"Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst."
–Reflections on the Psalms, CS Lewis
"This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people."
–The Case for Christianity, CS Lewis
We have had an eye-opening two weeks in Memphis, and after tomorrow's post we head back home where there are more interesting stories to report. Pastors, you can breathe a sigh of relief because we’re taking a reprieve from our church coverage — at least for one week.
We want to extend our sincerest thanks to all of you Elvis fans out there (which includes both of us) for indulging us as we “borrowed” some of the King’s song titles to use as our headings and included his tunes in our posts. Elvis Presley has truly been an inspiration to us! And for those of you who aren’t Elvis fans, thank you for putting up with us. We seriously doubt we will duplicate this effort because there doesn’t seem to be any other musical artist with such a huge range of songs from which to chose.
What’s the significance of today’s song title, you may wonder. Here it is… If Steve Gaines were to pick an Elvis song to dedicate to the Bellevue congregation, we absolutely believe this would be the one! The lyrics really seem to fit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyrQqmc5UT8
We were unfamiliar with Steve Gaines’ preaching style until we began our investigation of Bellevue. Now that we have taken the time to analyze some of his messages, we believe we have identified a significant concern. It appears to us that Gaines sometimes uses proof-texting in his sermons to influence the Bellevue congregation. For those who aren’t familiar with this term, here’s the description according to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prooftext
“Prooftexting is the practice of using decontextualised quotations from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition. Critics of the technique note that often the document, when read as a whole, may not in fact support the proposition.
Ministers and teachers have used the following humorous anecdote to demonstrate the dangers of prooftexting:
A man dissatisfied with his life decided to consult the Bible for guidance. Closing his eyes, he flipped the book open and pointed to a spot on the page. Opening his eyes, he read the verse under his finger. It read, "Then Judas went away and hanged himself" (Matthew 27:5b) Closing his eyes again, the man randomly selected another verse. This one read, "Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'" (Luke 10:37b)"
Let’s take a look at some clips from Steve Gaines’ sermons.
Pastor blames congregation for empty seats
Is Gaines telling his congregation that they are to speak in an “edifying” manner AT ALL TIMES? Here's the verse Pastor Steve is explaining:
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29 (NASB)
By emphasizing this verse so strongly, isn’t Gaines teaching the Bellevue congregation that to use words that are not edifying is unbiblical? Furthermore, is edification what Pastor Steve practices or is it just something that he preaches? Just for clarification, here's what "edification" means:
"intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment"
Now let’s take a look at Pastor Steve explaining Ephesians 4:26, which he had obviously covered prior to discussing Ephesians 4:29.
Here’s the verse taken from the New American Standard Bible:
“BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger.”
Wait a minute!!! How can one demonstrate holy anger and still be edifying in the way we believe Pastor Steve means — to only say "nice" things? There seems to be a contradiction here. Look at how close together these verses are in Chapter 4 of Ephesians. One comes three verses after the other. So which is it? Is only Gaines allowed to demonstrate holy anger against sin and not the members of Bellevue, including the anonymous bloggers?
By the way, Pastor Steve has just explained why The Wartburg Watch exists in his exegesis of Ephesians 4:26. What we are doing in this forum is fulfilling Scripture by pointing out sin in the body of Christ in an effort to bring much needed reproof.
Now let’s look at this entire Ephesians passage we are discussing:
“’Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:26-29 NKJV)
By isolating different verses in this passage of Scripture – either Ephesians 4:26 or Ephesians 4:29 – and focusing on “certain” words, Gaines seems to have changed their meaning based on what he is emphasizing. Clearly, Paul (who often demonstrated holy anger) did not mean that we are to demonstrate edification to the exclusion of anger against sin.
Both Dee and I believe that the word "edification" is being misinterpreted by many in Christendom. Look at the definition again — "intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment". Who said that kind of "improvement" or "enlightenment" ALWAYS has to be positive or complimentary? We consider this to be proof-texting, or taking Bible verses out of context.
As we have been analyzing Pastor Steve’s sermons, we have also discovered that he misapplies certain words to his advantage. Take the word “BLASPHEMY” for example. Here’s an excerpt from a sermon where we believe Gaines is wrongly defining and misusing this inflammatory word:
http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/lifestyle/watch/v18589676BtRWppgQ#
Approximately 10 years ago, Dee was leading a small group meeting. The topic was the healing of the lepers by Jesus. He sent the healed lepers to the priests to verify their healings. Around the same time, Benny Hinn was holding one of his dog and pony shows in the area. A local columnist for the Dallas Morning News challenged Benny to prove just one of his healings. I hailed this man's request in that meeting. Suddenly, one member of the group became incensed, saying I was blaspheming the Holy Spirit by asking for proof. Maintaining my composure, I suggested we move along and I would prove that she was wrong at out next gathering.
Providentially, my pastor, Pete Briscoe, preached on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit that next Sunday (Isn't God good?). I want our readers to answer the question Pete asked his congregation that morning. No peeking ahead! Here's Pete's question:
"Raise you hand if you fear you may have committed the unforgivable sin, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit"? (Have you answered for yourself?)
Well, Dee, along with most of the congregation raised her hand. He said, "Congratulations, your raised hand proves that you have not committed this sin!!!"
Pete went on to explain that it is those who have hardened their hearts totally against God who have committed the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees knew who Jesus was, they saw His miracles, and they listened to His preaching. After all of this, they concluded that He was possessed by Beelzebub — the devil (Mark 3:22). Pete also described the hardening Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh had miracle after miracle presented to him via the plagues, and each time he refused to set God's people free. These folks want nothing to do with this sort of God. They refused to see what was right in front of their noses.
Pete claimed that merely being concerned about blaspheming the Holy Spirit shows our soft hearts. We want to follow Jesus and we have a keen sense of our own failing. This should bring you comfort. Gaines is once again guilty of poor exegesis as well as placing undeserved fear and burdens on his congregation by his pontificating. What in the world are they teaching in SBC seminaries since the Conservative Resurgence began — how to beat your flock into blind submission? That certainly seems to be what Gaines is doing.
As Christian bloggers who are trying to follow Ephesians 4:26 and to some degree Ephesians 4:29, we are in disbelief that a prominent megapastor of one of the flagship churches in the SBC would stoop so low as to call those who are trying to straighten out the terrible mess in Christendom BLASPHEMERS!!! Shame on him!