Pull up a chair, sit back and make yourself comfortable, this is a long one!
Sunday evening I went to visit Heritage Christian Center with Chris and Elisa to see Manny, another Bear Valley friend, play drums in their evening service. Before going, I checked out their website and noted some interesting things:
- Their statement of faith is quite tame and orthodox.
- They publicize a detailed procedure explaining how they deal with offerings.
- The Sunday 6:30 PM service is listed as being in Spanish
When we arrived, we were greeted in English, and it soon became clear that the service would be in English. I was a little disappointed by this, but for Chris and Elisa it was a relief. The auditorium was quite large, with theater-style fold-down seating for probably a few thousand congregants. The crowd in attendance was "racially diverse", and although I didn't feel at all out of place as a white person, I think the majority were black.
Worship was led by a lead singer, backed by a small chorus off to the side and a larger choir along the back of stage, and a band with drums, keyboard, bass, and electric guitar. The music was pretty good, though the song lyrics were notable in their repetition and lack of depth (even worse than contemporary Christian worship music in general) as well as being largely phrased in the first person singular. There were a couple of points where I stopped singing because I wasn't comfortable affirming whatever it was saying; unfortunately I was too busy taking in the scene to remember now what the particulars were.
The really interesting part came when the pastor started teaching. The sermon title: Being Favor Minded. Base texts: Proverbs 8:35, and Psalms 5:12 and 44:3. (Official Sermon Notes)
For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord.
For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.
For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you favored them.
To vocal affirmations of "preach it Bishop", the pastor explained how God's favor gives us an advantage over everyone else. It will help you get out of the financial hole you're in, get you the job you've been trying for, give you the means for the house you've had your eye on or the car you need, and generally make life go easier. When you give and have God's favor, God influences other people so that they will be generous toward you. That means, for example, that people in God's favor never pay invoice cost. You want this? Then be favor-minded. That means you need to obey God and seek his favor, believing the best and not giving up until you have received God's favor. Obedience is absolutely crucial, and this was explained as including giving, separating yourself from bad company, and not doing drugs or participating in sexual immorality (emphasis was given in that order). We were directed to affirm ourselves and one another as being in God's favor, being favor-minded, and owning the year to come.
Early in the message, Elisa and Chris started to get agitated and started sharing some criticisms with one another. I took a few notes with criticisms of my own. By the midpoint Elisa was ready to go, but I urged her to hold out, out of respect for their worship time and space. But when the end was near and everyone was directed to stand for prayer, we could handle no more--especially Elisa--and bolted for the door. It took about an hour at A&W/KFC to talk through our observations and calm down a bit.
Here are my questions:
- Where is Jesus in this picture?
- Do we merit favor, or are we looking for grace through faith in Christ's finished work on the cross?
- What are the true riches of God's favor?
- Can I declare God's favor over myself, or is God the one who rightfully declares it?
This Prosperity Gospel message is no gospel at all! It has no Jesus, no cross, no grace, and no true and lasting riches. It is nothing more than a redressing of the same small appeasable god that all other religions look to. It says that if I make my sacrifice to the god, then in whatever sphere of influence he has, he will work on my behalf. If I don't see results, I should sacrifice more and keep faith.
Here is the real gospel:
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Rom. 3:19-26
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph. 2:1-10
And that's worth writing a big blog post to defend!
P.S. For more information about Heritage Christian Center, see the Denver Post coverage from last October
