Pastor Wendell Smith of The City Church
Posted on September 14th, 2006 by Reformed Pope into the The City Church categoryI just found Pastor Wendell Smith's (The City Church) blog and obviously, one particular post stood out to me: Money Makes Us More of What We Are. I'm always curious any time an MFI pastor speaks on money, seems there's a bit of a trend, but I wanted to give Pastor Wendell Smith a chance.
At first glance, it seems he was taking a slightly different approach then any I'd ever heard from Frank Damazio and City Bible Church. His article was about lotto winners and the DANGERS OF MONEY… (One of CBC's most feared subjects). In it, Wendell Smith, actually lists many scriptures that warn of riches and wealth (he must not know Kevin Conner scratched these verses out of the newest MFI Bible), but here they are, as Pastor Wendell listed them:
5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. Prov 23:5 (NKJV)
22 A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him. Prov 28:22 (NKJV)
13 There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt. 14 But those riches perish through misfortune; When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand. Eccl 5:13-14 (NKJV)
12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. Eccl 5:12 (NKJV)
23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 "And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matt 19:23-24 (NKJV)
20 "But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21 "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Luke 12:20-21 (NKJV)
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Tim 6:9-10 (NKJV)
20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. Prov 28:20 (NKJV)
Quite frankly, I was shocked. It seems he is at least open to the idea of wealth not being the ultimate goal of Christianity (See any Frank Damazio sermon from 1994-present). How could these 2 MFI churches co-exist? The City Church and The City Bible Church???? Two moderately large churches, each belonging to the same Non-Denomination (MFI) with similar backgrounds and names and websites and conferences and youth pastors and…. like I said, I was shocked.
Then I took a closer look. I missed one important thing. Prior to listing, the "forbidden" scriptures (my words, not Wendell Smith or Frank Damazio's) Wendell says this:
The Bible tells us clearly what will happen to people whose riches come quickly.
"…whose riches come quickly"
I'd always wondered what MFI did with all those scriptures (they didn't really scratch them out, Catalyst made that up) and now I know. "…whose riches come quickly". Is it safe to assume that we should still try to "get rich blessed by God", just not quickly?
Well, I'm not ready yet to say Pastor Wendell Smith of The City Church from Seattle, WA has the same beliefs as Pastor Frank Damazio of City Bible Church from Portland, OR in regards to tithing and the Bible, but I will say this, IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD.
RSS feed for posts
September 14th, 2006 at 9:29 am
Sometimes, I wonder if because we are sensory/physical beings, if we more inclined than not to overlook the deeper spiritual meaning of these sorts of parables Jesus tells.
I for one, have listened to sermons about this guy for years and thought to myself “the dumb SOB”, and envisioned the angel of death smiting him on the spot - while the surviving relatives split up the haul among themselves.
But what if the tale of this mans death isn’t physical death, but spiritual death, of the sort that comes when we stop trusting the Father for our needs, and place our trust in what we have stored up? What if that last verse, where the Father says “who will get what you have stored up now that you’re dead”, is NOT about the grain the guy stored up in his barns, but about the spiritual riches he had laid up in heaven BEFORE he placed his trust in his barns? I don’t think the Father really gives a rip about the food-stuffs in the barn.
There’s that parable about the men given varying numbers of talents, who invested all but one. The one guy who buried the talent was beaten and his talent given to the other who had invested wisely and made a good return. The talent may represent money, however I’ve heard it symbolizes spiritual gifts as well.
So, what if that barn parable is trying to tell us, that when we put our trust in material things, in our own storehouse, that we forfeit the spiritual riches we have laid up in heaven, which the Father will gladly take and give to another who is investing wisely in the kingdom riches of wisdom and the Holy Spirit?
Could the core message of that parable be that the moment we place our trust elsewhere, don’t we cease to live in Christ, and therefore die spiritually? I wonder because Paul, among others, talked about losing salvation, of running the race to the end, and so apparently He viewed salvation and life in Christ as something to be exercised continuously. It’s not just one decision made years ago in the “sinners prayer” - it is a daily walk. And so, on the day that man stored up his riches, and placed his trust in them for his future, he ceased walking in faith in the Father, and started walking in the faith of his barn.
If the lesson of that parable is “don’t put your trust/hope in money, because it brings about spiritual death”, what does that say of the tithe-mongering churches?
