June 15, 2010: The Negative And Judgmental Jesus Who Wants You To Suffer And Die (Part 1)

No, I do not intend the title above to be taken ironically. Read it at face value. I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is negative and judgmental and he wants you to suffer and die. Of course, he wants to give you life too (John 10:10: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full"), but that life tends to come after all the pain, suffering, death, and - worst of all - crushing blows to your self esteem.

There are people with huge churches and notable ministries who teach differently, but they are all wrong. For some reason I've bumped into their influence a lot in the last few days. For example:

- I was just asked to read a book written by a woman who would race home after her church service to listen to Robert Schuller's "Hour of Power" TV program, and who later joined his staff. Schuller is the guy who famously stuck his middle finger in the face of God and the Scriptures by defining sin as "any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem," and saying that our "real problem is that deep down we feel we're not good enough to approach a holy God." Sin, in the Bible, is lawlessness - 1 John 3:4 - and our real problem is that deep down we do think we're good enough to approach a holy God. By the way, among other scandals, Schuller is now estranged from his minister son, and his Crystal Cathedral has a budget shortfall of 55 million dollars.

- Recently at church someone commended to me the ministry of Joyce Meyer. Meyer, author of Eat The Cookie...Buy The Shoes funds a decadent lifestyle with tax-free contributions from gullible followers she has succeeded in swindling. A short list of her indulgences: an $11,000 French clock, a $105,000 Crownline boat, a $19,000 pair of vases, French crystal valued at $18,500, two curio cabinets worth $5,700, a table worth $30,000, and a $14,000 custom bookcase. Not to mention 4 houses and a $10-million Canadair jet. I'm not a Meyer fan.

- A friend indicated support of Andrew Wommack, the author of God Wants You Well. Wommack writes "I believe the message the Lord has entrusted me to deliver will change the way the body of Christ perceives God" - and when was the last time you read something more arrogant and cultish than that? Wommack teaches that the doctrine of God's sovereignty "is the worst doctrine in the church today...The belief that God controls everything that happens to us is one of the devil's biggest inroads into our lives," and he condemns praying to God about illness, saying, “You have a tumor? Don’t pray to God about the tumor. Talk to the tumor itself!” Wommack's god is one who only wants nice things to happen to you in this life - and I actually know of a god like that. He offered Jesus a pain-free, luxurious lifestyle [Matthew 4:8-9]. He's called Lucifer.

- I read an enthusiastic endorsement of Joel Osteen by well-known atheist Hemant "I Sold My Soul On E-Bay" Mehta. Mehta said, "[Osteen] makes you feel good...He just reaches out to people, whether or not you really believe in God. And he doesn't reference God or the Bible a lot. I think that's for good reason." I don't know where to start with Grinning Joel Osteen. How about if I put it this way - it is impossible to do all three of these things: (1) Read your Bible a lot, (2) Listen to Joel Osteen, (3) Not puke. Now I happen to know Mr. Mehta personally - he was my son's speech coach - and I can vouch for him as a cordial, pleasant, well-spoken atheist who rightly regarded my son as a wicked sharp impromptu speaker. Good guy. But Joel Osteen? Dang. Please listen, Christians: leave mind-numbingly vapid platitudes about achieving your best life now to atheists who will find them inoffensively compatible with their philosophy. We who love Christ must feast on meatier fare than that in order to have strength to bear the cross that our Lord lays upon us.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die," and there is more biblical wisdom in those 11 words than in every sermon the prosperity vendors have ever preached. Forget health and prosperity and long life and self-fulfillment. Your goal must be to please Christ, not yourself. Trust Christ, exalt Christ, bow the knee to Christ, and live for his glory and pleasure rather than your own. He must become greater, you must become less (John 3:30).