Imagine thousands of people standing around drinking coffee and talking sports.
A dude stands up on a box and starts preaching a sermon about how Christianity is inclusive and tolerant.
A hundred yards away, another dude grabs a megaphone, stands up on a ladder and yells over him. “Love wins!”
An eager group of believers erects a stage with a multi-channel speaker system and a spotlight.
The pastor’s voice booms. “You’re a good person!”
On gigantic video screens all around the crowd, another dude’s face appears.
His message thunders in crystal clear stereo. “…to be right the wrong way is to be wrong.”
My question is, which preacher is going to have the most listeners?
Right! The flashiest guy with the loudest PA system.
Now, which Preacher is going to have the truest doctrine?
Right! We don’t care!
Welcome to American evangelicalism!
Where the size of your platform is more important than the content of your message.
Church people no longer rally around the cross.
We rally around our loud, famous pastor.
(…and the awesome worship leader.)
We go to whichever church has the fullest parking lot.
We go wherever “everybody else” is going.
Where Christians puff out their chests and crow, “Look! My pastor is on HBO! Praise the Lord!”
Right.
Stop high-fiving and think about why HBO would interview your pastor.
Never mind. I’ll do it for you…
HBO wanted to interview a pastor that would make evangelicalism look bad.
They needed an evangelical that a lot of people would recognize.
The church where Matt Chandler is pastor is, according to HBO, “One of the fastest growing in the country.”
According to HBO, Matt is a “rising star” in evangelicalism.
So, that’s why Matt Chandler was on HBO.
That’s the ONLY reason Matt Chandler was on HBO.
HBO is NOT interested in proclaiming the gospel.
They are intensely focused on hating Donald Trump.
The first question posed to Chandler was about Trump.
Not Jesus
Not the Bible.
Not the beliefs of evangelicals.
Matt Chandler, the “rising star” in evangelicalism, was never asked about evangelicalism.
I’m certain his answers were edited.
We’ll never know what was left out of the interview.
That is precisely why rising stars should ask God for wisdom before eagerly jumping into the lion’s den.
And it’s why YOU should ask God for wisdom whenever you hear a preacher.
The most famous Pastor isn’t necessarily the most trustworthy one.
HBO gleefully asserted that 200,000 people left evangelicalism in a single year.*
Perhaps they aren’t really gone.
Maybe they just went somewhere quieter.
*It’s quite likely that this number is fabricated. At the very least, the Southern Baptist Convention doesn’t represent the totality of the evangelical world. You really shouldn’t trust anyone whose speech is motivated purely by politics.
5 Responses
Numbers are a very poor measure for church success, especially when one considers that Jesus himself managed to thin the crowd down to just a few disciples after talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Even then, Jesus then asked those left if they too were going to leave.
He was more interested in genuine disciples rather than pew-warmers who cough up an offering each week. Genuine discipleship is what is lacking in the vast vast majority of churches today. If ministers would focus more on making disciples rather than increasing numbers of pew-warmers then Christianity would not be suffering the encroachments of the world which we see today. It still wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be a lot more Biblical and on fire.
Bravo, Ernesto G! 👏🏻
I go to TVC. Matt mentioned the interview and his motive for doing it. He said he turned every question back to the gospel as best he could. What was left on the editing floor was not up to him. Some there heard the gospel. Most watching on HBO may or may not have heard it.
As for TVC being the “fastest growing church” and Matt being a “rising star”…that’s their words. As of now, TVC is implementing a policy of rolling off its satellite churches with the goal of them being autonomous and eventually being just one church; The Village Church located in Flower Mound, TX.
Why Matt went on Vice? According to him, to use the platform for the gospel knowing full well it will be edited to mean something different. Kudos or ?? That’s up to the listener, reader, watcher.
So Matt did his part, but the fact that it would be “edited to mean something else” is out of his hands? Got it.
Hopefully next time God will pull some more weight, eh?
Beautiful, John!
The holiest preacher I ever knew, the one who blessed me beyond description, was an elderly, quiet, humble, Polish priest. He was in his 90s when he died, and up until his death I was learning wonderful, sound, biblical theology from him. He believed in and walked closely with God, so when he quietly prayed, miracles happened.
He was genuine, unlike fake, loudmouth, warped-theology, egotistical, money- rakers.
I know people who have been taken in by these deceptive, and very popular preachers. I want to yell “Run away!”
Your warning is wonderful!