Have we traded the Gospel for American Prosperity?

Glenn Beck has burst onto the scene of the American right with a religious fervor not rivaled by any of his fellow talk radio or television hosts. He is talented, funny, witty, and smart. He is often a well-informed and passionate voice for many conservative issues. His popular show continues to surge to record numbers. His audience is demonstrably the most committed audience in conservative talk, as evidenced by the enormous turn out at his latest event in Washington DC.

Glenn Beck is also a Mormon. He is not afraid to speak of his Mormon testimony, his belief in who Mormons call Heavenly Father, or his desire to see America return to God. Lately his television shows have been riddled with discussions about God and the need for America to have a revival of sorts. He has spoken to great extent on the need for a Third Great Awakening in America; seemingly positioning himself as one of its leaders.

The First Great Awakening provided much of the religious and moral backbone for the American Revolution and subsequent founding of our country. The Second Great Awakening accomplished the same for the Civil War. Both of these great awakenings occurred as a result of gospel preaching and a deep passion for the Bible in the church. Glenn Beck seems to believe we need a Third Great Awakening in order to launch a war on political progressives and reclaim our country for God-fearing, liberty-loving, constitution-keeping, small-government capitalists. I would argue that on this note Glenn Beck is correct. I agree with De Tocqueville, Montesquieu, and others that unless the people of a nation are a moral people who self-govern their passions, the hope of liberty will fall to the tyranny of big government. I believe the only way this kind of self-governing of passions will occur is if we have a great Christian awakening in America.

However, I am also deeply concerned about Glenn Beck’s call for a Third Great Awakening. I am not primarily concerned with Glenn Beck. I am primarily concerned with the Evangelicals who are passionately looking to his leadership for this kind of revival. I am uneasy about the compromise I see taking place within evangelicalism. Evangelicals seem to be trading the gospel of the free grace of God in Jesus Christ, for the gospel of American prosperity. We have become so eager to advance an agenda of just laws for the good of our neighbors that we are beginning to compromise where it is not needed.

Historically, evangelicals have been called such because of their commitment to the “evangel,” or the gospel of Jesus Christ. While we have always had our in-house debates and disagreements, we thoroughly agreed that there were doctrinal parameters for defining the house. Positively defined, our core belief was that the Trinitarian God of the Old and New Testaments sent forth his Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins on the cross, to rise from the dead, and to give the gift of new life and the Holy Spirit to all who believe. We believed the Bible was our sole authority and salvation was through faith alone in Jesus alone. Negatively defined, we were not Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, or any of the cults of Protestantism; Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Apostolic.

It seems we are increasingly abandoning those core doctrines for a different set of core doctrines! When a man who believes in a completely different God calls us to a Third Great Awakening and we come running down the aisle clamoring for that great day, I wonder if we haven’t traded our core doctrine of the “evangel” for the core doctrine of “American prosperity.” When our evangelical leaders come together and link arms with a Mormon broadcaster and pray to “God” alongside him, I become increasingly convinced we have set our hope on the wrong kingdom.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not concerned specifically about Glenn Beck, or the Mormon church. I am thankful for the work they did in fighting to keep marriage between a man and a woman. I am thankful for the Roman Catholic church’s efforts to save the lives of unborn babies. I am not arguing against fighting for just causes alongside anyone who wants to join the fight. Rather, my concern is with evangelicals who are redefining the “evangel” to something less than the Gospel we have historically held to in an effort to reclaim America.

As a minister of the Gospel, and a citizen of the kingdom of God, I would love to see a Third Great Awakening in America. I long for and pray for that day. Yet, I believe that awakening must be thoroughly tied to the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in the Bible and professed among historic evangelicals. I do not believe that awakening can be or should be led by a Mormon. I do not believe it is irresponsible to fight alongside Glenn Beck for just causes. I do believe it is irresponsible, and even idolatrous, to link arms in prayer with him and pretend we worship the same God or preach the same gospel.

Just Politics or Life Lessons?

Running for political office can seem a very unusual and foreign experience. Recognizing that there are political battles that need to be fought and won is not necessarily unusual. Deciding you should be the person who leads the troops in the political battle is another matter. Placing yourself before the public and appealing to them to allow you to lead them is the kind of role that definitely requires a sense of calling.

In 2004, I believed God had called me to run for school board. I had no idea the saga that would play out from that initial decision to run. I did not recognize the many ups and downs that would ensue. I did not recognize the multiple victories, popularity, accolades, and new friends I would gain. I also did not recognize the many misunderstandings, the notoriety, the gossip, and the new enemies I would gain. In the sheer magnitude of life events that surround political involvement, I would agree that it is definitely unusual. Being well known and adored and hated with a high level of intensity by people you have never met is definitely unusual.

