Politics and Religion Don't Mix

People love to put labels on other people so they can then be kept in their proper boxes for the sake of argumentation, stereotyping and ultimately erroneous extrapolation.  Unfortunately, it does not work that way. It is not uncommon in this media frenzied country we live in to constantly hear that if you are a Christian then you are both Conservative and a Republican.  Likewise, if you are a non-Christian then you are labeled a liberal Democrat or Progressive.  Let's look at these labels and their respective boxes into which they are often put.

Label number one: Christians are Republicans and Republicans are Christians. While it is true that many Christians identify with the more "traditional" values that Republicans espouse, at the same time most Capitalists are Republicans and shun government meddling in private business because it stifles unbridled greed that many Capitalists are motivated by.  That flies directly in the face of what the Bible teaches.  Their identification with Republicans has nothing to do with values, but rather with economics and the profit motive.  In fact, the Bible says that the greedy will not enter the coming Kingdom.  Christians are also not to desire (lust after) money because it can become one's master and thereby a false God.  The Bible says "blessed are the poor", which describes a majority of the Democrat party.  But hang on, aren't Christians supposed to be the blessed ones?  Blessed Republicans, blessed Democrats? Clearly that box will not hold both labeled groups.

Label number two: Liberals are Democrats and Democrats are Liberals.  While it is true that many Liberals embrace a more "open minded" approach to most issues, shunning many "traditional" beliefs and social constructs, it is also true that most African Americans and Hispanics identify themselves as Christian or Catholic yet at the same time they almost always vote Democrat.  They actually view the Democrat party as more compassionate than the "Big Money" Republicans who want to ride the backs of the poor with low wages to fatten their wallets with an insatiable greedy appetite for more profit at their expense.  But wait, isn't compassion for the poor a central tenet of Christianity?  So, if all Christians are Republicans and Republicans are greedy Capitalists something does not add up.  Of course the oft heard mantra from Liberals is how hypocritical Christians are, which explains their contradictory belief in the Bible and membership in the Republican party concomitantly.  But wait again, a huge majority of the Democrat party identifies themselves as Christian or Catholic.  Boy, this is getting difficult.  Clearly, that box does not hold both labeled groups either.

Label number three: Republicans are narrow-minded uneducated Bible thumping morons. To be sure, many Christians misuse the Bible, have a serious misunderstanding of Biblical principles and are guilty of believing what they are told to believe without knowing why.  But, keep in mind that most of the successful business leaders in this country, with college degrees, are Republican.  Also, remember that many of our most prestigious higher education institutions have an underlying religious framework.  Notre Dame, Loyola, Boston College... anyone? Empty that box.

Label number four: Democrats are the "progressive" thinkers, the academics...the "Enlightened" ones.  To be sure many academics are Democrats as are many scientists, but to say the whole party is thus is untrue.  Remember, the largest voting blocks of the Democrat party are low income, uneducated, blue-collar workers.  Besides, you don't get rich and become a Republican by being uneducated and stupid. Box...emptied.

So, as you can see, upon further scrutiny the broad brush that is often used to paint these lines of demarcation,  resultant labels and box placement is simply nonsense.  The simple fact is that to a large degree, politics and religion have little in common other than cursory issues.  I know, I know Republicans want to ban abortion because God does not want us to murder.  But, keep in mind that Democrats want us to share the wealth (some call it socialism) and help those less fortunate, which is also a Biblical principle.  Both parties attract all sorts of people. The labels are mostly arbitrary and serve an agenda.  And, what do we do with the Jews?  They are a deeply religious people, believe in the same God as Christians, are usually well educated, affluent and are business owners, yet most are Democrats.  They should all be Republicans if the labels are correct.  These boxes are getting messy!

My own position is simple.  I dislike all political parties.  I believe they are our undoing as a nation. They pander to whatever group they can to garner the most votes in the next election cycle.  No individual (with the exception of maybe Rush Limbaugh) can be classified as 100% Liberal or Conservative.  I may be fiscally conservative and socially liberal or vice versa.  I may even be socially conservative on some issues but not others.

Truth is often found somewhere between the extremes.  So, let's stop labeling everyone, placing them in neat little boxes for easy disposal and start listening, understanding and loving each other.

Elevation Church Changes "Code" under Heightened Criticism

If you have read my other post regarding Elevation Church, you have already correctly surmised I am not a fan and see a plethora of issues with the way things work there.  In that post I mentioned The Code and some of the problematic aspects of it.

