POLITICS AND THE CHURCH

Date: Sun Jul 30 22:29:04 2006

Title: POLITICS AND THE CHURCH

Post: At the Woodland Hills (mega)Church in Minnesota, Pastor Greg Boyd went on a tirade against conservative politics. According to the NY Times, 1000 of his 5000 members went out the door. If he would have simply said no campaigning in church, or no politicians in the pulpit, I and many others would doubtless have given him a standing ovation. Time after time, politicians who know how to "work" Christians get in the pulpit, tell some hackneyed story about how they learned about God at their mother's knee, perhaps endorse some issues "hot" to Christians, and walk away with votes.

If Pastor Greg had said simply we have to stop calling this a Christian Nation (I don't call it that, do you?), who could argue? Blood-washed saints are in a minority [[EMOTICON:SAD1]], almost everything in the mainstream culture is opposed to Jesus Christ, and our nation is making horrific testimonies of unrighteousness to the world is so many ways. Then he committed the cardinal sin. He talked about the "separation of church and state" [[EMOTICON:GOODGRIEF1]], the canard of atheists to take away the rights of Jesus-followers guaranteed by our founding fathers. These two concepts are a favorite one-two punch of the enemies of Christ, and this pastor repeated the mantra. Not to take his foot out of his mouth slowly, he proceeded to castigate Christians centering on sexual morality and then say that homosexuality is not the "preferred" lifestyle. Game, point, match. Pastor Greg went from mainstream evangelical Christianity into the evangelical left which is virulently anti-war, anti-military, and soft on sexual sin.

I have seen firsthand the total coopting of Christians by both the left and the right. So why am I writing this today? [[EMOTICON:THINK1]] I went this morning to the first Sunday service held in the brand spanking new 5,000 seat (strange coincidence, huh?) Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Choir of about 200, 14 Spirit of David Praise Dancers. In short all the accoutrements of a large Pentecostally-flavored Baptist Church. Now big is not my preference - I prefer intimacy myself - but occasionally it is exhilarating to go to a big service.

Dr. Alyn Waller, the pastor, talked about Jesus. About the primacy of Jesus, about Christianity being the only way. So far, so good. Then he morphed into an angry Democrat Party demagogue - Bush stole from the poor to send the money to Iraq to pay his Halliburton buddies, as well as the obligatory pokes at "the religious right" and Victorian/European Imperialism! I heard that they wanted to have Asians and Caribbean people groups join them - with the caveat they accept "Liberation Theology"!!!!

Layering the bankrupt "Liberation Theology on the Gospel, huh? Another church I know lost members because they "layered prosperity on the gospel" (their words). I left a Rheema Church that did the same thing - prosperity was more exciting than Jesus to the Tulsa preacher. That's why except for some of the dramas, I don't bother with TBN - they layer money, success, celebrity values (and did I say money) on the gospel. There are churches that layer "Kingdom Now Theology" on the gospel (glad I checked their website first - saved myself some gas money). Others sing to America with the same devotion they give to Jesus (Isn't God a jealous God?) They teach Anericanism and teach distorted history which skips over our deep faults. Or, they teach a despising of our beloved country which God was kind enough to give us.

I long for the day where everything but Jesus disappears from the church. Cultural preferences, political preferences, economic system preferences. Those are more destructive today than denominational difference. They are perhaps the bigest reasons the church is so segregated and fragments. We need to be one in Christ. Maybe then the world will take us seriously. Maybe then the LORD will take us seriously.

COMMENTS

Name: HAPPY

Date: Tue Aug 1 19:49:45 2006

Most big churches now days,Money talks and Jesus walks. what gets me some of those Preachers say The Lord me Gave a real Important message.send 25 dollars to me and I will send it to you.I don't know about you, but if God gives me a message, I'm sure not going to charge some one for it, God Bless you