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Posted On
11/08/2007

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Disappearing Christian Influence – More on the Grassley Investigation

One of the things that’s most disconcerting to me during the Senator Charles Grassley affair is just how little unity there is in the church today. It’s no wonder we’re not making more of a cultural impact. Reading over various blogs last night, it’s amazing how many Christians out there are applauding Grassley. I'm sure he's a good man and has done many great things in office. The truth is, if you read this blog very much, you’ll know I’m not a big fan of many TV ministries. There are people on that list that I have plenty of problems with, and I’m pretty vocal about it. I probably spend as much time
pointing out problem areas and helping ministries and non-profits find their way through the media maze, than anything else.

But regardless of those issues, when a politician targets a large group of people from any faith, it should be a cause for alarm. I’m surprised about two things:

1. Without being melodramatic, it’s apparent that Christians are the only group in America that can be criticized without fear. As I said yesterday, if Grassley had rounded up six of the top gay and lesbian, African American, Hispanic, Muslim, or other groups, the outcry in the media would be deafening. There’s no question it’s a sad state for Christianity in America.

2. I’m also surprised that Christians themselves have not risen up in protest. We raise millions of dollars to protest movies, TV programs, abortion, and plenty of other things, but when a politician targets a group of ministries that represent millions of believers in this country, who’s next? Sure you may not like Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, or Eddie Long, but who’s next? If we let this happen, when will the government target the Baptists for their position on gender issues, or the Amish for being pacifist during a time of war, or other groups for any number of issues?

I’m reminded of the classic quote from Martin Niemoeller:

"First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."

This is a wake up call for unity in the Body of Christ. For a greater sense of community among the body of believers. Yes, I do believe that many of the prosperity ministries have called this down on themselves. When you go on national television, and brag about owning fancy cars, mansions, or private jets – I don’t care what your motivation is – it simply undermines your message. But that’s a discussion inside the church – and not something for politicians to decide.

And don't get me wrong – I'm even for the IRS investigating when someone breaks the rules about non-profits and donations. But investigating organizations individually, versus targeting a collective group – that's a completely different issue.

But the most important issue for Christians is that whether it’s doctrinal correction or trying to impact the culture with a message of hope, if we can’t put down our differences, and unify in our mission, our influence and impact in the culture will simply continue to disappear.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 at 10:12 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Mary Hutchinson

    I could not agree more.

    While I support ministries having open books as to where the donations are going, this is not the job of the Senate.

    But he has stepped up because we as a church have failed to demand accountability. 

    This is scary now, and I am also shocked that we are not circling the wagons.  Perhaps one or two do have much to hide–and the ones that don't wish to distance themselves from them.

    It's time to pray.

  • http://petersmythe.org Peter Smythe

    As you write in this post, the real issue with this investigation has much more to do with governmental intrusion than it does the theological doctrine of any of the particular ministries.  Freedom of religion is a precious right and, unfortunately, many Christians have not stopped to consider the big picture.  History shows us that once the government intrudes very rarely does it ever leave. 

  • mark

    Once judgement has been levied its a bit late to pray.  We all live under God's law of the harvest. What you sow you reap. These so called men of God are pimps, wolfes in sheeps clothing. It is  time for the church to wake up and accept that many of these guys are fakes and some are caught up in the deception.  We are told to judge them by their fruit. Some of these guys are arrogant theives fleecing the flock of God. And the reason the church is deceived by them is that they too want to live the live of a rock star. They lust for the material things of this world.  Jesus said with food and clothing be content. Now you make the call. Either follow Jesus or follow those who tickle your lustful ears

  • mark

    remember the goverment is the servant of God to punish evil doers.  This is not persecution but the result of the church not stepping in and dealing with these wolves. So God will use His servant who holds the sword. Read Romans

  • nanny911

    Our civil liberties are fast dissapearing and that has been the case for some time now. But despite that the unfortunate thing is that congress most likely (if they are smart) implicated people that they know or believe will be found to have done some misconduct or wrong. With wrong doing public opinion seems to justify the actions. 9/11 seemed to justify a number of civil liberties that were taken from us. America of today would be unrecognizable to those who lived in the 40's or 50's. My guess is that if your going to target someone they are probably targeting people who they believe are actually in the wrong..fewer people will stand up and support those found in the wrong.

    I think other ministries need to work harder not to cover up things and be so secretive, which creates an assumption of guilt. But to allow their churches and leaders to catch any wrong doing earlier and deal with it-even if it is THE LEADER that's doing it…the Chistian community needs to help each other from going down the wrong road. Otherwise we are really no different than any other corrupt corporations or businesses that are driven by sinful desires.