Number four in their Code has probably been the most incendiary thing that has ignited much criticism toward them and has warranted the label of "cult."  It seems however that they have buckled under the pressure, revising the code twice since their humble beginnings. However, in doing so they have created yet another enormous problem.

Here is the issue. Steven Furtick claims to have had a vision from God on how to "do church" differently and reach the new generations with a new hip, cool, techie driven approach that sits better with our modern society which I basically have no problem with.  The "vision" was published originally as twelve (how coincidental) points with number four stating: "We are united under the visionary." and "We will aggressively defend our unity and his vision."  Immediately, many rightly cried "cult."

That criticism has persisted, but under immense pressure they quietly changed the wording to: "We are united under one vision." with the same ominous promise to "aggressively defend" Steven's vision.

That seemed to be it for The Code until the firestorm erupted over the now infamous coloring book for the kiddies telling them they should submit themselves to the authority of the "visionary" in a grossly misappropriated verse found in Romans 13:1-5, which discusses governments. If little ones were to read that verse with Steven Furtick as the "authority" then they would also understand that rebelling against him would bring God's judgement upon them! That is unnerving to say the least. As the video below illustrates getting children to memorize The Code was an integral part of the churches "indoctrination" process.  In most churches, children are taught to remember Scripture verses, but at Elevation they deem it more important to learn some man-made code that is centered on its leader and the church brand.  What happens now that these children have committed all this to memory and it has suddenly changed?  This illustrates only a fraction of what is wrong with a church that is based on the cult of personality and  has as its main focus brand promotion rather than Christ.

With that revelation hitting social media like a tsunami the "cult" chatter was ramped up to even higher levels.  With the heat now reaching blue- flame hot, the Code has been completely revamped with no direct mention of "the visionary" or even their much maligned laser focus on "we are all about the numbers" and the burn and turn mentality of the "we need your seat" nonsense.  There are some vestigial ideas still there, but is much more ambiguous.  But, why the ambiguity?  What are they trying to tone down or hide?  One accusation leveled at them has been how Elevation the brand and Steven seem to be front and center instead of Christ, but now the Code includes a rather ambiguous point that says "Jesus is the center. It's about: integrated priorities."  Huh? Jesus should be the only priority. He needs no help from Stevie or Elevation Church. Believing that you are somehow the chosen one to move the church into some modern day world-wide movement smacks of cultism yet again.  That statement makes it sound like Jesus is included in the priority list and has been given the center, but is integrated into all the other Elevation expansion and brand building plans that Steven has in mind.  As I have stated before, Jesus is at Elevation but He is wrapped in an orange box with the ubiquitous chevron logo on it.

Now, back to that vision that God gave Stevie. If that vision was articulated in the Code and the Bible tells us that "God never changes" (Malachi 3:6 and Numbers 23:19), then why is The Code changing? Public pressure, criticism, scrutiny...who cares if it is from God.  Furtick, and many of his ilk such as Perry Noble, who proclaim "thus saith the Lord" or claim to have been given a vision, back themselves into a very tight corner from which they cannot escape.  As long as visions, sermons, teachings...go unchallenged all is well, but when the criticism arrives and they are forced to change or recant, they have discredited themselves, and worse, called God a liar! The only other option is to stick to their guns.  It is a kind of damned if you do and damned if you don't quandary.  Now, for the biblically illiterate that sit in his church each week and fawn over his oratory prowess they may fall for the "God is doing a new thing" (Isaiah 43:19) explanation or some far-flung application of dispensationalism to explain the evolving Code.  Sorry, but that does not fly.

Changing The Code constantly to obfuscate what they really believe about Furtick is just more manipulation and quite frankly more subtle brain washing.  I know many, many people that go there.  I listen to them talk.  I see their Facebook posts...Elevation this...Elevation that...Steven this...Steven that... to which I reply "What about Jesus?" "What about the sin in your life?" "Have you repented?" "Do you think that raising your hand, signing a card or being baptized saves you?" The reply back is usually something like "yeah, you know what I mean." No. No I don't.  Please explain it to me.  And, doesn't the need to explain speak volumes about the problems?

Here is something to consider.  Demons believe Jesus exists, they believe He rose from the dead, they believe that He is the Son of God, they recognize His authority to judge, they believe there is only one true God, yet they shudder/tremble at their coming judgement,(Matthew 8:29, Acts 19:15, James 2:19).  Why is that? Do Steven's sermons answer any of these questions?  If not, then the Gospel is not being preached and "salvations" are being measured by the wrong metric. A very dangerous place to be.