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.

Is Tithing a False Teaching?

The answer is absolutely yes.  It is a false teaching for the New Testament Church.  Whole books have been written on the topic and there are myriad articles written about  it elsewhere you can Google.  I'm going to make the point rather quickly yet convincingly.

I have only been to one church where the pastor did not give numerous annual sermons on tithing.  He was a great man of faith who prayed that God would provide the finances they needed.  He never felt like he had to lie to the congregation out of insecurity and lack of faith to try and raise funds.  I would venture to say that almost all pastors preach and teach the ten percent tithe principle.  It is probably the most bastardized teaching of all from the Scripture.  In this country especially, everything has to be quantitative.  Growth, numbers, bigger buildings...equals "success" and to achieve this "success" it requires enormous sums of money.  Hence, pastors are under great pressure to grow the church, which in turn leads them to preach a completely unbiblical principle to ensure the money keeps flowing.

Part of the problem is a lack of understanding of the "big picture" that the Old Testament presents to us.  The Old Testament is a grand picture of who the Messiah is and what he will do for us.  In other words, it all points forward to a day when all will be fulfilled in the person of Christ.  The Israelite community was a Theocracy (government by God) and as such they had The Law, which was codified into three categories: civil, ceremonial and moral.  Altogether there were 613 "laws" that Israelites were expected to obey in obedience to Yaweh (God) and as a sign to all pagan nations that they serve Him alone.  It is stated clearly in Nehemiah 12:44 that the Israelite community was to bring the tithe to the storerooms of the Temple in the "portions required by the Law."  This was one of the 613 laws that they were to follow.  Now, I ask a simple question.  How can you take one law from the Old Testament and bring it forward to the modern day and leave all the other 612 laws behind?  Planting a field with two kinds of seed and wearing clothing mixed of two different fabrics was also part of the Law (Leviticus 18:19).  Some pastors will quote "that God never changes" (Malachi 3:6) and therefore the tithe is still binding as commanded.  Well, again I ask, if that is true, don't we need to also be obeying the other 612 laws, not just one that happens to serve an agenda?

As part of the "big picture", one needs to understand that the tithe was meant to feed and provide for the needs of the Levites who served in The Temple as priests because that was their full-time job so to speak. They were not planting and harvesting, so the community provided for them with the tithe (Deuteronomy 14:22-29).  Now, another point is that the tithe was not money, it was a tenth of all the livestock and crops.  It was then brought to a literal storehouse in the Temple.  Now, the Temple represented the place in which the Spirit of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies, which was a room that was separated from the rest of the Temple by a curtain and only the High Priest could enter there to make the sacrifices called for by the ceremonial law (Hebrews 9:7).

The New Testament tells us much about the fulfillment, in the person of Christ, of all of this.  All Christians are now a part of the spiritual temple with Christ as the Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-22).  He is the High Priest that once and for all entered the Holy of Holies and made the final sacrifice so that we may now enter as a kingdom of priests and Glory in the presence of God via the indwelling Spirit (1 Peter 2:5 and Revelation 1:6).  Collectively, we are The Church, the Ecclesia, the called out ones.  We basically all serve as Levites now in the spiritual temple witnessing for Christ and preaching the Gospel.  The tithe at this point in New testament times, after the fulfillment of all by Christ, is represented as provision given by Christ and others in the body of Christ amongst one another.  It can take many forms, but has NOTHING to do with giving money to a man-made church organization.  The pastor is not the priest serving in the temple church building for which we need to bring tithes to support.  That is complete allegorical nonsense!  Period.  As for righteous obedience to the rest of the 612 laws, which was unattainable and led to disobedience and sin and had to be absolved  by the sacrifices of the priests at the Temple...Jesus provided the complete fulfillment of all The Law (Romans 10:4 and Matthew 5:17), bought us righteousness through his ultimate sacrifice and we now live with a "clean slate" in the eyes of God when we repent and accept Christ as Lord and Savior.

We most definitely are supposed to give and be generous to those in need, but we are told to do so as God leads us and to do so with a cheerful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7).  My own personal opinion is that God will judge us all in the end for giving so much money to churches to squander on buildings, lights, printing, payroll...when so many are left suffering. I remember a lady in Florida attending a huge church I attended who lost her husband to a heart attack and was left with two small children.  She approached the churches'  benevolence committee and asked for help.  They paid her mortgage for three months, which was a drop in the bucket of what she needed, and at the same time pastor was giving sermon after sermon on tithing ten percent to help fund their new 5 MILLION dollar building project!  That is reprehensible, yet so common in the church. I would much rather give my money to my next door neighbor to help pay his electric bill because he lost his job, than give it to a church to waste on payroll, lights,cameras...

Malachi.  This is the preacher's favorite book to preach from on the topic of tithing.  We are told we are under a curse and robbing God if we are not giving our ten percent.  We are told if we just open our tight fists and give money to the church that the floodgates of heaven will be opened and we will be financially blessed (Malachi 3:7)...  That is utter nonsense!  To apply the verse that way to the New Testament Church is to do violence to the context of the verse.  The verse is a literal command to the Israelite community to bring their tithes and offerings to the literal storehouse at the literal Temple to support the work of the Levite priests.  To view this verse any other way or to try and wrench it out of context and somehow make it allegorically applicable to New Testament believers is wrong.  Yet, every Sunday somewhere that is what Christians are told by their pastors.  I'm going to be charitable and say it is pure ignorance rather than a blatant misuse of the principle to support an agenda.  So, there you have it.  If you feel compelled to give ten, twenty, thirty percent of your income to the local church, then do so.  If you feel like helping feed people in foreign countries or help with missionary outreach, then do that.  But, under no circumstance feel obligated to tithe ten percent to the church.  Next up, the "big question" we all ask.  Why does God allow suffering if He is an omniscient, omnipresent, loving God?

Welcome to RIZE.  The idea behind this blog is simple.  Christians have good questions about their faith and non-Christians have equally good questions about the faith.  Here will be presented rational and reasonable answers to many of those questions: some theological, some philosophical, some political, some sociological and whatever else needs to be addressed. It will all be presented from an enangelical Christian world-view in a more conversational style rather than a scholarly style.  I will link to scholarly supporting articles when appropriate and use Scripture verses where needed.  This blog is written for inquisitive Christians and non-believers not for a seminary prof to grade. If you immediately dismiss a "Christian" viewpoint as ignorant and Draconian then you are the narrow minded one.  There are good answers to good questions by intelligent individuals who are not religious extremists, yet are firmly orthodox.  There are good answers to questions for those who really want an answer.  For those who really are not seeking an answer and who have already made up their minds seeking only an argument...go ahead and leave now.  Interaction is encouraged.  I will answer as long as the discussion remains civil.  If you cannot elucidate your point without profanity, ad-hominem attacks...and then support it with facts, then don't bother.  Intelligent people have different beliefs, all of which should be given equal weight until the light of research, fact, reason, rationality, logic... has shown those beliefs to be true or false, rational or irrational, reasonable or unreasonable, logical or illogical.  Who is this guy answering these questions you may ask?  I am a husband, father, Christian, Seminarian and aspiring Theologian.  I adhere to Systematic Theology.  My beliefs can be found within the doctrinal beliefs of any orthodox Southern Baptist church's doctrinal statement.   Glad you are here.  "Come, let us reason together."