Easter Babel

Here we find ourselves yet again in the season of pastels, peeps, and pretentious bunny marketing: Easter.

We can add another unfortunate chapter to the ever-increasing ridiculousness surrounding Easter in America.

An interview with Elevation Church’s digital content director, Nicki Shearer, revealed the [modern] philosophical approach some churches have adopted.

Nicki Shearer says:

The most important thing on Easter is inviting people to church… When I think about how I’m gonna talk about Easter, I’m thinking about talking to people far from God… I’m talking all the way from people who have been in our church for years and I want them to invite people to church, all the way to people who have never heard of our church before and trying to get them to come to church — people who are “unchurched,” you might say.

How I talk to those two people are really different. I’m putting a lot of my focus, energy, time, resources toward what I would call the “cold audience” as people far from God. So I’m not gonna say the word calvary; I’m not gonna say the word resurrection; I’m not gonna say the blood of Jesus.

I’m not gonna say any of these words that make someone feel like an outsider.

And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.

It is the acid and rancor approach to both sugarcoat and water down what the Bible says in an effort to appeal to and attract people to church.

What does it say about a Christian community/church that distances itself from biblical language to appeal to people?

Is a water-downed Gospel really as sweet as what is revealed in Scripture?

Not A Big Deal?

It would be far too easy to dismiss this as silly and move along, for we begin to see a fundamental shift in the church upon a deeper and further examination of what’s happening here.

Biblical language has now become offensive to those not merely outside the church, but to some of those within.

Easter, rather than solely being about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of sinners, now subtly becomes a catalyst for bringing in more people to grow the church.

Nicki’s open and honest response in the interview demonstrates the attitude many churches take in a sincere endeavor to reach nonbelievers.

Remember, this woman is responsible for what Elevation Church says and, moreover, the tone and temperament in which they communicate it.

In other words, she’s not merely speaking her own opinion, but the philosophical stance of Elevation Church — which is ultimately established and driven by its lead pastor, Steven Furtick.

Bear this in mind: modern [nondenominational] megachurches are often directed under a CEO Pastor model in which the prominent lead pastor on stage drives the ship; his vision is the church’s vision.

While we can and should appreciate the heart to reach the lost, the highest priority should be proclaiming the Gospel as revealed in Scripture — which means saying what it truly is— not as it is curated and crafted in production meetings at a church.

And moreover, we must be mindful that no matter what we do or say, there will always be people who reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ [see 2 Corinthians 2:15–17].

Now, what I find fascinating is that this [seeker-sensitive] approach is belittling. By that I mean it assumes that outsiders are not smart enough to comprehend biblical language and truth if you don’t articulate and thoroughly explain it; and that, somehow, the Holy Spirit is powerless to bring life in the hearts of nonbelievers from the very words of Scripture faithfully preached.

Why should churches punt the responsibility of using biblical words and concepts and teaching what it means and why we say what we say in order to sugarcoat or dumb down what we believe to make it more appealing?

C.S. Lewis was brilliant and correct when he said:

They all say the “ordinary reader does not want theology.” Give them plain and practical religion. I have rejected their advice. I do not think the ordinary reader is such a fool.

Theology means the science of God, and I think any man who wants to think about God at all would like to have the clearest and most accurate ideas about Him which are available.

His wisdom is powerful and profound; it remains pertinent to our modern-day church problems.

We can’t shy away from the truth. To do so is to abdicate from the calling and responsibility as Christians who live as ambassadors for the kingdom.

Why should people, both inside and outside the church, be treated as dumb children who could not possibly digest and understand truths that are clearly communicated and expounded?

Both Nicki and C.S. Lewis are right: language does matter.

But the question is this: Is the language biblical — faithful to what God wrote and revealed — or is it carefully constructed and curated for unchurched people so as not to spook them?

It’s hard to ignore that the Bible is littered with passages that speak so clearly and empathically about the resurrection and the blood of Jesus.