One could almost pray: O God - let me never be rich, that I am not tempted to place my faith in anything but you.
Jack
September 14th, 2006 at 9:46 am
Prov. 30:7-9:
“Two things I request of You
(Deprive me not before I die):
Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches –
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have been a long-time member of CBC and I have noted that it has often been Wendell’s privilege to give the offering call when he visits. Once it was a mini-sermon that lasted at least 15-20 minutes. He is invited to do this because he is so effective at it.
I do not know why he published the above. Perhaps he has had a change of heart. Maybe his physical condition has prompted him to re-evaluate some things. It did not appear so the last time I visited the City Church (about 6 months ago), but one can always hope.
September 14th, 2006 at 11:16 am
Hey, Pope, did you somehow miss the last paragraph?
Looks pretty clear to me where he stands on this…he equates good money management with tithing.
September 14th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Yes, I did miss that… it's sad how he offers no Biblical evidence to support that line of thinking.
Why is it that "riches gained hastily will not be blessed in the end."? Is it so that Prosperity Preachers have an excuse for all the scriptures listed above?
I just don't think it works.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
Dear God, please make me rich, but don’t be too quick about it. Amen.
September 14th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
Exactly.
December 11th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
so which one of you guys pastors a church of thousands???
December 11th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
I love the numbers game…i just wish the muslims would quit kicking our ass…they have way more members then we do.
December 11th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Sort of like McDonalds:
“Billions served”
December 11th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Taken from the banner on this site:
PF would kill for these kinds of numbers!
December 12th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Isnt it ironic that you post yur numbers on this site!!!
Hmmmmmmmmm…..what about a name change?!? I got it, City Numbers Church……………….. I find that your “obsession” for numbers embodys the antithesis of the the anti- consumer church……You have become your own enemy!
December 12th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
ahhh go get em Cowboy!
that’s brilliant!
December 13th, 2006 at 7:13 am
I think PF’s obsession with numbers speaks for itself. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll consider myself “zinged”.
December 13th, 2006 at 9:53 am
I guarantee you that most pastors are consumned with numbers. Specifically, the number of dollars in the offering.
December 13th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
You can guarantee? How? And are you saying that “city numbers church”, I mean city business church, is doing the same?…………..
April 5th, 2007 at 1:55 am
sounds to me like you were trying really hard to find something offensive in what pastor wendell said, and since you couldn’t REALLY find anything offensive you over emphasized the word “quickly.” sounds like a pretty pathetic shot at pastor wendell simply becuase he is affiliated with a pastor you don’t like. time to grow up, read your bible, and stop attacking our brothers and sisters in Christ. if you are itching for a fight so bad, perhaps your energies would be better used if they were directed at the enemy of your soul, which is not pastor wendell OR pastor frank dimazio. and for the record pastor wendell is one of the most gracious and kind men i’ve ever met in my entire life, and i don’t understand why this website has so much hate-fueled blogs that attack members of it’s own body (that is if you claim to be a christian). 2 peter 1:7 “Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.” NLT - so hows about we start loving one another with words that build up, not tear down.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:28 am
Thanks for the comment Tony,
I’m sure Mr. Wendell is a very “gracious and kind man”…I don’t doubt that at all. Clearly he is a very “successful” pastor. Unfortunately “gracious and kind” is not the same as “Biblical and honest”. If he’s wrong he’s wrong.
and I don’t understand why so many Chrisitans put up with un-Biblical teachings that cause sickness in “members of it’s own body”.
April 25th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Finance and the bible do not go together.
Jesus would hang his head in shame in the face of those who have turned his word into a franchising opportunity to spurn millions of dollars - the same way he did when he was displeased with the money exchangers in the temple at Jerusalem.
I find many pentecostal churches try to reconcile our modern way of living (materialism, vanity, worship of money) with the way of Jesus and the disciples. Like mixing chalk and cheese, and essentially hijacking a religion.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Tony
You’ve never seen such gracious and warm people as in the Pink MLM
I was in for a time. They were incredible –gracious leaders who had
faith –taught and used scriptures to makes us become more prosperous
and had no trouble seeing women get into thousands upon thousands of dollars of debt while they earned a fantastic commission.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck –it just might be a duck.
