Victim or Villain?
Posted on May 1st, 2005 by catalyst into the Uncategorized categoryAn excellent comment from Samuel John Klein.
Quoting a few anonymouses back:
Forget all the messages on tithing and faith harvest.
Forget all the outward signs of the deep issues at hand.
What’s wrong is the idea that it’s all about the church, it’s all about the pastors.
Seldom does Jesus actually pop up anywhere.
The audacity of the leadership in their arrogance to say that you need a “spiritual covering” apart from the Holy Spirit is simply rediculous.
This has it dead on.
Occasionally I tune into TBN just to see what’s going on there. I don’t buy a thing they’re selling (don’t even get me started about the love gifts) because it’s all cheap trash really. Marketing, marketing, marketing. It’s the embodiment of what Bonhoeffer described as “cheap grace”.
And the pastors say it’s about the message but, let’s be honest, it really isn’t. It’s about Rod Parsley, Paul and Jan Crouch, it’s about Joel Osteen (who just gives me the willies for some reason I can’t put my finger on).
I don’t think this ‘blog can hold CBC and suchlike accountable in the fullest sense of the word, but it can in a certain sense of the word. One thing I do not accept is that Catalyst et. al. are insincere Christians with an axe to grind. It’s easy to do this, for people who don’t fit in or are left dry by what nourishes and is popular with everyone else.
It also misses the point and exacerbates with injury, by ignoring the harm and painting the victim as the villain. I don’t think Catalyst’s complaints are merely the moanings of a troublemaker, because I sense this daily, in the dealings of people I know who are born-again’s who get ‘done to’ in the name of thier pastor and thier church. If circumstances were any different, then maybe. But I get a whiff of decadence as I pass any ‘mega’ church or slick spiritual marketing or see another televangelist.
There are genuine concerns here which, if they aren’t addressed, will eventually be disfiguring to every church, by instilling a public sense of cynicism for the practice of faith. It could possibly be fatal to churches. And they won’t go away if we mock those who raise conscientious, sincere, and loving objections.
I am, though Catholic, aware of the doctrines of “sola fides” and “sola scriptura”. Seems, in the case of CBC and its type, it’s mutated into “sola pastora (sic)”
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May 1st, 2005 at 9:56 am
It amazes me how Samuel John Klein can get such a clear picture of CBC life through this website.
I think his “sola pastora (sic)” discription of megachurch life is dead on.
I just wish others could see it.
May 1st, 2005 at 9:18 pm
Justin, Joel in iraq just wanter to say hello and how are you guys doing, this is Brandon Clark. Justin why dont you do a blog about suvivor that would be funny.
May 2nd, 2005 at 4:53 am
Brandon:
A Survivor blog is an excellent idea.
Because, this season of Survivor is one of the best ever. I mean How could the Koror tribe think of voting off Stephanie and not Tom. Tom is by far the bigger threat. Caryn is an idiot… anwyay…as you know… I could write for days on this. Anyway, tell Joel I said hi.
And Brandon email me at justin.morton@gmail.com; I have several other Survivor thoughts I’d like to run pass you…
May 2nd, 2005 at 3:38 pm
How ironic that someone should bring up the subject of survivor on this blog… That show is about as relevant to thinking people as CBC is to spirituality. If it werent for the entertainment culture we all were brought up in, maybe we could be a start to effecting positive change… but, alas we have survivor, a show about not being able to survive the reality we live in so we have to live vicariously through other people’s lives, which, by the way, happen to be so medicated and doctored that it would probably give most a sick stomach if they knew the reality of it. well enough booze for this fellow former CBC’er. I think I shouldn’t have missed that appointment today with my shrink. ( “aka evil devil teaching person” )
May 2nd, 2005 at 8:07 pm
May I remind people to visit www.lighthouselprophecy.com and read Exposing theTithe Lie by Jack Helser. To give you a taste: “…I heard about the preacher who’s congregation quietly left the church during the prayer following a long sermon on tithing. He said “amen”, looked up and cried out “half my church is gone!” I initially thought they were fleeing the conviction of ther Holy Spirit but the Lord floored me. “They fled from error and guilt-based giving” …I have reached the inescapable conclusion that the “tithe” is to the modern church what the issue of “circumcision” (legalism) was to the church in Paul’s time. The author addresses the curse of Malachi and Abraham giving to Melchizadek.
Jesus died to set us free from sin. Legalism is the sin of adding a requirement to repentance(the cross) and licentiousness is the sin of excepting a sin or diminishing the need of repentence.
Read it and weep … for joy!
May 3rd, 2005 at 12:08 pm
Catalyst:
I’m flattered and honored that you felt my comment was worthy of the theme of a post.
These things we all think of hard and long I’m sure. to me it was just common sense.
The only thing more alarming is the tendency of members of the flock to be so invested in what is actually a cult of personality that they rush to defend, not realizing that they are helping to do the damage.
Drop off in post frequency if you must, but try to not give this up. I’m still sad that the Pope left, but you’re doing an admirable job.
May 7th, 2005 at 3:27 pm
During my tenure at BT/CBC I often used to think about…. Jim Jones, Guyana, orange kool-aid, decaying bodies….. and wonder what kept BT/CBC on the precipice from becoming…. BT/CBC, Rocky Butte, double latte, stiff bodies