"Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." I John 4:8
Preaching politics from the pulpit, instead of the text of the New Testament, the Christian gospel, is a clear sign that the church has been hijacked, and is in a state of apostasy. Churches like the one referenced in this piece, Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, have never been about Christian ministry, evangelism or preaching. They are collectors of large amounts of money, affluent congregations gathered in large numbers for protection from being asked to volunteer or do anything meaningful ministry-wise, to advance the mission and purpose of the church, who attract celebrity pastors addicted to the opulent lifestyle, and power they have over their congregation.
The preaching, which is a carefully constructed "feel good" inspirational piece, along with a nice dose of conservative ideology and aimed at the "perceived needs" of the congregation is pop psychology in a religious package. It's orchestrated, with the worship music, and even the visuals, including set decorations, lighting and a blend of video and photographic images, aimed at making the point. And the Christian content is usually just some dressing on the side. The theme is completely pop psychology with a religious perspective and endorsement.
So here is Ed Young, who has been pastor of Second Baptist Church since 1978. He took what was a downtown church to the suburbs and under his leadership, saw its weekly attendance grow from 500 to about 30,000 on multiple campuses scattered around Houston, and a membership of over 80,000, mostly by attracting members from smaller churches around them which could not compete with the smorgasbord of ministry offerings at Second.
Young turned being a pastor into a commercial enterprise. Branding his product sales under "The Winning Walk," the name of his broadcast ministry, he packages and sells audio and video recordings of all of his sermons, as well as his books. He has turned a church building into a commercial enterprise that includes a bookstore carrying his products, a fitness center and "family life center," where all kinds of things, including fitness training, can be purchased, a restaurant and conference center, and the church's sanctuary, holding about 10,000 people, has been designed to host concerts by Christian artists who sell their recordings in the lobby. The facility was also built to accommodate conferences which attract high dollar keynote speakers and money from participants.
The picture that comes to my mind is the description, in Mark 11, where Jesus cleared the money changers and merchants out of the Temple. I've been to concerts there, and to worship services. And that's my perception of it. It's also a pretty protected pulpit. Young doesn't leave it much, his sermons are broadcast to satellite locations, rather than having a pastor at that location preach. At one point, before the video technology became available, he would take a helicopter from the Woodway campus out to the Katy campus to preach, to avoid traffic and get there in time to preach.
Intruders in the Church
When I read stories like this, I keep going back in my mind to this verse in the obscure little book of Jude. "For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness, and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
Reading this piece in Baptist News Global made me angry. The authors description makes it sound like this pastor is stoking hatred among the members of his congregation, venting personal frustration and getting in his political attacks on politicians he doesn't like. It's nothing like his biblically based "sermon series" from which he earned his reputation. As my Dad used to say, "It sounds like he's stopped preachin' and gone to meddlin'." It sounds like a mega church pastor who has let his power and influence set the course of his preaching.
He's not alone. False religion has stolen into the pulpits and churches of this country. It goes back to Jerry Falwell and his "Moral Majority," and to Pat Robertson and his "Christian Coalition." There's absolutely no biblical support for Christian churches to become agents of secular politics, and this sounds like that, with a heavy dose of the heresy of Christian nationalism thrown in for good measure. It's a far cry from his preaching in the earlier days of his ministry, even if most of that was done to make a nice package to wrap up for peddling purposes.
Young is just another example of a Christian church sliding into apostasy.
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