Anyone who wants to be a leader must be gracious and warm -but so are
the people are Starbuck’s. I wouldn’t give them my money just for being nice.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:47 am
For starters, I have a bit of trouble with the title of ‘pastor’. The term is used only once in the bible, and it does not give a job description…other than the implied ’shepard’. It is interesting to me that so many in our day call themselves pastor when there is so little to base it on.
Having been milked hard for a long time, I’m no longer willing to give to any building program. I will open my wallet for those in need, but I don’t fund ‘visions’.
If I were to support a ‘pastor’, he would need to be someone who worked with his hands to support himself. If he needed financial help for things he needed, (a new roof for his house, car repairs, etc.) I would do what I could, but he would have to show himself to be a man of God and a follower of Christ.
You used the term ‘leadership’ in your post….look up Matt. 23:10 in the NASB and give me your thoughts.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:40 am
“for the record pastor wendell is one of the most gracious and kind men i’ve ever met in my entire life”
Since you know him so well, ask why he is denying needed food to the hungry people of Grays Harbor.
Oh, HITLER was charming too, according to his personal friends.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:38 am
As you all pick out scriptures here and there to make your point it gets amusing seeing people who really don’t know much about Pastor Wendell, Pastor Gini, Pastor Jude, Pastor Judah, and on and on of The City Church.
It’s the nature of the world to have some controversy-and I would like to add my ten cents worth along with yours (and that is about what it is all worth-I am wondering if we all need something better to do–hmm..maybe grab a bible and do more reading?)
What I find most amusing is that you will pay all kinds of money for who knows what-that has nothing to do with God, aside from fleshly and materialistic wants–but when a person who absolutely loves the Lord- (Pastor Wendell) wants to grow his church rather than being a small town conservative church (and he supports different ways for different people–just as there are different personalities there are churches-and more than one way to know God) - (some people think bigger than others-and need a mix) so he can reach out to whomever he can touch to have a relationship with God - in an excellent way-you find fault. Sooo would you have Pastor Wendell living in a tent, no money, no ability to help others, and then would you be happy. Shame on you. Don’t you work hard in your profession (yes, it is a business in my view-is organization wrong or shall we all go willy nilly?) in order to be successful? It is a profession people-to serve God-some of us make money doing other things that they feel called to by God) is that where the problem comes-that he is successful?
He gives out as much as he takes in - monetarily, physically, emotionally and I challenge you to actually attend his church on an ongoing basis rather than getting bits and pieces of information and then making it something it is not. I know members of the church, I am a member, and you are confused in what you are thinking when it comes to The City Church in my opinion.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Wow. I’m impressed. I think this is the first person I’ve ever heard from the CC that can spell, and use punctuation. Good job representing the CC Amused!
If you could show me one group of Christians (let alone the pastor of a “mega-church”) that actually practiced what their religion preached, it would give me pause. But don’t worry Amused. The fact that your pastors and members live in such opulence and continue to remind the rest of us of T.V. preachers like Tammy Faye should definitely be the least of your worries.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Dang, Amused, you make an awful lot of assumptions like:
The people who write here …
1) … don’t know Wendell or Gini or their proteges.
2) … don’t read their Bibles much.
3) … spend their money willynilly on materialistic pleasures
4) … are picking on people who “absolutely love the Lord”
5) … have never attended City Church or its mother City Bible
What would you say to a person who DOES know Wendell and Gini, reads the Bible, is careful with spending, recognizes when someone loves the Lord and spent 25+ years at BT/CBC &/or CC …. and STILL comes to the conclusion that something is very wrong?
grace
August 10th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
I’d say you are very bitter and angry…but that’s just me.
August 10th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
LOL… yup, how did you know?
August 10th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
I just obtained a copy of Wendell Smith’s, Prosperity with a Purpose, published by his own church, The City Church. The book has ten chapters but no index. Chapter 8 of his book is called, The Dangers of Wealth (p. 151) and is probably the place from which the material that Reformed was referring came. Wendell responds to questions like the following concerning the tithe in his “Hard Questions and Godly Answers” section in the back of his book:
Q: “Isn’t tithing an Old Testament commandment? If tithing is law, and we are under grace, why do we need to tithe?” p. 267
Q: “Why is my family still having financial problems if we are tithing?” p. 267
Q: “Shouldn’t a New Testament believer give as the Spirit leads and not some percentage?” p. 268
Q: “What if I don’t agree with this kind of teaching?” p. 268
The name of his Introduction is: “Why Some People React to Prosperity Teaching.”
