It’s a
perennial joy to watch certain Christian preachers preach. I have enjoyed the
sermons and lectures of Billy Graham, Ravi Zacharias, William Lane Craig and a
few. They preach the gospel, defend historic Christianity and teach the Bible
diligently.
However, a few
days ago I was bewildered to watch the mindless histrionic preaching of a few
Christian preachers.
A proud preacher1
had the audacity to claim that his anointed ministry is not meant to serve a
mere 50-60 people rather it was meant to serve millions.
Another
theatrical preacher2 claimed that ordinary people could not step
into a certain part of the stage (obviously that’s where he was standing) where
apparently the Holy Spirit’s anointing was powerful. When people tried to step
into that so-called anointed area of that stage, they were thrown back (the big
question is if they were acting or not).
Then there was
a preacher3 whose primary task was to make people laugh. People
laughed aloud uncontrollably when he touched them. People laughed because this
preacher apparently anointed them with the Holy Spirit.
Correct me
if am wrong, but I most surely think these preachers are utterly mindless.
Why do I term
them mindless? I am quite sure that there are many in Christendom in this genre
of preaching. Is it demeaning to term these preachers as mindless? Let us think
this through.
What’s the
purpose of this style of preaching? What do they try to achieve?
The proud preacher
manifested his innate pride by purporting that his anointed ministry is not for
a mere 50-60 people. His purpose, I reckon, was two-fold: (1) to explicitly yet
proudly assert his astronomical spiritual net worth, and (2) to humiliate the
members of his church whose sole fault was attending that worship service.
His manifest
purposes, as any honest student-of-the-Bible would affirm, are absolutely unbiblical.
The Bible urges humility, not pride.
The Bible
mandates grace, love, mercy and compassion, not a vulgar demeaning outburst
against naïve Christians – not the least to brutally massacre them for having
attended the church service to worship God.
What then
was the proud preacher trying to achieve?
Apparently he
did not want to waste his time on a few people (50-60) when he could have ministered
profitably (pun intended) with a larger gathering. But was he justified in denying
his ministry upon a few people?
The Lord
Jesus Christ, as the Bible reveals, ministered to both, the lone Samaritan
woman, as well as a large gathering. If the Lord Jesus Christ ministered to a single
person, who are we to not minister to a single person or a smaller group?
When the
Lord Jesus Christ did not condemn the woman caught in the act of adultery (a
blatant sinner), who are we to condemn naïve Christians whose only fault was to
attend a worship service to worship God.
Would it
not be appropriate to term this proud preacher as mindless because of his
failure to be Christlike in his ministry? I honestly believe that this proud preacher,
for reasons aforesaid, was mindless.
Power
preaching is in vogue in Christendom. Lavish display of power on stage attracts
people.
By power I
do not mean powerful sermons preached by the power of God, rather an ostensible
display of people being thrown around on the stage or people laughing uncontrollably
when they were allegedly impacted by the so-called anointed preachers of
God.
What’s the
purpose of this display of power on stage? Superficially, I reckon, if I were
to speak on behalf of these drama-preachers, these ravishing acts of power are
meant to display God’s power.
I ask two questions:
(1) Did Christ display power where people were thrown around when he touched
them? (2) Does God require us to perform such power-ministries?
Christ
displayed the power of the miraculous - resurrecting the dead, healing, casting
of demons, calming the storm, multiplying bread and fish etc. These miraculous
events blessed people’s lives.
To the best
of my knowledge of the Bible, I neither think that people were thrown around nor
did they laugh uncontrollably when Christ touched them.
The power
Christ displayed was more meaningful i.e. it blessed human life significantly.
Contrarily, as is the case with these preachers, lives are not blessed when people
are thrown around and when they laugh uncontrollably.
The
powerful ministry that God desires of us is to make disciples of all nations (Matthew
28: 18-20) and be witnesses of Christ (Acts 1: 8). There is another power the
Bible mentions, but rarely practiced these days, which is the power to share
our possessions with the needy (Acts 4: 32-34). Of course, we cannot ignore the
powerful ministries of healing and exorcisms.
The Bible
does not urge or mandate us to display power of comical proportions – to throw people
around and/or to make them laugh uncontrollably upon being touched by the
so-called anointed minister. So I do not understand the sincere purpose behind
such scandalous display of power on stage other than the fact that their genuine
purpose may be to propel themselves to greater fame among the masses.
I honestly
believe that this genre of ministry is mindless and unbiblical in that it does
not normatively bless people (or at least I cannot understand how it blesses
people, barring God’s sovereign intervention).
This genre
of mindless histrionic preaching is not the need of the hour, unless these
mindless preachers compulsively desire to gratify the audience by humoring them
at no extra cost.
This is the
need of the hour. People would be blessed when they are drawn to the love of
Christ through the preaching of the gospel. People are blessed when they are loved
and cared for, especially during their moments of need and desperation.
Those
ailing would be blessed when they are healed of their sickness or when they are
delivered from demonic oppression. Those in doubt would be blessed when the
Bible is taught and clarified – undiluted and unadulterated.
May we do
all that we can to bless people. May not our will be done, but may the good
Lord enable us to do HIS perfect and pleasing will always. Amen.
Endnotes:
You can watch these preachers by copy-pasting the following
links in your browser (they speak in Tamil – a South Indian language):
1 Proud preacher: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=612529632215319&set=vb.434891643312453&type=2&theater
2 Theatrical preacher: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=914453421922257
3 Preacher who makes people laugh: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=351088805086181&pnref=story
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