I would not agree, however, that the life lessons from politics are foreign or unusual at all. The lessons may be painted on a public canvas, but they are not lessons that apply only in politics. My goal is to list some lessons I have learned after 6 years of crazy ups and downs in political life that I believe have universal application:

1. Don't believe your own press

Success in political endeavors inevitably brings good press coverage. Winning the approval of voters and having people speak exceedingly well of you is a powerfully intoxicating experience. This carries over into everyday human existence. There are few cups as addicting to drink from as the cup of human approval. We find great personal happiness drinking deep from the cup of our own adoration. We love men to love us. Apart from the grace of God graciously bursting into our lives, we are incurable self-worshippers. We believe our own good press because it affirms what we already want to believe about ourselves.

The primary problem with believing your own press is that we often don't raise our gaze above the headlines and look to the Cross. When the press we are getting is good we get carried away with self-exaltation and lose sight of the truth that we are sinners. When the press is bad we get lost in self-pity and lose sight of the truth that we are Christ's. The truth is that we are no more and no less than someone for whom Christ gave his life that we might be saved! Yet, drinking up man's approval can be so terribly addicting. The Bible says that wine is a mocker; so too is the cup of human approval.

2. Thank God for bruising you as needed

In my time in politics I have watched my friends lose many elections. Providentially, I have only lost one small election, but I have felt the pain of the losses of others. I have reflected much on how political losses are not terribly different than any other kind of suffering. It can be exceedingly painful and humiliating to lose politically. When a politician loses a political race it can also cause an identity crisis. These are realities that apply to every other kind of suffering. For example, when a marriage falls apart it is also painful, humiliating, and can cause an identity crisis. How do we handle this kind of suffering?

I would contend we need to be thankful for all forms of suffering. Suffering is God's gracious work of bringing an end to an idol in our lives. I am not suggesting that God directly acts to bring suffering in our lives. However, I am arguing that God so purposes and superintends all circumstances so that he guarantees the suffering we are enduring. He does this so that we will come to an end of ourselves, utterly repent of all idolatry, and joyfully look to Him in faith. He brings suffering into our lives so that we recognize our continual need for Him, which is our good! The Puritan divine, Richard Sibbes, has said that "God bruises a reed so he will know that he is not an oak." Suffering is the gracious bruising God brings into our lives so we know we are not oaks! This temporary, faith-building, joy-inducing, and praiseworthy bruising is God's gracious design for our lives. We should not despise the bruising but be thankful for it.

3. Be careful with fair-weather friends

I remember my first campaign for political office quite well. I ran in 1998 for a central committee seat and I lost horribly. No one endorsed me and even less people voted for me. I also remember my second campaign. I ran in 2004 for a school board seat. I gained little support from any political establishment. I had no significant endorsements, little money, and according to pundits little likelihood of winning. Yet, in a shocking turn of events I overwhelmingly won the election. I was amazed at all the new friends I gained. Suddenly, people who would not give me the time of day wanted to go to lunch. I was now a hot commodity politically.

I remember saying to one of my friends the night I won that this new found popularity is fleeting. I told him we need to note those who stood by us before victory because they would be the ones left after defeat. Proverbs 19:4 says, "wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend." The fact is that we all love to run with those who have money and power. We love to sit near the seat of power. We are also a people who love the taste of the words of a gossip (Prov. 26:22). So, when the political winds shift the chatter begins. When the popularity wanes we dine on the reputation of our friend.

Thus, we should be warned that we must be exceedingly careful with fair-weather friends. Loyal friends are hard to find. How do you know the difference between loyal friends and fair-weather friends? I think you can apply two tests:

a. Who are your friends before victory? Who was there when you were still poor and who is only around now that you are rich?

b. Who are your friends who tell you the truth, rather than just flatter you? We love the profuse kisses of our enemies and don't always care for the wounds of our friends. However, the wounds of a friend are faithful.

4. Courageously pursue your calling and not outcomes

On a rainy evening in the Spring of 2004 I stood quietly dejected with a group of friends in a parking lot. We had just lost a battle over what we considered an important moral issue and had been betrayed by people we supported. We were stunned and defeated (Incidentally, this is a scene I see portrayed every couple of election cycles).

As we stood there wondering how such injustice could happen and wondering where we go from here, I heard wisdom that I strive to live by everyday. An older Christian lady said to us, "Tonight we lost. But, we did not come out here to fight because we knew we would win. We came out here to fight because we believe the cause is just! Tonight we lost. But, tomorrow we will get up and fight again because the cause is just. Whether we win or lose we will continue to get up each day and fight because the cause is just!"

Whether the calling God has put in your life is politics or something else, you get up everyday and fulfill your calling because it is what He has given you to do. It is right to give God glory by vigorously pursuing your calling, regardless of whether you receive the outcome you hope for in doing so. I fulfill my pastoral calling because God has called me to it. I let God take care of the outcomes. I believe God has given me a mission to water and sow. I believe God will give the increase. This same principle follows in every area of our lives. We know what God calls us to but we don't know what outcome will occur. Our responsibility is to simply get up everyday and do it because it is right. So, I encourage you to take courage and fulfill your calling no matter what the outcome is each individual day.

