Civil Commotion

Book Two: A Criticism of the Highest Values That Have Prevailed Hitherto
I: Criticism of Religion

§248   Christian moral quackery. Pity and contempt succeed each other at short intervals, and at the sight of them I feel as indignant as if I were in the presence of the most despicable crime. Here error is made a duty a — virtue; misapprehension has become a knack, the destructive instinct is systematised under the name of “redemption”; here every operation becomes a wound, an amputation of those very organs whose energy would be the prerequisite to a return of health. And in the best of cases no cure is achieved; all that is done is to exchange one set of evil symptoms for another set —

And this pernicious nonsense, this systematised profanation and castration of life, passes for holy and sacred; to be in its service, to be an instrument of this art of healing, that is to say, to be a priest, is to be rendered distinguished, reverent, holy and sacred. God alone could have been the Author of this supreme art of healing; redemption is only possible as a revelation, as an act of grace, as an unearned gift, made by the Creator Himself.

Proposition I: Spiritual healthiness is regarded as morbid and creates suspicion —

Proposition II: The prerequisites of a strong, exuberant life, strong desires and passions, are reckoned as objections against strong and exuberant life.

Proposition III: Everything which threatens danger to man and which can overcome and ruin him, is evil — and must be rejected and should be torn root and branch from his soul.

Proposition IV: Man converted into a weak creature, inoffensive to himself and others, crushed by humility and modesty and conscious of his weakness, in fact, the “sinner” — this is the desirable type and one which one can produce by means of a little spiritual surgery —

Southern Baptist Holy Man Dave Miller affirms that Jesus has to have first dibs on your life.

Permit me to start with the obvious – a biblical foundation. It is not just a requirement of ministry, but of discipleship itself, that Jesus take a place of priority over anything in your life. Jesus said these words.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Obviously, Jesus was not talking about visceral, emotional hate here. He is talking about priority. When God says “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated” it doesn’t mean that God despised Esau it meant he chose the younger over the elder. Jesus was demanding that he be the first choice in our lives always. Pleasing and obeying him must be my highest priority, more than pleasing my wife or children or anyone else. Jesus comes first.

Obviously? I see no justification for that characterization, but never mind. I say again: If the pleasure of an invisible friend is more important to you than your actual flesh-and-blood spouse then — psychologically, at least — you aren’t married at all.

You cannot make this stuff up.

A North Carolina man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison Wednesday for handcuffing an 11-year-old boy by his ankle to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck as punishment.

Even the Southern Baptists, as low and grasping a denomination as may be found, are hooting at Creflo Dollar.

Western Christianity never looks more lavish, or less like Jesus, than when its leaders are embroiled in scandal. This past weeks events proved no different, as Creflo Dollar, an Atlanta area pastor and “Word of Faith” teacher made waves across the internet by asking his congregation to provide funds for a new private jet–at the bargain price of $65 million.

Anyone even casually acquainted with Dollar’s background and ministry will not be surprised at this latest development. Formerly a student of Kenneth Copeland, Dollar promulgates a message of health, wealth and prosperity that sounds less like Jesus’ call to take up one’s cross, and more like Milton Friedman on steroids.

So first things first: when scandals like this are caused by prosperity preachers, followers of Jesus need to send an abundantly clear message that this is NOT Christianity.

[ … ]

So when it comes to the origins and essence of “health, wealth, and prosperity,” Word of Faith theology bears absolutely no historical, Biblical, theological, or philosophical resemblance to anything like orthodox Christian faith. We may call this twisted faith system many things. “Christian” is not one of them.

How can you not love this? Creflo? Not a r-e-e-e-a-l Christian?

As if there is any such thing.

Allright, never mind; all believers know themselves to be the gen-u-ine article, and everybody else to be at least misguided — if not affirmatively evil. What makes this fun is the no-nonsense beating the poor guy is getting. I don’t think it’s racism, because Southern Baptists don’t hesitate to trash other prosperity gospel types (most notably Joel Osteen). I think Creflo is being pounded because he doesn’t belong to their club, because he isn’t one of them

After all, nearly every last one of them would rather choke than say a word against Perry Noble, Ed Young, Steven Furtick, Mark Driscoll, even Ergun Caner — people whose grotesque excesses might actually be susceptible of influence by the denomination.

So, don’t be deceived. This is as much a Southern Baptist sales pitch as a critique of predatory clergy.