Lost Tombs, Tortillas and Titillations
Or…Why Some People Don’t Want To Be Christians
By J.R. Ensey
The mediums of radio, television and the Internet are now being inundated with programs and sites denouncing Christianity and promoting atheism or agnosticism. Why is that? The spirit of the age? The new emphasis on all things Islamic? The embracing of politically correct positions on social issues, such as gay marriage? The impotence of Protestant denominations to impact the youth of today? Yes, all of the above, but sometimes we Evangelicals—and I use the term broadly—are our own worst enemy.
Partly because of our own pitiful behavior, and partly because of the agenda of the liberal media and postmodern mindset of mainstream Christianity, we find ourselves the object of jokes. Since the takeover of Congress by the political left, Hollywood is finding it popular to denigrate the Christian faith. Their latest effort is a so-called documentary titled The Lost Tomb of Jesus in which the claim is made that the tomb of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, a brother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and a son belonging to Mary Magdalene and Jesus has been found. Alexandra Pelosi, the daughter of the Speaker of the House, has also made a film about Evangelicals called Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi. In this film she obviously has an agenda to make the Evangelicals look as bad as possible. Author and former syndicated columnist Don Feder calls the film “an attack piece,” noting that Pelosi focused on the most “absurd, ridiculous” things she could find, suggesting “that this is the essence of what it is to be an evangelical Christian in America.”
For example, at one point in the movie the filmmaker trains her camera on “the Christian Wrestling Federation,” Feder points out. And in another instance, he notes, “she interviews a group of Christian teens who have tie-dyed hair and nose rings and studs in their tongues, fuchsia-colored hair—so-called ‘Goth teens’—talking about getting a ‘high’ from God.”
Decry these development all we will, Evangelicals have provided the liberals with a plentitude of targets during the last decade. But not Evangelicals only—we must acknowledge that the Apostolic movement is also having its problems making a positive impact on the world. Our overall growth is far below expectations and prophetic pronouncements. We have tried to tune in and turn on to the culture but we are getting tuned out in the process.
One of the reasons—in my opinion—is all the stupid stuff that goes on in the name of Christianity, particularly of the Evangelical/Pentecostal stripe. Hardly a week goes by that our local newspaper (the Houston Chronicle) fails to carry an article about some minister who has fallen into moral sin, or tried to burn his church down for the insurance, or absconded with the church funds. They enjoy pointing out any failed televangelist (most of whom are Charismatic types, with whom we are often associated), or providing news of churches that are now showing porn films at marriage seminars, or that someone has a new image of the Virgin Mary that has miraculously appeared on a cookie sheet (2/24/07 “Virgin Mary image draws throngs”). If you were a non-believer and had no background in Christianity at all, would such events or happenings motivate you to become a Christian?
How many statues of the “saints,” or of the Virgin Mary, have been claimed to be shedding “tears”? A few years ago someone thought they saw her image in a woodpile in the Houston area. Crowds immediately gathered to pray and ask for favors. In 2004, Florida resident Diana Duyser sold her grilled cheese sandwich on eBay for $28,000. She claimed the sandwich was 10 years old and she had kept it preserved in a plastic container, after noting a shape that looked like the Virgin Mary on the bread. In 1978, a woman in New Mexico said she saw the image of Jesus in the burn marks of her tortilla. She set up a shrine and thousands made a pilgrimage to it. Now the Muslims are getting into the sensationalism aspect of religion by claiming that last year villagers in Kazakhstan said they found an egg with the word “Allah” inscribed on it in Arabic. A chicken laid the egg just after a hailstorm hit the village, according to the state media. Shades of Chicken Little!
Such cases of religious simulacra turn the average person off. Visions of a 900-foot Jesus, out of body experiences describing heaven or hell in ways that contradict Scripture, personal prophecies that never come to pass and other types of sensationalism may attract certain crowds and appeal to the curiosity of the shallow believer, but that is not the Apostolic way. Paul explained our approach, “For our [preaching] does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else” (I Thessalonians 2:3-6b NIV; brackets mine).
