Evangelical zeal twists true meaning of Christ’s teachings

Humility, empathy and forgiveness do not sit comfortably with modern evangelism.

Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, theologian, ethicist and former head of the Southern Baptist Convention in the US, spoke of the growing conflict between the teachings of Christ and muscular evangelism that often preaches prosperity theology.

“Multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching – ‘turn the other cheek’ – and to have someone come up after to say, ‘Where did you get those liberal talking points?’,” Moore said in an interview last year.

“When the pastor would say, ‘I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ’ … The response would be, ‘Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore’. That’s weak,” he continued. “When we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we’re in a crisis.”

One could argue successfully that the teachings of Christ have been ignored by Christians for centuries. Many wars have been fought in the name of Christ and in direct opposition to the word and spirit of the Gospels. But this is a different form of ethical hypocrisy. Increasingly, followers of evangelism see Christ as a weakling or spin biblical text to reimagine Christ as a Schwarzeneggerian figure, bandoleros slung over both shoulders, brandishing an AR-15, coming to a gay nightclub near you.

Cover of Victory Magazine showing Television evangelist Kenneth Copeland and his wife Gloria.

Humility, empathy and forgiveness do not sit comfortably with modern evangelism let alone prosperity theology which promotes the notion that God will bestow wealth on people of faith.

If Jesus had run the money lenders out of the temple in Jerusalem, as referred to in four Canonical Gospels, how do we reconcile the existence of jet-owning televangelists such as Kenneth Copeland with an estimated net worth of $450m? Copeland’s latest nonsense is that he has a “compact with God” to live until he is 120 years of age. The clock’s running on the 88-year-old charismatic preacher. Thirty-two more years of Kenneth Copeland? Thirty-two months maybe.

In June, the state of Louisiana made it law to display the Ten Commandments in all classrooms throughout the state. Other southern states – Tennessee and Kentucky to name but two – are headed down the same road.

Whether Christ embraced the entirety of the Ten Commandments is a matter for theological discussion but at the Last Supper, according to the Gospel of John, he added two.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and, “Love your neighbour as yourself”.

The two additions are not displayed in Louisiana’s classrooms.

Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentioned Jesus of Nazareth twice in the surviving manuscripts of his book, Antiquities of the Jews, written six decades after the death of Christ.

In the book, Jesus was referred to as the Messiah and “a wise teacher” who was baptised by John the Baptist and executed by crucifixion by order of the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Josephus was born a Jew and became a Roman citizen by choice. He was not given to flamboyant descriptions of Jesus or his followers.

Roman senator Tacitus referred to Jesus, his execution and the persecution of early Christians in his text, Annals, written in the first century AD. From there we must veer into the murky business of histology.

Robin Williams.

The prevailing historical view is that Jesus of Nazareth was a preacher who lived in Judea and promoted non-violent resistance against the oppressive yoke of Roman rule. Whether he was the son of God is a matter of faith but he most certainly did exist. His teachings have endured centuries, with the Sermon on the Mount an inspiration to Christians and non-Christians alike.

Mahatma Gandhi regarded the Sermon on the Mount as an expression of eternal wisdom. His biographer, Vincent Sheehan, wrote that the Gandhi “was so penetrated with the truth and beauty he felt in the verses of the Sermon that through years of effort he actually became something like a summation of the Beatitudes, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemaker. His reverence for Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount illuminated his long struggle and gave him strength for it”.

If a Christian rejects the teachings of Christ, are they Christians or have they veered off on to a politicised pathway that promotes the un-Christian beliefs of retribution and vengeance against perceived enemies?

For the last word, let’s leave to a philosopher of a kind, comedian Robin Williams. Doing a stand-up routine at the New York Met, Williams said: “It makes you think that Jesus Christ is gonna come back, but this time he’s not gonna look like Ted Nugent. Un-uh. He’s going to look like Charles Bronson and he’s gonna be goddamn pissed off. ‘I’m not a carpenter this time. “I’m a sheet-metal worker and don’t f..k with me, okay? The first man I wanna talk to is Kenneth Copeland. Get his ass down here’.”

Williams mentioned the late Jerry Falwell, not Copeland, in his routine in 1986 but horses for courses.