Resurrection:

• “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [John 11:25–26]
• “And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” [Acts 4:33]
• “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” [Romans 10:9]
• “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” [1 Corinthians 15:3–4]
• “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” [1 Corinthians 15:12–19].
• “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” [Philippians 3:10]
• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” [1 Peter 1:3]

Blood of Jesus:

• “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” [Romans 5:9]
• “In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” [Ephesians 1:7]
• “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” [Ephesians 2:13]
• “And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” [Colossians 1:20]
• “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” [Hebrews 9:14]
• “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” [Hebrews 9:22]
• “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” [1 John 1:7]
• “And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” [Revelation 1:5]

It is seemingly ignorant — perhaps even fatuous — to believe that somehow we can cut corners. If we tell people they can have new life or be raised to new life in Christ, what does that even mean? Or, how is that even possible?

Stated differently, you have to cross the bridge at some point, which means paying the toll of having to unpack the often hard truths of sin, hell, and wrath — all of which are taken care of by the blood of Jesus and His resurrection — within the redemptive framework mentioned in the Bible.

At one time, these things would have been either foreign or difficult to grasp for those in the early church, yet they learned and understood the spiritual truths and reality — that is, because it was the work of the Holy Spirit in the minds and hearts of the believers.

The Apostle Paul’s parting words to the Ephesians elders stand as a stark reminder of the importance of faithfulness to God’s mission and commitment to the whole truth:

You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them [Acts 18–21, 20:-26–30, ESV].

Paul’s farewell to the Ephesians is a perfect example of how Christians —leaders and laity — should conduct themselves.

We should not shrink in declaring the whole counsel of God, even if it may offend or alienate the feelings and sensibilities of others.

However sincere we may feel in seeking the lost in hopes they would find Jesus and follow Him, that instinct should not triumph over our call to be faithful to the truth and work of the Spirit in the Church.

One has to ask: At what point does sincerity become stupid or sinful?

Why are these types of churches always more focused on doing anything short of sin to bring people to God rather than focusing on the glory of God and letting that drive and dictate their desires and preach the full, biblical truth — knowing that it is the work of Spirit who draws, awakens, and saves sinners?

Beware of those who belittle the congregation and those to whom they incessantly placate.

Biblical or Babel?

In the milieu of big brand evangelicalism, Easter now becomes almost like a Christian Super Bowl event.

Churches scramble to amass appealing fixtures and programs to draw in the masses. In an era of the numbers game, churches compete to win.

Staffers and volunteers are thrusted into the cogs of the evangelical machine to produce the best and brightest experience one has to offer.

It is, to me, a sad state of affairs.

Easter is ultimately about the redemptive triumph of Jesus over sin, Satan, and death, and the eternal life given to God’s people; it is not about growing church attendance and finding Christian community.

Modern churches run the risk of babel when they try to make the [offensive biblical] truths of the Christian religion palatable to outsiders and nonbelievers.

What eternal good comes from sugarcoating theological truths in an effort to win over people to your particular brand of church?

If seeing people raised to new life is truly the underlying mission of Elevation Church, why do they refuse to use biblical language, the very words of God Himself? Is not all Scripture God-breathed? [see 2 Timothy 3:16–17]

To jumble and confuse Easter [or Christmas] into an event predicated and focused on a good experience at church with carefully curated production, content, and language to get people to come and join a church is far from why the Church exists and the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Churches that babel inevitably prevaricate and hide the ball with the wholeness and 3-dimensional nature of the Gospel run the risk of building glass castles— and the fallout will be nothing more than brutal confusion.

Churches that babel and refuse to communicate the full counsel and scope and biblical clarity of the Gospel may create additional congregants, but not born-again disciples.

Churches that babel communicate their curated version of Christianity, but do they communicate the Christ of Scripture — the real Christ, that is?

Not the type of Jesus who will simply make our lives better in the pursuit of our hopes, dreams, and ambitions, but the Jesus Christ who is the risen redeemer who takes away our sins and clothes us in His righteousness so that we can be reconciled to God for all eternity.