Too many wearers of the cloth have sold out to mammon, or acquiesced to the siren song of compromise for numbers, or become religious quacks specializing in spiritual abuse. Some of the stuff that goes on in church winds up on TV shows with names like “Comedy Central.” They parody Benny Hinn blowing on people until they fall and mock Robert Tilton’s tongues speaking and rail on the stupid shenanigans he employs to get people to support his show. You can buy holy water from the Jordan off the ’Net and order shower caps with a preacher’s handprint on it. The “name-it-and-claim-it” adherents are constantly pouring forth such drivel that it boggles the mind. It is said that Kenneth Copeland now confesses a “crisis of faith” because God has not given him Australia, for which he has been praying for thirty years.1
We cringe at the thought of such profiteers, but how many who claim to be Apostolic have turned to the “God told me to tell you…” syndrome in order to sound spiritual, titillate the unwary, and generate the attendance of the curious and the carnal. Unjudged personal prophecy has ruined homes, split churches and disillusioned far too many saints of God because leaders are too timid to step up to the plate and say, “Enough is enough.” How many websites are up on the Internet exposing the religious charlatans who employ sensationalism and weird methodologies? How many of our SKs and PKs have given up on God and church because they have seen too much hocus pocus and spiritual junk? It is assumed that this is one of the reasons we are only keeping about 20% of our youth who were raised in Apostolic homes.
Before anyone goes off on me, be it known that I believe in the gifts of the Spirit as much as any man out there. We will never get God’s work done without them. The sovereign move of God is welcomed and wanted. But spiritual quacks, false teachers, and those who traffic in the sensational2 should not be embraced by Apostolics. They are a hindrance to the work of God. Pastors who have insisted on having them—even when they knew they were not telling the truth in their pulpit—have paid a dear price in the form of fractured churches, divided families and backslidden, disillusioned youth. Our seemingly insatiable appetites for the new and different are likely to lead us into failure and ultimate destruction.
Claims of great overseas revivals that never happened, revelations of new doctrines that violate common sense as well as the Scriptures, blowing on people or pushing them down as though God did it, promises of prosperity if large amounts of money are thrown at the minister’s feet, “buying” into someone’s anointing, exaggerating to make God “look good”—such prattle and nonsense will do nothing for the church in the long run but disillusion the saints of God and bring the ministry into disrepute. Of Jesus it was said, “Neither was guile [deceit] found in his mouth” (I Peter 2:22).
Let’s wash our minds out with these admonitions from the apostle Paul: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things…The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith…Keep yourself pure…Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart…Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water…Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world…But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (Philippians 4:8; I Timothy 1:5; 5:22; II Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 10:22; James 1:27; 3:17).
Living by those standards will give us the best chance of impacting our world in the way that will be pleasing to God.
End Notes:
1. “It’s been 30 years now and still no answer” said Copeland. “For 30 solid years I’ve been praying that the Lord would give me Australia and I’m still waiting. Frankly, it’s becoming rather discouraging.”
Copeland admits that his claim is larger than most are willing to make, but feels his faith has been strong throughout.
“By all indications of my faith I should have had that place 20 years ago.” Said Copeland. “If ever I’ve had faith that the Lord would give me something it’s this. I just don’t know what the problem could be.”
Copeland further states that the plans that he has been making for years for the island nation only serve to prove that his faith has been strong all along. His plans include renaming the country. (“Copeland?”)
Other plans include transforming the entire city of Sydney into a private resort for the Copelands.
But 30 years of what Copeland calls “unanswered prayer” has left him discouraged almost to the point of leaving the ministry.
“I’m worried about him.” Said Gloria Copeland “He’s saying things like ‘I just don’t know if I can believe anymore.’ and ‘What’s the point of going on if we don’t have Australia.’ I still believe though, and I’m still praying. I know I’m just going to wake up one morning and find a note on our door saying ‘Australia is yours!’ I’m waiting for that day to come.” tominthebox.blogspot.com
2. The supernatural is one thing; the sensational is another. The supernatural focuses on God but the sensational focuses on men. The supernatural comes down from God; the sensational is conjured up by men. God can get the glory from supernatural acts but men usually get the glory from the sensational
|