Shut Up Pat, And Preach The Gospel
Three days ago, Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on the "700 Club". The truth is, I am not certain I disagree with what Robertson said. Hugo Chavez is an evil man. He is an avid communist. He is best friends with Fidel Castro. He is supposedly helping terrorists around the world. If Hugo Chavez stays in power; at best we have another Cuba, and at worse we have another Saddam Hussein.
When you look at the situation; it makes since to see Chavez gone. The way things are going, we will have to one day have to deal with Chavez. Would it not be easier to pay for his assassination, than it would be to pay for another war? This is the question that Pat Robertson tried to answer. I think it is a good question. I think it is one that foreign policy experts should discuss on CNN and Fox News. I am almost certain that there are people in the Defense Department that have brought this question to the table. Nevertheless, I must say, "Shut up Pat, and preach the Gospel."
As a conservative Evangelical, and a strong believer in capitalism, I have a lot of respect for what Pat Robertson has done. He became the leader of a small television program and took it to nationwide success. He has motivated millions of people to think about morality when they vote. As the founder of the Christian Coalition, he has supported many Christian candidates and principles to victory at the ballot box. I respect men with this much drive and ability. Pat Robertson is not an idiot. However, lately he has done a lot of damage to the church, and I think he needs to rethink his purpose.
My biggest beef with Pat Robertson is theological. Pat holds on to charismatic teachings that I find completely unBiblical. I find his healing prayers vile, and some of his other antics deplorable. I cannot find one place in the Bible where God told a Prophet, "someone out there is going to be healed of liver cancer. I don't know who it is, but it is happening." Yet, this is exactly what Robertson does on his show. His entire concept of a "Word of Knowledge" is wrong, and if Robertson was receiving "words of knowledge" from God; I would hope that God would be more clear. (On a side note, if you believe that God is giving words of knowledge or specific revelation, then you do not believe that the Bible is God's final revelation. You need to write all these different revelations down and put them in your Bible. For if God is truly speaking to Pat Robertson, then it has the same authority and truth as John 3:16.)
Pat Robertson's call for Hugo Chavez's assassination does nothing but harm for the conservative evangelical movement. It teaches our society that evangelicals are concerned more about a political agenda than they are about a spiritual agenda. I do not think the death or life of Hugo Chavez is going to have a great affect on the Kingdom of God. However, it does have a great affect on the future politics of the United States. So I must ask the question, "Which is more important to Pat Robertson: The Kingdom of God or American Foreign Policy?"
I am certain that Robertson's response to me would be the Kingdom of God, but he has every right to have an opinion on U.S. foreign policy. He is right, I have an opinion myself on the topic. However, I believe that Pat's statements do more harm to the Kingdom than they help U.S. policy makers.
What Pat Robertson fails to understand is that already this week, I have had a lost person mention what he said, and looked to me for a defense of it. His statements were on every major news cast. His statements were all over the internet. I believe that in all this hysteria, the message of Jesus and his love are lost. I thought this was the original purpose of the "700 Club". I would like to see it become Pat Robertson's purpose once again.
When you look at the situation; it makes since to see Chavez gone. The way things are going, we will have to one day have to deal with Chavez. Would it not be easier to pay for his assassination, than it would be to pay for another war? This is the question that Pat Robertson tried to answer. I think it is a good question. I think it is one that foreign policy experts should discuss on CNN and Fox News. I am almost certain that there are people in the Defense Department that have brought this question to the table. Nevertheless, I must say, "Shut up Pat, and preach the Gospel."
As a conservative Evangelical, and a strong believer in capitalism, I have a lot of respect for what Pat Robertson has done. He became the leader of a small television program and took it to nationwide success. He has motivated millions of people to think about morality when they vote. As the founder of the Christian Coalition, he has supported many Christian candidates and principles to victory at the ballot box. I respect men with this much drive and ability. Pat Robertson is not an idiot. However, lately he has done a lot of damage to the church, and I think he needs to rethink his purpose.
My biggest beef with Pat Robertson is theological. Pat holds on to charismatic teachings that I find completely unBiblical. I find his healing prayers vile, and some of his other antics deplorable. I cannot find one place in the Bible where God told a Prophet, "someone out there is going to be healed of liver cancer. I don't know who it is, but it is happening." Yet, this is exactly what Robertson does on his show. His entire concept of a "Word of Knowledge" is wrong, and if Robertson was receiving "words of knowledge" from God; I would hope that God would be more clear. (On a side note, if you believe that God is giving words of knowledge or specific revelation, then you do not believe that the Bible is God's final revelation. You need to write all these different revelations down and put them in your Bible. For if God is truly speaking to Pat Robertson, then it has the same authority and truth as John 3:16.)
Pat Robertson's call for Hugo Chavez's assassination does nothing but harm for the conservative evangelical movement. It teaches our society that evangelicals are concerned more about a political agenda than they are about a spiritual agenda. I do not think the death or life of Hugo Chavez is going to have a great affect on the Kingdom of God. However, it does have a great affect on the future politics of the United States. So I must ask the question, "Which is more important to Pat Robertson: The Kingdom of God or American Foreign Policy?"
I am certain that Robertson's response to me would be the Kingdom of God, but he has every right to have an opinion on U.S. foreign policy. He is right, I have an opinion myself on the topic. However, I believe that Pat's statements do more harm to the Kingdom than they help U.S. policy makers.
What Pat Robertson fails to understand is that already this week, I have had a lost person mention what he said, and looked to me for a defense of it. His statements were on every major news cast. His statements were all over the internet. I believe that in all this hysteria, the message of Jesus and his love are lost. I thought this was the original purpose of the "700 Club". I would like to see it become Pat Robertson's purpose once again.
posted by Foundes Community Church @ 6:19 AM
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