Superstar Evangelists
Regional Elijah Challenge Affiliates
The age of the superstar "one-man-show" evangelist is fading away
(Note: these articles do not apply to all American evangelists)
"An APOLOGY in AMSTERDAM"
- by J. Lee Grady.Some American evangelists have given us all a bad name in Holland. Last weekend I begged Dutch pastors to forgive us.
"Statistics show that in Amsterdam we have the highest concentration of churches in Europe," says Samuel Lee, an Iranian-born church planter whose Jesus Christ Foundation Church in the suburb of Deimen boasts 500 members from 12 nations.
But while this influx of Africans, Asians and Middle Easterners is helping to revitalize Dutch churches, the influence of some Americans has not had the same effect. I was shocked and embarrassed to learn that charismatic evangelists from the United States have earned a dubious reputation on the other side of the Atlantic.
During a one-day summit of pastors and church planters held in Amsterdam last Saturday, I discovered that several high-profile Christian speakers have worn out their welcome because of questionable financial practices and inappropriate demands.
One of Holland's most respected charismatic pastors, Stanley Hofwijks, says some American ministers are no longer welcome in his country. Hofwijks' 2,500-member Maranatha Ministries Church is predominantly Surinamese and is one of the largest congregations in Holland.
"These pastors come here and insist that they must take their own offerings," Hofwijks told me. "Then they get up in the pulpit and tell the people that if they will give $1,000 each, all will be well and they will be blessed."
Weary of what he considers financial manipulation, Hofwijks now has a new policy: If a visiting minister insists on taking his own offering, he is not welcome to preach.
Christian businessman and conference organizer Arie Templeman has many horror stories to tell about his dealings with American preachers. Their behavior outside the pulpit, he said, is as disturbing as some of their questionable public demands for donations.
Some visiting preachers insisted on pricey hotel rooms-including, on one occasion, a $10,000-a-night penthouse. Others made rude demands of hotel staff.
"Many Dutch people look up to these men because they see them on Christian television," Templeman said. "If they knew what went on behind the scenes they would lose all respect for them."
On one occasion an American preacher who was speaking at a Dutch conference was asked if he could come to another city and address a group of pastors. Said Templeman: "[The evangelist] asked how much he would be paid for the ministry session. When he was told he would receive $1,000, he looked down at his shoes and said: 'One of my shoes costs more than that. I will not go.'"
Hofwijks' biggest concern is that American arrogance is infecting some younger Dutch leaders. "They want to be like the preachers on American television," the pastor said. "They are focused on a superstar mentality. It's very negative for our country because they fall and many people fall with them."
...I had no choice but to extend an olive branch to my wounded brothers and sisters. I shed a few tears as I asked them to forgive us for taking financial advantage of their people. And I prayed publicly that God would cleanse Dutch churches of the pride we export to them.
Making an apology was a first step. Now I can only pray that those of us who have misused our place of international influence will find the grace to model genuine humility and integrity before it is too late.
God will not tolerate this sick, haughty spirit for too long. If we don't repent, plenty of men and women from other parts of the world are capable of stepping into our shoes to provide Christ-like leadership. And they will not need to wear $2,500 Italian-leather Oxfords to do the job.
~ J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma and an award-winning journalist. He writes a column for Charisma Online twice a week.
"The DEADLY VIRUS of CELEBRITY CHRISTIANITY"
-by J. Lee Grady. (July 27, 2007).Some bigheaded preachers demand rock star treatment. If the
apostle Paul were around today he might throw rocks at them.Just when I thought we charismatics had finally taken enough
abuse from the egomaniac ministers in our midst, I've learned that
some of our leaders are taking things to a new extreme. We've
moved beyond the red carpets, limousines and entourages of the
1990s. A new strain of the celebrity virus is spreading in large
segments of the church."What is this sickness spreading in the body of Christ? All I know
is that God is grieved by all of this shameful carnality."One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent
preacher could speak at her conference. The minister's assistant
faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to
book a speaking engagement. The demands included:
a.. a five-figure honorarium
b.. a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane
c.. a manicurist and hairstylist for the speaker
d.. a suite in a five-star hotel
e.. a luxury car from the airport to the hotel (2004 model or newer)
f.. room-temperature PerrierThis really makes me wonder how the apostle Paul, Timothy or
Priscilla managed ministering to so many people in Ephesus,
Corinth and Thessalonica. How did they survive without a
manicurist if they broke a nail while laying hands on the sick?I was relieved to know that this celebrity preacher's requirements
in 2007 did not include a set of armed bodyguards - because I just might want to jump uninvited into her Rolls-Royce and say a few words.It gets worse, if you can believe it. At a charismatic conference in an East Coast city recently, a pastor stood on a stage in front of a large crowd and smugly announced that the guest speaker was "more than an apostle." Then the host asked everyone to bow down to the person, claiming that this posture was necessary to release God's power.
