesus were a kind soul all the time, and hated arguing.  That’s the view these pastors give us, but it is wrong; and they are, whether they know it or not, giving a distorted view of Our Lord.  Jesus expected radical, sometimes pushy behavior from His followers.  Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-37:

 Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; ³⁶ and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ ³⁷ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me

Always remember, the Cross, and all that implies, is an offense to people.  Look at I Corinthians 1:18:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

So the real Gospel, which really begins with our sin and guilt, is an offense to people.  You must be ready to dispense that extensively about our sin making us unworthy of heaven in speaking to a prospect.  Then you tell the good news—if they’re still around. Getting their agreement isn’t your goal; truth is.   Skip neither the bad nor the good.  Let the Holy Spirit shift their minds from feeling offended to feeling guilt, and then, if so moved, they grasp for relief in faith. ReaI salvation may then result.  In this country, ”bad-news-first” evangelism is getting to be a dead end, since America has had money for so long that people think they are self-sufficient. They have savings, and don’t need God.  But God will do us a favor and not let us live under that delusion. We will be put to the test, not because God desires evil for us, but to show us if we depend on Him for rescue.

Also on the subject of changing the message, Robert Schuller (the founder of the “New Reformation”) had this to say: “The new reformation will return our focus to the sacred right of every person to self-esteem. The church will never succeed until it satisfies the human being’s hunger for self-value.“ They assume we can think our way to it.  My response to this is, OK, you want to put a bubble of victimization on him, since working with people will, in most cases, knock around your self-esteem.  The sins of the world attack our soul.  It begins when we were children; wearing glasses gets your new name, “four eyes” or “Froggie.” Bullying is common, especially to the “nerds.”  Let’s not forget the words of Candace Owens:  “Life’s hard; get a helmet.”

Scripture has a way of dealing with our needs here. John 6 tells that the day after Jesus fed the five thousand, the people clamored to get more of Him.  But He exposed their motive, and also gave them a long, blunt doctrinal speech, which seemed designed to confuse and offend them away.  But His real purpose was, He wanted to be followed by real believers; only a person with faith in Him as God could accept that all the words He said were from a divine source, whether they could understand them or not—and they would still accept them in faith because  they knew that He was the Son of God..  His words were not pleasant for them.  See John 6:24-27 and verse 66, which showed that they were, indeed, followers of their bellies:

²⁴ when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life…⁶⁶ From that time many of His disciples (ie, in this definition, casual followers) went back and walked with Him no more.

Bill Hybels has his own twist on changing the message.  He likewise avoids things like the blood of Christ covering our depths of sin that we deserve hell. He also has a “sin-light” definition of sin—he calls sin a “flawed strategy to gain fulfillment.”  So his motivation for the Gospel is to make people experience fulfillment. The problem is, Jesus does not guarantee fulfillment from following Him.  In fact, He expressed the opposite; see John 15:19-20, 16:33):

 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also….These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

These new, sin-light definitions of Schuller and Hybels often lead to easy converts, then easy-believism, a death-knell for our real goal—which should be avoiding hell, and obtaining heaven.  Easy-believism means we don’t have to change our lives, just accept Christ.  But not changing our lives means we don’t put away the sins of the world.  No problem, they say; I was told that all my sins are forgiven.  Well, limit that too; all our sins up to the date of real conversion is true; confession, like washing the feet, is still a necessity.  God is not interested in our focus on self—self-esteem or self-fulfillment.  We already love ourselves too much as it is. See Romans 12;3 and Ephesians 5:29:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned…For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it

Writing articles like “Learn to Love Yourself” (Rick Warren, 2005) are unnecessary.  In fact, increasing self-love may bring problems like those outlined in II Timothy 3:1-5:

in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

When Jesus told us in Mark 12:31 to love your neighbor as yourself, he’s saying “try loving your neighbor as much as you already do for yourselves.” He wants us to practice self-denial, thinking of others first.  See I John 3:16-17:

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Like the felt need for self, another “felt need” people feel is entertainment.  Music moves people like nothing else. Taylor Swift will herself make over $4 billion from this Era tour (I’m writing in 10/2023). Dance and drama performances in megachurches do a good job of copying methods used by popular entertainers today. The church music is high-decibel and fast—not exactly worshipful.  Older folks know especially well what I’m talking about. The Saddleback Church youth ministry were teaching their young people a dance the Harlem Shake, where the body jerks lasciviously or demonically, take your pick. 

Mark Driscoll had an answer for a felt need—discussing sexual matters in church.  His preaching through Song of Solomon was explained because “I assumed the students and singles were all pretty horny.”  In the Song, he discussed, as he quotes, “marriage, foreplay, oral sex, sacred stripping, and sex outdoors, just as the Book teaches.”  (I’m thinking, “wait a minute:  I’ve read it, and don’t recall those acts.”) I listened, in enraptured disgust, as he “preached” on masturbation. (Matthew 5:28 was not part of that discussion—so, masturbation is not sin, so we can do as much as we want--whee). He has also claimed to have the gift of discernment, which allows him to see the sexual sins of his congregation.  His book, Confessions of a Reformission Rev, is available on Amazon, in case you forget these quotes. Oh, and “reformission” means a call to reform a flawed view of missions.  Evidently a confession. But he probably made money on the royalties.

Just to give you further proof that despite all these worldly efforts, all is not well in megachurches, let me give you a few quotes from Wikipedia:

To continue on Mark Driscoll: He led the Mars Hill megachurch in Seattle until 2014, when he was forced out.  His teachings on masculinity were toxic for women. He would go into graphic detail about sexual submission, they said. He left the church after the viral effects of his plagiarism, and his using $250,000 of church funds to pay a source off who knew how to game the New York Times Best-seller list, so his book could hit the list and he’d make more money—and add it to his resume.