Silent Holocaust

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. Psalm 139:13-16

Today commemorates the 36th anniversary of the beginning of the greatest holocaust in world history. It is a holocaust that has seen the systematic destruction of approximately 50 million innocent human beings. It is a holocaust that has possibly engaged over 80 million people in the role of being an active participant in murder. It is a holocaust that has been endorsed by over 150 million people as a great freedom. It is a holocaust that has left another 150 million people in relative apathy. It is a holocaust that most of us never see, but that we are all affected by. The greatest holocaust in world history is a silent holocaust. It is abortion.

It was January 22, 1973, when the landmark Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade took place. On that day, America entered an era of barbarism and murder unknown in human history. It was a day that confirmed we do not need to fear the barbarians on the outside of the gates nearly as greatly as we must fear the barbarians inside the gates. It was the beginning of a war on the innocent unborn that has claimed over 50 million civilian casualties. It is a war on women and children led by politicians and judges. It is a war that lurks in the background of our daily American life. It is a war that daily kills the most innocent among us, while we remain relatively emotionally detached and unaffected.

With the legal approval of abortion, the landscape for world war has changed. The most dangerous place in the world is not a Muslim nation, or the frontlines of the war in Iraq, or North Korea, or the most dangerous inner city. The most dangerous place in the world is the womb of a woman. The war is no longer over territory, or oil, or religion. The war is now over making life more convenient. The war is no longer fought by soldiers, but by doctors, nurses, politicians and judges. Those who were at one time sworn to uphold life are now in the primary role of taking it.

So, what do we do about it? How do we stop this murderous reign? Is it even possible to bring an end to this silent holocaust? These are all questions that must be answered. We can bring an end to legal abortion in America. We should bring an end to legal abortion in America. It is our responsibility as Christians to enter this war as the protectors of the unborn. The Bible is clear that these unborn children are fully human. The Bible is also clear that murder is evil. There is no neutral ground in this war. We either stand and fight on behalf of the unborn, or we become complicit in their murder (Isaiah 1:17, Jeremiah 5:28-29).

Our fight for the unborn must include: prayer, education, care for orphans and women who have been abandoned in pregnancy, and participating in the political process. We need to pray for the women who are pregnant, confused, and desperate for help. These women are also victims of our culture of death and quick fixes. They are being lied to about the reality of abortion. We must pray for them. We must pray for those in the medical profession to have the boldness to come out against this barbaric procedure. We must pray for God to change the hearts of those in political office and in the courts. We must pray for those organizations, like Right to Life and Crisis Pregnancy Centers, who are fighting for the unborn. We must begin to educate young and old people alike to the reality of abortion. We must show the gruesome nature of abortion. We must bring forward the testimonies of the women who have been personally hurt by the procedure that they were led to believe would help them. We must help fund those groups that are putting out information on abortion.

The biological evidence is on our side. We can now see more in the womb than ever before! We must get this video evidence out. On this note, I have attached a link to a video on abortion. It is very graphic, but I urge you to watch it. You will not be able to remain silent anymore. I want to caution those women who have had abortions to think long and hard before choosing to watch this. It may be best for you to abstain from watching it. Here is the link.

We must participate in caring for the orphans and those women who have been abandoned in pregnancy. We can help with this through participation in the ministry of the Bakersfield Pregnancy Center. We can participate in sidewalk counseling (this is the ministry of talking with women who are going to Planned Parenthood to seek an abortion) in front of the Bakersfield Planned Parenthood. We can participate in adopting children that have been orphaned. It is our responsibility and privilege to care for the weak (James 1:29). We must participate in the political process to bring an end to abortion.

When you fight against abortion you will be called a single-issue voter. You will be called a religious nut. You will be accused of oppressing the rights of women. None of this matters when it comes to fighting against the murder of millions of babies! You can engage in the political process by helping groups like Kern County Right to Life or the Bakersfield Pregnancy Center. You can participate by refusing to support or vote for a politician who is pro-choice.

I often hear the objection that one issue is not enough to decide who to vote for. I agree with this logic. However, one issue is enough to decide whom not to vote for. In other words, I may not vote for you because you are pro-life, but I will definitely vote against you if you are pro-choice. How can we possibly vote for a man or woman who agrees with everything we hold to, but who wants to uphold a law that declares war on the unborn? I will not cast a vote for those who think it should be legal to kill innocent babies! If I am marginalized politically, so be it. If we stand and fight on this, I believe those in favor of abortion will be marginalized politically. It is our compromise and apathy on this issue that has brought us to this point. We cannot afford this course of action any longer. We have only been in this fight for 36 years. It may seem like a long time, but men fought for an end to slavery far longer. Those who stood for abolition were marginalized for many years. Eventually, their prayers were answered and their tireless efforts paid off. Oh, that the Lord will raise us up in this battle and we will see an end to this silent American holocaust. Oh, that God’s church will wake from its slumber and allow this holocaust to remain silent