I Will Never Have a Parking Space at TBN

Last night I wondered if I was getting too confrontational with my comments on today’s churches. Then I sat down to read the Bible, and I asked God to guide me. I landed on Thessalonians 1. Here is what I saw:

But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.

It’s amazing that I even needed to read this, but I know the reason. Modern churches are being brainwashed with a tactic taken from cults and authoritarian governments. They are teaching that all criticism is evil. They say we have to be “under authority.” They use the word “positive” all the time. They condemn anything “negative.” This is exactly what the Soviets did, except they backed it up with Gulags and firing squads. It’s what the Scientologists do.

I’ve learned a lot by subjecting myself to authority. It’s important to learn to listen to people God places above you. For this reason, I have been affected by the positivity campaign. I saw some true value in it. But when your human authorities blow it sufficiently badly, and your prayers don’t change them in a reasonable amount of time, you need to speak God’s truth, without fear or hesitation. Only the Holy Spirit can tell you when to open your mouth and when to shut it, and you have to pray for guidance.

Over and over, I see confirmation that God’s true servants need to speak up. The greatest figures in the Bible were critics. Jesus, Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Samuel, Nathan, Stephen, Paul, Peter, James, Micaiah…the list is very long. Here’s the list of people who are revered because they told everyone that what they were doing was just fine:

Can you think of a single one? I can’t.

It’s not that God likes to beat people up. It’s just that human beings require constant correction. It’s a mathematical certainty. There is only one right path. There are an infinite number of wrong paths. At any given moment, chances are, you’re starting to head in the wrong direction. Think about driving. What do your hands do, several times a second? They make tiny corrections in the path of your car. The nature of the universe makes it unavoidable. It’s not a commentary on your worthlessness. It just how things are.

Look what that material from Thessalonians 1 discusses.

1. Paul was mistreated in Philippi. Of course he was. He’s referring to other believers who didn’t want to listen. The church has always hated critics.

2. Paul spoke BOLDLY in MUCH CONFLICT. He didn’t go up on the platform and receive hugs and encomiums from the pastor and elders (or the synagogue bigwigs, if it was a synagogue). He offended, but he stuck to his guns. He didn’t worry about the resulting hard feelings, any more than Elijah worried when he cut the throats of the prophets of Baal. It had to be done.

3. He did not seek to PLEASE MEN. He wanted to please GOD. And in his work, he did not resort fo FLATTERY (seeker-sensitivity), nor did he use the gospel as a pretext for MAKING MONEY. Even though he was entitled to take payment (we know this from other scriptures), this was not his motive for speaking.

4. He did not seek GLORY.

What if you tried this approach today? All I can say is, thank God flogging is illegal, because a person with Paul’s attitude would infuriate a lot of people.

These days, preachers who have learned to trust in money and glory show up in churches, holler platitudes and slogans having little application to their own lives, receive praise and big offerings, and leave. Young people look at them and think, “Wow, I want to be a preacher.” They think all the old scriptures about self-denial are obsolete. TBN canceled that stuff twenty years ago! Now you’re supposed to be rich, and everyone is supposed to love you.

Preachers show up and tell us over and over that God wants us to be rich. They tell us we can be just like worldly people, listening to the same dirty music, dressing the same way, and obsessing on wealth. They lap up praise. They’re pampered and treated like royalty. And these things happen at churches where people in need are treated like flies. Shoo them away; don’t let them bother the pastors!

These days, preachers NETWORK. It’s just like being a lawyer. If you want clients, you go to parties. You speak at seminars. You pass out business cards. You join organizations. You suck up, basically. And it works. These days, many charismatic preachers want giant churches and TV cameras, and they know the short route to these goals is man-pleasing. They use every networking and marketing method known to man, instead of developing God’s power to the point where it draws men all by itself.

Jude spoke harshly of those who flatter others in order to gain advantage; even in his time, the principal was understood and exploited. You’re probably never going to be on TBN or Daystar if you disagree publicly with the herd. So instead of leaders, we have followers. “What is the crowd saying? Okay, that’s what I’ll teach.” It’s the Pontius Pilate method.

We’re becoming so worldly, we are no longer under God’s direction. We talk about how much we love him, but we don’t walk in his ways, and our excuse is “SOULS!” Anything that brings people into the church must be good! This is how the ancient synagogues ended up with altars to Ashtoreth beside the altars to Jehovah. Seeker sensitivity. The masses led the rabbis, when the rabbis should have been leading the masses.

It’s not about numbers. It never was. Besides, the gospels show that only the Holy Spirit can show you where to cast your net. The big harvest you get by listening to your own peanut brain will turn out to be very small, when the false positives are weeded out.

I’m going to make a better effort to refrain from hiding the truth. If I make people mad, so be it. I’m used to that. At least I’ll have some self-respect, and I won’t be helping to keep people from knowing God.