Thursday, February 24, 2005
The Message and the Messenger
Crossroads has an interesting post contrasting a modern traveling evangelist with their 18th century counterpart. The difference lie primarily in the money and related perks afforded the modern evangelist. It is an interesting little read.
But in the end, it's what's inside that counts. What concerns me so gravely about the modern movements which enrich the "pastors" so is that they border on, if not cross into, idolatry.
We use the word "cult" as a perjorative in this day and age. Christians use it to define oddball Christian manifestations -- David Koresh, Jim Jones, traditionally Mormons (but they are changing slowly). Christians also use it to describe simply oddball devotion, like the "Moonies." The world uses it to describe religious groups, which would include all those mentioned as well as Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and the rest. Let's talk as Christians for a minute.
When does a legitimate Christian group cross the line into the cultic? I would argue that is does so when the messenger, whether a person or an institution, becomes the object of veneration, in place of God, that is to say the message. And isn't that a form of idolatry?
Idolatry of this sort is insidious, and it takes many forms. It ranges from the horrific, like the Jonestown massacre/suicide, to the mundane, like the incredibly wealthy pastors we see today. In between lay a whole host of sins and evils. But they are symptoms; symptoms of the idolatry that eats at the soul of all involved.
Idolatry is a word out of fashion in this day an age. When it is used it is used in reference to money, or TV, or something other than the church. I think we need to rethink that.
But in the end, it's what's inside that counts. What concerns me so gravely about the modern movements which enrich the "pastors" so is that they border on, if not cross into, idolatry.
We use the word "cult" as a perjorative in this day and age. Christians use it to define oddball Christian manifestations -- David Koresh, Jim Jones, traditionally Mormons (but they are changing slowly). Christians also use it to describe simply oddball devotion, like the "Moonies." The world uses it to describe religious groups, which would include all those mentioned as well as Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and the rest. Let's talk as Christians for a minute.
When does a legitimate Christian group cross the line into the cultic? I would argue that is does so when the messenger, whether a person or an institution, becomes the object of veneration, in place of God, that is to say the message. And isn't that a form of idolatry?
Idolatry of this sort is insidious, and it takes many forms. It ranges from the horrific, like the Jonestown massacre/suicide, to the mundane, like the incredibly wealthy pastors we see today. In between lay a whole host of sins and evils. But they are symptoms; symptoms of the idolatry that eats at the soul of all involved.
Idolatry is a word out of fashion in this day an age. When it is used it is used in reference to money, or TV, or something other than the church. I think we need to rethink that.
