Field Guide to the Wild World of Religion: 2011 Edition. Pamela J.D. Dewey
have attempted to contact various Charismatic ministries and get medical documentation regarding healings that were claimed to have happened at crusades. Just because someone tells Benny Hinn on a stage in Atlanta, Georgia, that he believes that he has been healed of cancer doesn’t make it so. It is undeniable that no astonishing, inexplicable, instantaneous healings, such as a withered arm on a crippled child being “made whole,” have ever been caught on film. And none of the researchers have been provided with clear medical documentation for the grandiose claims of the miraculous. This does not mean, of course, that God doesn’t heal. It merely means that the incredible level of hype surrounding certain ministries, which attempts to validate that God is blessing the ministry because of the astonishing miracles claimed, is open to hard questioning.
In all too many cases, Charismatic preachers don’t establish their teachings clearly on scripture. Instead, they build them around experience, the kind of subjective experiences described above. A Roman Catholic and a Methodist used to believe that their theological differences were so serious that they were unable to view each other as “brothers in the faith.” But if Christian brotherhood is not based on biblical truth, but on contemporary experience of what is believed to be a manifestation of the miraculous, then the barriers between denominations disappear. And you have one homogenized group of people. If speaking in tongues, or rolling on the floor of a church service convulsed with “Holy Laughter,” is evidence of someone being “saved” or “filled with the Holy Ghost,” then all who manifest these things must agree that “doctrine isn’t important.” And if doctrine isn’t important, why waste much time trying to teach doctrinal concepts from the Bible? This seems to be the approach of many of the teachers on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
Trend Three: Greed and Gullibility
So what do the TBN preachers talk about? Watch long enough and it will become obvious. There is precious little about “suffering for righteousness’ sake,” or “turning the other cheek,” or giving generously to the poor. What there is a lot of is—the promise of health, wealth, and prosperity. Viewers are bombarded with a constant message that God’s greatest wish for them is not an intimate walk with Jesus, and the growth within of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, meekness, and temperance). No, His greatest wish is that they always be healthy and wealthy. And if they aren’t, there is something wrong. In fact, what is likely wrong is that they haven’t “sown good seed” so that God can send them a harvest of health and prosperity. How does one sow such seed? Why, by sending it to the one who is teaching you about health and prosperity! (That certainly guarantees the teacher’s chances of prosperity, anyway!)
And thus this troubling trend of greed and gullibility grows. The preacher becomes a wealthy superstar. And his listeners, believing his spiel that he got that way by “sowing seed,” want to become like him. So they sow their seed to him. Which makes him a wealthier superstar. And makes them … poorer but no wiser. Numerous investigative reports on some of these superstar televangelists in recent years have documented for the public the incredibly lavish lifestyles they live, and the frequently deceptive methods they use to get there. Sometimes such reports affect donations to the ministries of such televangelists for a time. But the human ability to believe illusions has insured that almost every one of them has been able to rebound, and get gullible viewers to go right back to sending in money to support the lavish lifestyle of the televangelist. (Details on some of these shameful shenanigans can be seen in the Who’s Who Digest chapter.) Religious hucksters have been around since the first century, of course. But they used to exist around the fringes of society, preying on a limited few. Now they are peddling their wares in a setting accessible to the majority of living rooms in America, 24 hours a day.
Trend Four: The Walmart-izing of the local church scene
In the 1970s and earlier, most American towns and cities had a variety of churches, and each one of them filled a unique niche in the community. Even the largest seldom had congregations over 500 or so. If a church got much bigger than that, it would be common for it to spawn a sister congregation on the other side of town. This is much like the business sector of towns during the same time period. A wide variety of local businesses would fill the needs of local shoppers, from grocery stores to pharmacies, hardware stores, clothing stores, toy stores, and more. If a town was large enough, it might even support a grocery store on each end of town, catering to the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods.
And then came Walmart (and similar discount stores). Now shoppers could find almost all of their wants under one roof, from lettuce to ladders, from aspirin to Barbie Dolls. The wholesale buying power of such chain stores allowed them to sell all of these things more inexpensively than could the local shops. Thus began the decline of local businesses in many towns. Even those that managed to survive have seldom grown larger. They appeal mostly to either old-timers who like doing business with familiar faces, or people who like the convenience of not having to drive to the outskirts of town to get to the mega-store.
This same trend has developed in the Wild World of Religion. As mentioned earlier, the big, thriving churches of the 1950s would be in the center of the town, and the tiny independent Pentecostal churches would be on the outskirts. Those big church buildings are still in place in most towns, but they are no longer thriving. Their congregations are dwindling, as fewer and fewer of the latest generations of Americans have been attracted to “that old-time religion.” And the independent Pentecostal churches are still on the outskirts of town—but they are no longer in those tiny buildings. Of course, most prefer the label “Charismatic” now, rather than Pentecostal. The Charismatic movement is one of the fastest growing religious “brands,” in both America and the world. (See the Pentecostal and Charismatic: What’s the Difference? chapter for an explanation of the two terms.) Many towns now boast huge Charismatic mega-church complexes on the outskirts of town. The sanctuaries of some of these churches can hold many thousands, and some of them even fill those sanctuaries two or more times on a Sunday with different crowds. In the hallways outside many of these huge sanctuaries, one can find almost a “mall” of facilities. There may be everything from cappuccino shops and bookstores, to conference rooms for AA meetings, single parent clubs, and senior citizen gatherings. Farther down the hallway will be the gym for the “Praisercise” classes, and Youth Ministry rooms that feature videogame machines, pool tables, and a stage for the visiting contemporary Christian music bands that play for special events.
Little wonder that many of the families who have drifted away from the stagnating “old” churches, which seem to have so little to offer other than a church service on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, have ended up checking out the Walmarts of Religion. The music for the mega-church worship service is often very professional, inspirational, and contemporary. The enthusiasm of the audience is infectious, and the dynamic personality of the Pastor very appealing to many. The one thing which visitors may find missing, if they know to look for it, however, is the same thing missing from many Charismatic TV shows—solid biblical teaching. The sermons in many such churches seem to be a steady diet of “health and prosperity” teaching and little else.
Trend Five: One-Doctrine Wonders
Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth book became an instant best seller in the early 1970s. In the intervening thirty years it has been read by millions, including Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals … and even, reportedly, by the late Pope John Paul II! Most people are fascinated by speculation regarding when and how the world will end. The supermarket tabloids regularly feature sensationalist headlines about the latest interpretation of the nebulous prophecies of Nostradamus. However, for most readers, the fascination with prophecy about the “End Times” is a passing interest at most, and a hobby at best.
This is not so with those in the religious subculture of the End Times Prophecy Movement. Just as the most dedicated Trekkies make their obsession with Star Trek the central focus of their life, a large number of Christians spend every spare moment reading, hearing, discussing, speculating, and worrying about how current world events and conditions might line up with the prophecies of the Bible. The most radical among them may even make serious life choices based on the conclusions they reach.