Billy Graham and Steven Furtick (What a flattering comparison!)

What is the difference in Billy Graham's Crusades of the past, and Elevation Church's McDonald's Drive Thru approach to baptism of the present. Not a whole lot really. That is why John MacArthur stirred up a whole hornet's nest of debate about thirty years ago of whether repentance and change is directly linked with salvation in his book The Gospel According to Jesus. In it, he makes an argument for something coined a Lordship Salvation. The general idea is that you have to do more than believe, you have to also turn from sin. I don't believe that personally, I believe that you have to believe and a product of that belief will be repentance and right living through a process of growing in your knowledge of the truth, but I can honestly say I believe that because I am an American Southern Boy! Its like a semantic argument because you are really saying that if you follow Jesus you will do what he says, but if you don't know what He said yet because you haven't been taught, then does that mean you aren't a Christian...that argument could go on forever!

My point in bringing this up is because I love the approach that we take in Starting Point Groups at Browns Bridge. If they were to load people into Baptism pools like cattle being sprayed off before slaughter, I would never return. Instead, they allow for people to explore what they think in a small 10 week discussion group (something like Sunday School) where people get their questions answered and wrestle with the ideas. Some have said a prayer, others have yet to take that step. Some have been in church forever. And it isn't a requirement to do this group before you get baptized, but it is what is encouraged.

Both Billy Graham and Steven have done the same thing that is admirable: they have encouraged people to go out and find a local body of believers that can help them out in having their own Starting Points so to speak. So what is the next step for people getting saved or baptized in mass...probably counseling, but I digress. More than likely, getting into a small group or house church if they dare that will help them process what it means to walk by faith.

Follow from Elevation Church on Vimeo.

I watched a very interesting movie the other day that was a documentary about an art dealer in Los Angelos. This guy followed street artists around the world filming them as they painted pictures that were commentary on the culture or just interesting art. He made hours and hours of film, but in the end, he never made a movie. Instead, when this art scene became lucrative, he took on the persona of a street artist and became Mr. Brainwash. Mr. Brainwash started making mass duplications of street art, and the people of LA bought it in made organized group thinking mobs.

It reminded me of something else. Bill Hybels created an effective model of seeker friendly church and Rick Warren used the same research to copy him. Then Andy Stanley copied these guys. They built substantially business like organizations that had church as one component of what they do, then came their Mr. Brainwashes. People like Steven Furtick above.

But they have gone to far. They aren't selling art. They are selling religious experiences, like relics and indulgences that were sold to build Vatican City (lovely place, but not very theologically sound). In the sermon preceding Steven's baptism of over 1500 people in mass, people crowd around the stage with signs that say, "I Was Baptized At Elevation Church."

Oh dear. If you have to say, "This isn't emotional manipulation," well, it most probably is.

The way the mega church with multiple satellites is working is a mega personality is surrounded by multiple satellites and then this guy teaches or preaches. Its good in that you can get some really good teaching (like Andy Stanley), but its bad when you start seeing folks doing mass things like this.

I was reminded of this by my friend from Russia when we visited a Mega Church in Seattle Washington. His words still ring as a forewarning, "Doesn't this seem sort of like the idea of what the prophet would be like with the anti-Christ?" Yes, all it would take would be replacing that teacher up there with another person saying something different. And its only a matter of time when that will happen. Creating Mega means creating momentum and all of this is psychological and sociological. It doesn't really matter if what the Mega Teacher is saying is theologically true, wise, or good, apparently.

It just matters that the mega man is relevant, hip, fashionable, enigmatic, and can create systematic hype. It just so happens that the original "artists" are still out there and you can find some original stations of creativity, but as the Mr. Brainwashes keep popping up, the true art is quickly being diluted.