The global megachurch Hillsong (New York City) was known for its hipster trappings, celebrity congregants and wildly popular worship music in the 2010s, but in recent years it has been more closely tied to a series of scandals, including the firing of its charismatic celebrity pastor, Carl Lentz, for “moral failures.” May 19, 2023

This next one is from a school founded by Bethel Church in Redding CA and headed by pastor Bill Johnson (its schools have had over 13,000 students):

The school garnered criticism for a practice among some students termed "grave soaking" or "grave sucking", where they would lie on the graves of deceased revivalists in the belief that they would absorb the deceased's anointing from God.

You should know that this is not some prank among immature experimental students:  It is actually within the church’s beliefs. (They are Word of Faith, uh, Part 2).  I can’t avoid mentioning this one:

Bethel Redding has also become associated with certain phenomena that are interpreted by the leadership and the congregation as manifesting the presence and glory of God. The phenomena include the appearance of “glory clouds” and gold dust and “angel feathers” falling from the ceiling (or perhaps from the ventilation system)

With non-denominal churches, it is not easy for a prospect to find their real vision. The church’s “intro” to the public sounds glowing:

Bethel is a congregation rooted in the love of God and dedicated to worldwide transformation through revival. The Lord has given us a mandate to be a resource center to impact cities and nations. We believe we're on the edge of the greatest revival of all time.

But you have to dig hard on the internet to find these other, wild beliefs.  Let’s give one other item:

The bigger problem stems from the theology of the Bethel Church and Bill Johnson, who was influenced by the likes of John Wimber and the false teachers of the Toronto Blessing. Consistent with others in the New Apostolic Reformation, Johnson teaches that people today are receiving direct words from God and that the offices of apostle and prophet have been restored to the church. In this way, Johnson presents a low view of Scripture (ed: and a high view of himself): the Bible must be either incomplete or insufficient, if we must keep adding to it with the words of modern-day prophets.

Note how “direct words from God” (like vision casting) led him to wild beliefs. (Hearing from the wrong god?) What are his congregants’ reaction (especially to the angel dust routine)?  Are they aghast as the distortion of the Bible or their manipulation of people?  I mean, he has to assume people are really naïve, right? I assume they take offense at that.  Well, you won’t believe it:

The response of those in the Bethel movement is usually wonder mixed with excitement, dancing, and recording it with cell phone cameras. 

So, it was great entertainment.  We can’t believe these people will do much for God’s Church in the near future. He is another celebrity pastor who has ridden off the rails, for sure.

Ending this with Rick Warren, where we began, what is he doing lately?  He unveiled a P.E.A.C.E. plan in Los Angeles Angel stadium in 2005.  P=Promote reconciliation (he is speaking to Muslims, for instance); E=Equip Leaders; A=Assist the Poor; C=Care for the Sick; and E=Educate the Next Generation.  But he unfolded this, oddly, to the music of Purple Haze.  That song, by Jimi Hendrix, was surely about the effects of drugs like LSD.  As one source said, the song is so widely assumed to be about drugs that there is entire strain of marijuana named after it, and there are many head shops that have opened under the name Purple Haze all over the country.  Why would he launch a plan—if not religious, at least humanitarian—to a pagan song? 

That plan is his latest “hope for a New Reformation.”  His intent is to help wipe out the global problems and show that the church is again relevant to unbelievers. It grew slowly while he was still pastor at Saddleback for 17 more years.  When he retired, he nominated a woman as co-senior pastor.  The Southern Baptist Convention ex-communicated Saddleback in early 2023 for that, despite Warren’s appeal for them to not do that.

But he again introduces controversial ideas.  In speaking to international local workers, he is always willing to work with Muslims, or whoever has influence in the local area.  Since, he says, he’s trying to lower poverty, for instance, he will accept anyone who wants to work, Christian or not—gays, atheists, etc.  He has also told corporation leaders that they must be ready for “religious pluralism.”  But I disagree with his quoted assumption that “we’re building a bridge” thereby.  Neither humanitarian aid nor social justice done through a non-believer in any way puts anybody closer to Christ. His mention of Pluralism puts many gods on the table, not the truth of Jesus as God.  Many of these people are not grateful for the grace offered to them; they are simply glad the rich USA thought of them to throw some money at.  You can see how their money is misapplied. Best to spend money on a local on-fire preacher, let him convert a bunch in the village, then watch as the caste system and the genocide start to disappear.  Warren is offering a social ‘reformation,’ not a spiritual one. He quotes that “the first reformation (Luther) was about doctrine; this one is about deeds.”  Great—let’s spread a works-gospel. He flits about, visiting the World Economic Forum (a socialist group which disavows religion), and other world groups that would definitely like a world religion, a world monetary system.  But aren’t those bad news in Revelation?  Only if their pastors will ever preach on it. 

Well, I’ve given you, in this short script, the story of the “Church of Tares” video.  Let me say this in my summary:  Ephesians 2:20 says that the church, which could always need improvement, MUST be…

…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

But men can follow God’s Way, or man’s way.  I choose God, since He is the best organizer in all history. His way is revealed in Scripture, and was at one time highly successful (see Acts).  But, I hope you have been convinced that man’s way is where the next Reformation is going.  The consequences will be severe and fatal.  There will be a ton of people who will be denied heaven, and totally shocked, because their pastor told them they were locked in.  Just as in traffic citations, not knowing the rules doesn’t save you from the ticket.  You should have read the manual.  Well, we have a Manuel, but few people read it either.  This one is different—it is eternal in its grace or judgment.