August 11th, 2007 at 7:33 am
Are his responses short? Because if they are I’d love to read them.
August 12th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
RP said: Are his responses short? Because if they are I’d love to read them.
RP: Wendell’s answers to the qqs above are fairly short, but not short enough for me to enter them all here. Plus, I would not be able to stop with only those comments. E.g. Wendell calls the following statements “fallacies:” “Jesus was poor.” “The disciples were poor.” “The gospel is for the poor.” “The apostle Paul was poor.” “God wants His people to be poor and humble.” etc. (pgs. 166-167). Such comments are too tempting for me to resist attempting to rebut.
The very first words after quoting a Bible verse that Wendell pens in the book in his preface are: “I apologize to anyone who might be offended at the notion of sharing explicit dollar amounts and such carnal specifics in the explanation of the biblical principles regarding prosperity…” With many statements of similar flavor, his book, in my view, is really a must-read for all of those who want to take on the monster of the gospel of prosperity.
When I obtained my copy of the book, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to buy one, so I simply requested a copy through my local library’s inter-library loan program and did not have to pay a nickel for it. I received a copy on loan from Ohio Christian University. (Praise God for the wonders of library technology!)
August 14th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Besides Wendell Smith’s book, Prosperity With a Purpose, I would also highly recommend obtaining your own copy of the book, “How to Claim the Abrahamic Covenant” by Jay Snell, foreword by Paul F. Crouch (TBN edition), for understanding more about the Prosperity theology and how they interpret the Bible. I think one can get a copy of this book free from TBN (toll free): 1-888-731-1000.
BT/PBC taught me to be afraid of reading “the other side” to different beliefs lest I waste my time or pollute myself or the PBC students. Now I am more of the persuasion, without downplaying the supernatural power of the Spirit in the preaching of the simple good news of Jesus Christ, that it is best for us to understand fully the other side of issues before we criticize them. Besides giving “five steps” on how to “claim Abrahamic blessings” in his book the back cover has the photo of a pot of gold coins with a divine light from heaven shining down upon it…
August 14th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Update on Jay Snell’s book(s):
I just spoke personally with Jay Snell over the phone and he said that TBN gave away 300,000 of his books. TBN gave it a different title (the one above) and they are no longer available through them. The book (”How to Amass Abrahamic Wealth for Yourself and Your Family”) is available, along with other titles along the same lines, apparently as free downloads at jaysnell.org. If anyone is interested in studying the Abrahamic Covenant in-depth by comparing what Jay Snell claims about it with what Jesus and the apostles say about it in the New Testament, this would be a good starting point. I would recommend beginning by reading scholarly articles on “Covenant” from The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible and The Anchor Bible Dictionary (ABD).
Note the first paragraph and outline of the latter article here (ABD, vol. 1, pgs. 1179-1202):
COVENANT [I, 1179–1202] A “covenant” is an agreement enacted between two parties in which one or both make promises under oath to perform or refrain from certain actions stipulated in advance. As indicated by the designation of the two sections of the Christian Bible—Old Testament (= covenant) and New Testament—“covenant” in the Bible is the major metaphor used to describe the relation between God and Israel (the people of God). As such, covenant is the instrument constituting the rule (or kingdom) of God, and therefore it is a valuable lens through which one can recognize and appreciate the biblical ideal of religious community.
__________
A. Underlying Problems in Approaching the Topic
B. ANE Treaties
1. The Nature of Ancient Covenants
2. The Structure of the LB Age Treaties
3. The Structure of Iron Age Loyalty Oaths
C. The Sinai Covenant
1. Formal Elements of the Sinai Covenant
2. Its Historical and Conceptual Context
3. History of the Sinai Covenant Tradition
D. The Divine Charter
1. The Nature of the Divine Charter
2. The Davidic Charter
3. The “Covenant” with Abraham
4. The “Covenant” of Noah
E. Covenant Traditions in the Prophets
1. Continuity of the Sinai Covenant
2. Reappropriation of the Davidic Charter
3. The “New Covenant”
F. Later Biblical “Covenants”
1. The “Covenant” of Josiah
2. The “Covenant” of Nehemiah
G. Other Covenant Traditions
1. The Covenant Banquet
2. Marriage as Covenant
H. Postbiblical Developments
1. Covenant in Early Judaism
2. Covenant in Early Christianity
I. Conclusion