"This is the only way you can receive this kind of anointing!" the
host declared, bowing in front of the speaker. Immediately, about
80 percent of the audience fell prostrate on the floor. The few who were uncomfortable with the weird spiritual control in the room either walked out or stood in silent protest.So today, I guess it's not enough to feed a celebrity preacher's ego by treating them like a rock star. We also are required to worship him.
And apparently in some places you even have to pay big bucks to
speak with him. In a city in the South, a well-known preacher is
known to ask for money in order to secure a five- or 10-minute
counseling session. The minister uses Proverbs 18:16, "A man's
gift makes room for him and brings him before great men" (NASB),
to support this bizarre practice. Some people are known to give
more than $1,000 for a short meeting.People on fixed incomes need not apply. (That would include
lepers, blind beggars, Samaritan women or any other social
outcasts who were welcomed and healed by Jesus without payment.)What has become of the American church? What is this sickness
spreading in the body of Christ? I don't know whom to blame more
for it: The narcissistic minister who craves the attention, or the
spiritually naive crowds who place these arrogant people on their
shaky pedestals. All I know is that God is grieved by all of this
shameful carnality.How far we have fallen from authentic New Testament faith. Paul,
who carried the anointing of an apostle but often described himself as a bond slave, told the Thessalonians, "Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives" (1 Thess. 2:8).New Testament Christianity is humble, selfless and authentic. And
those who carry the truth don't preach for selfish gain or to meet
an emotional need for attention. May God help us root out the false apostles and false teachers who are making the American church sick with their man-centered, money-focused heresies.~SOURCE: http://www.charismanews.com/
Kenneth Hagin's Forgotten Warning
-by J. Lee GradyBefore he died in 2003, the revered father of the Word-Faith movement corrected his spiritual sons for going to extremes with their message of prosperity.
Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained "Dad Hagin" started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others—all of whom teach that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven.
Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence.
Those who were close to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, several months after the infamous Tulsa meeting.
"Kenneth Hagin Sr. was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence."
Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good idea to dust it off and read it again.
Here are a few of the points Hagin made in The Midas Touch:
1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God's blessing. Hagin wrote: "If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected from the blessings of God."
2. People should never give in order to get. Hagin was critical of those who "try to make the offering plate some kind of heavenly vending machine." He denounced those who link giving to getting, especially those who give cars to get new cars or who give suits to get new suits. He wrote: "There is no spiritual formula to sow a Ford and reap a Mercedes."
3. It is not biblical to "name your seed" in an offering. Hagin was horrified by this practice, which was popularized in faith conferences during the 1980s. Faith preachers sometimes tell donors that when they give in an offering they should claim a specific benefit to get a blessing in return. Hagin rejected this idea and said that focusing on what you are going to receive "corrupts the very attitude of our giving nature."
4. The "hundredfold return" is not a biblical concept. Hagin did the math and figured out that if this bizarre notion were true, "we would have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!" He rejected the popular teaching that a believer should claim a specific monetary payback rate.
5. Preachers who claim to have a "debt-breaking" anointing should not be trusted. Hagin was perplexed by ministers who promise "supernatural debt cancellation" to those who give in certain offerings. He wrote in The Midas Touch: "There is not one bit of Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I'm afraid it is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all involved."
(Many evangelists who appear on Christian television today use this bogus claim. Usually they insist that the miraculous debt cancellation will occur only if a person "gives right now," as if the anointing for this miracle suddenly evaporates after the prime time viewing hour. This manipulative claim is more akin to witchcraft than Christian belief.)
Hagin condemned other hairbrained gimmicks designed to trick audiences into emptying their wallets. He was especially incensed when a preacher told his radio listeners that he would take their prayer requests to Jesus' empty tomb in Jerusalem and pray over them there—if donors included a special love gift. "What that radio preacher really wanted was more people to send in offerings," Hagin wrote.
Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back under the nation's microscope. It's time to revisit Hagin's concerns and find a biblical balance.
Hagin told his followers: "Overemphasizing or adding to what the Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good." If the man who pioneered the modern concept of biblical prosperity blew the whistle on his own movement, wouldn't it make sense for us to listen to his admonition?
J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. The Midas Touch is available from Kenneth Hagin Ministries at rhema.org.