    I'm not a fan of any of the people listed although many argue that Joyce Meyer is not "prosperity gospel"..but I think many of these people might want to consider adjusting their business structure. It wasn't long ago Kent Hovind Creationist speaker and debator was jailed (10 years) for "mishandling" his "ministry/non profit" income. Was he actually guilty of not following the rules? Maybe, but they didn't mess around-he went to jail for the an almost an unheard of punishment for such a crime. In a way that's very scary for these ministries-if they find wrong doing they may be making examples out of people.

  • GoodCommentary

    Phil, 

    I have only recently found your blog and have quickly gained a lot of respect for you.  I have taken the time to read many archives, and enjoy your work.  You have a lot of thought provoking, and well written essays / articles.  So please don't view this as attack on your opinions, etc.

    That said, I am probably one of the ones that might have helped stir up your frustration with the "lack of unity."  However, I don't think we disagree on this topic much more than it might seem.  Though the "church" in America is referred to as one, it really isn't.  Can we agree so far?  Many will call Him Father, yet He knows them not.  Now I am not using that statement as some foundation for a "chosen denomination", but merely as a foundation for a perspective that even Christ predicted that there would be ones that claim to be followers that aren't.  We have SO many variations of theologies that are outspoken in this day.  Some hold minor, and less foundational differences, while some variations are so far extreme that most students of the Bible would wonder how the Bible could be interpretted in such a perverted manor.  So with a very broad label of "the church" I find it obvious that perfect unity cannot be possible.

    I just removed the rest of my post, because I – again – got way too long-winded about unity… Maybe I will repost some of it later if I can whittle it down. 

    But I do have a couple other small points.  You seem to be taking this as an attack on a "group" of Christianity.  What if this "group" of individual ministries has some very obvious, and some slightly less obvious connections?

    Let me encourage you Phil, as you seem to be ending with a pretty emotional, and fairly "end of the world" air….  You know all of this – I am sure… so take it as encouragement… and not me preaching at you….

    God IS powerful.  While we can do things to promote His kingdom and the Gospel, we can also do things to hurt these objectives.  BUT – God is a God of healing, and things can be repaired.  God does not lose in the end.  We are not to look to man for our salvation, we are not to look to circumstances for our hope.  Unity can only be the result of a miracle.  Maybe we can have a new article on how to unify the church?  Again, we cannot look to man to achieve unity.  We can not rely on men – even the church to find Unity.  It is something that can only happen out of humility, and seeking the face of God.  And ALL that want to be part of the unified body MUST personally follow those steps.  After that, we STILL need a miracle!!!!  But that IS a required start.  With an apathetic church, we won't see unity.

  • Farbs

    If the Christians could ever agree with each other the world would have no choice but to believe there must be a God!

  • DLM2

    Phil- Thanks for the post.  I tend to agree on most of your points.  Christianity is the only group that can be mocked and criticized without fear of reprisal.  It is a sad state of affairs for Christianity in America.  And part of the reason for that is Christianity in America. We have not done anything to to hold those under our banner accountable, and thus we give the government the opportunity to do our job for us (kind of like the Welfare state..).

    We work within the framework and parameters that the government has set forth.  Our responsiblity is to operate, not just with in the framework, but without reproach  & beyond the apperence of evil.  When we don't, we invite government intrusion. 

    I'm no fan of the government, or senate investigations in particular.  They rarely do anything but stir up emotions and lead to knee jerk reactions.  The knee jerk on this one could be sever, and I do fear the guilt by association blow back. But silence and refusing to hold others accountable for their message and their business practices has lead to this.  I pray that the gospel will flourish in the middle of it.  

    Ultimately I'm positive, even with the possible government intrusion, because we are citizens of The Kingdom of Heaven.  

  • Mary Hutchinson

    Mark, I disagree on a few points.  Judgement has not yet been levied …and it is not too late to pray.  These are clearly warning signs of things to come.  I do agree the church needs to wake up, keep their eyes on Jesus, and demand accountability from leadership.

  • Charles P. Smith

    Phil, I am happy to add comment here. Yes, The influence of Christian principles and the institutional Church is disappearing? Well, at least declining at a pace leading to more disturbance among us and less principled lives. Why. Well, of the many reasons, one that I see is that the Christian Church has failed the secular society by weakening itself. So too, the seculars fail to uphold the principles of Christianity that they learned in their earlier decades. Both judge the other these days. The solution, if such a thing could be conceived, will come only if the useless denominational divisions continue to make Christianity look silly. Our Body strength is spent on competition. The useless denominational divisions and competition is another of the weakening and demeaning excuses our citizens have for declining respect.

    Look at the Good Samaritan story: the(hated by Jews)Samaritan is identified(by Jesus)as your "neighbor." That odd and disrespected person of the other denomination is the very person to team up with if they know how to do useful things out there.


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