YOU BET I DO!
If you recall Parts I and II a mental ghetto is a place where folks stay uninformed because it's easier to stay stupid than to put in the mental work to study. As long as no one in the ghetto becomes informed, then the rest are happy. They haven't been shown up. And some outside the ghetto actually are ecstatic that Evangelicals stay uninformed because they get power and money on the backs of the folks in the ghetto.
BAUBLES AND BIBLES.
Recently, ads have appeared on television for the "Prayer Cross". It's actually sold as a "spiritual accessory" here. Like the TV ad, the website has a narration. Music starts and the deep-voiced representative says, "'Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name...' These words begin one of the most important prayers in all of Christianity. And now this very special prayer can always be kept close to your heart with the Prayer Cross from the Montibello Collections. This one of a kind cross features a secret center stone which, when held up to the light, reveals the entire Lord's Prayer, right before your eyes. Watch as people gaze in amazement as they experience the magic of the Prayer Cross for the first time. Each Prayer Cross is hand crafted, using genuine Austrian crystal and solid sterling silver, creating not only a magnificent piece of jewelry, but a one of a kind spiritual accessory. When held up to the light, the entire Lord's Prayer becomes instantly and almost miraculously visible..."
Stop rubbing your eyes; you saw right. "Spiritual accessory".
Now lest you think the Prayer Cross is a fake--don't worry. Each one comes with a certificate of authenticity, certifying, I suppose, that the folks selling it to you certify it.
Yee haw.
"Austrian crystal" is nothing more than a particular type of Rhinestone, but some of the suckers listening don't know that. And that's what counts.
Few who read this would fall for such a pitch, but the truth is some ME institutions count on you not knowing all sorts of things. Think I'm kidding? Did you know that Wheaton College, a citadel of orthodox Evangelicalism for decades, recently had a number of pro-homosexuality speakers. I'll save that for Part IV on Wednesday, though. And don't worry. I'll provide documentation, too.
Back to the more mundane, though. When was the last time you took wifey and the munchkins down to the local "Christian" book store for Bibles, baubles, and bunches of really cool t-shirts that will be a "witness"? (Are there laws against spiritual child-abuse?) Thanks to all the LIPS (liars in pulpits) most think there is such a thing as life-style evangelism which actually saves folks without us having to actually say the gospel and get laughed at as though we were some sort of stinking fundamentalist scum. So, we get our favorite rap or rock "Christian" group on a t-shirt and that means we're active in Evangelism. Never mind the fact that we only wear it to church. And only to youth group. And Dad gets a chrome-covered plastic fish, peels the protective paper off the stickum, puts it on the back of the car, careful to place it high enough on the back so the pastor notices and low enough so the neighbors don't.
PROPHETS OR PROFITS?
In Part II, I discussed some of the money tossed around in Corporate Christianity, especially the religious publishing world. There are hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Selling lots and lots of books is success. Selling true books is optional. Something I didn't realize until recently, is that many of the books in your corner religious book store aren't even written by the authors the publishers claim they are. Ghostwriters are common in religious publishing. (1)
So what does this have to do with the Mental Ghetto? It's a demonstration that the ignorance of just one biblical doctrine can be exploited by the ghetto enablers. In this case the forgotten doctrine is the sufficiency of Scripture. According to the apostle Paul, the Bible is all that's needed for the Christian life to be lived and taught to others. II Timothy 3:16-17. We've forgotten that, though. And now many religionists feel they must read the latest book from the religious publishers to stay hip--cutting edge. As a result there is a demand for new books from the biggest names in the ME world. But they're all busy doing conferences, speaking, and writing other books as well. So that the publishers can publish more and so the big names can make money without much work, no-name writers are hired and folks like D. James Kennedy, Billy Graham, and Gary Smalley put their names on them. (1) That's right, if you go and buy a book at the store by Billy Graham, it may be a complete lie, written by someone who may or may not have had some good ideas, but didn't have the name to sell. If you knew a book was written by it's real author, you may have passed on it, but it said it was written by a celebrity and you thought you were reading Billy Graham.
Like that?
This is such a plague one can actually google "Christian ghostwriters" and get folks selling their services. (I wonder if they have a red light in their window at night.) One religious ghostwriter actually advertizes that she has a degree in spiritual formation from Wheaton College. Yes, she has an education in new age spiritualism from a known ME institution and is willing to be paid to lie on a national scale, in print. (2) Last year a ghostwriter was honored as the Holy Ghostwriter" by Christianity Today. (3) This seems to be the state of "Christianity" today.
At least the ME version.
In Christ,
Phil Perkins.
(1) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_30_16/ai_64426330
(2) http://www.inspirationalghostwriting.com/ghostwriters.htm
(3) http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2007/003/6.14.html
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment