https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/exile-ok/
The Gospel Coalition has run a recent article by Alistair
Begg that I notice is getting passed around and seems to be trending as they
say. Apparently many people find it to be helpful, an encouragement during our
present time. Begg says that we're just going to have to get used to living as strangers
and pilgrims. This is (we're told) a new development in American Christian
life, something that's only really come to bear in the last few years.
I always find it a bit rich when these pampered and worldly church
leaders and celebrity figures decide to deliver the 'hard message' and simply
because a Democratic president is in office – Christians had better be prepared for hard times.
Apparently when presidents like Trump and Bush are in office
then things are looking pretty good.
Some of us realised long ago that to be faithful Christians
we are called to live as strangers and pilgrims in all contexts and if the New
Testament is actually read and taken seriously and utilised as the sufficient
standard for Christian life – then stranger and pilgrim status is the natural normative
result.
The fact that leaders link Begg think that things are
suddenly turning bad indicates only just how compromised they are – how given
over to the world they are in their thinking. Spiritually speaking things are
just as bad (and sometimes worse) when Republican presidents are in office. The
Evangelical movement is quick to whore itself out to these Bestial agents and
great damage is done to the Church and its testimony as it sanctions and
sanctifies their evils. And when their political faction is out of power, the
agents of their political movement have proven very successful at getting
everyone whipped up into a frenzy. It's the same kind of fearmongering that
made figures like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck fabulously wealthy.
If Begg is to be commended about anything it's that he
realizes (perhaps) that the cultural moment is becoming dangerous and there are
many professed Christians that are beginning to flirt with extremism – not the
spiritual extremism we're called to in the New Testament, but political,
worldly and thus violent extremism in the pursuit of the misguided culture war.
This will lead to the downfall of their movement.
Christians who take New Testament ethics seriously realised
long ago that to be faithful we must eschew the mainstream institutions of
society as they are given over to usury, exploitation, deceit, violence, and in
all cases – mammon. Living and strangers and pilgrims is a veritable call to
live as second class citizens, even
as subjects. It's not an appealing message to the lost and in fact just as the
Scriptures indicate, the world will reckon it to be foolishness. They won't
understand the idea that we are citizens of a heavenly Kingdom and that's where
our hearts and our treasures are to be found. Begg doesn't understand it either
– despite what he claims.
Like so many other Christian leaders, Begg has ignored the
New Testament teaching about mammon. A true stranger and pilgrim lifestyle (which
he clearly has rejected) will mean disenfranchisement. You will not build a
powerful political machine and you certainly won't build a mega-church
organisation.
But Begg would probably argue that he's not terribly caught
up in politics. I have (through gritted teeth) listened to enough of his
sermons to know that he's not overtly political but the undertones and messages
are there. He's fully given to the dominionist cause – even if it's not his
hobbyhorse.*
He professes to be an adherent of historic Sola Scriptura Protestantism and of the
Calvinist school and yet it's very clear his entire conception of ecclesiology
and the Christian life is divorced from this. Like so many others he claims
Scripture Alone while denying its Sufficiency and as such his claims are empty.
Fully committed to modern counseling models and the embrace of
Evangelical-style feminism, his ecclesiology represents a full-blown rejection
of New Testament norms. He's hardly alone in this.
For Begg, the New Testament is just a starting point and thus
he's no different than someone like a High Churchman. At least they don't
pretend that what they're doing has a basis in the Bible. They appeal to
tradition and if that's the standard, they have some ground to stand on. Begg
for his part runs his Parkside church like the multi-million organisation that
it is. He's got officers running a myriad of ministries and groups, business
managers, administrative officials, even an accountant on staff. They've got
people handling media, IT duties and staff running the on-site book store and
cafe. It's more like a shopping mall/consumer paradise than anything remotely
connected to the New Testament Church. And indeed, it's patterned off the consumerist
market-driven culture that Parkside affirms and has immersed itself in.
The elders are fully plugged in to the established order – a
former military dentist, financial advisors, people in the legal field,
corporate officers, and insurance salesmen. They represent the baptising of the
ethos and values of the upper middle class they're part of. Strangers and
pilgrims they are not.
Begg is running a $15 million dollar a year organisation
(give or take) and that's just the numbers from 2017. It's probably gone up
since then.
His church salary is a secret. The only way to find that out
would be if someone from within the church leaked it but given its size (5000+)
it's safe to assume he's making at least $200,000 and probably more – a lot
more when you consider all the perks that go with it. His misnamed 'Truth for
Life' radio show pays him an additional $260,000 a year. And for what? He gives
a 2-3 minute intro and conclusion. What's the content of the show? Well, his
sermons of course, the one's he's already been paid for at about $4,000 a piece
if you do the math (based on a $200k salary). Sure, he has other duties but
given the size of his staff they're limited. And anyone who pays attention
knows he (like so many celebrity pastor-types) spends a great deal of time
traveling to conferences and the like, occasions in which thousands more are made
and funds and donations are raised.
So in some respects his radio 'ministry' is almost like
double-dipping as he's getting paid again for teaching work he's already done
and been amply paid for. It's the model many radio preachers have come to
utilise. We'll leave aside for the moment the propriety of men making hundreds
of thousands a year off the gospel message. That's hardly 'living' off the
gospel is it? It's certainly something far beyond what Paul had in mind.
And don't forget the radio show is also a primary vehicle for
something else – the sale of his books and I'm sure the royalties are
considerable, another case of 'cashing in' at the expense of the people of God.
The 'truth' about Begg is this – he's a multi-millionaire.
He's far more the entrepreneur than he is a pastor or shepherd. He's running a
business and a fairly impressive one at that.
Perusing Truth for Life's
IRS Form 990, there are other little hints and nuggets to be found, like for
example the fact that his wife was paid (as an independent contractor) $100,000
for redecorating the office. Again, leaving aside the propriety (and frankly
obscenity) of the very notion of 'ministry offices' and them be decorated in
high fashion – we must ask, oh, is this something she does for a living,
something she has some kind of special skill at? Maybe so, but I cannot find
any evidence of Susan Begg running a decorating business in the greater
Cleveland area.
I believe this to be yet another ministry perk, an accounting
trick, one of a myriad of such that are used by these ministries and indeed
many other non-profit organisations. Again, Begg is not unique. MacArthur,
Sproul and many others have engaged in similar deceit and corruption.
There are a couple of addresses associated with Begg and all
the houses look impressive. The current one is the most impressive of all, a
veritable mini-mansion located in one of the more exclusive suburbs. And yet,
there's always something grander to be found and thus if you compare yourself
to others around you (as opposed to the New Testament) you can always find
justification for your wealth, lifestyle, and the grandiosity of your home. And
yet he has the audacity to speak of the Church needing to understand that we're
not to be respected in society and we're not to make our home here? Who is he
kidding? These are true statements but everything he is and pursues repudiates
the notion that he holds to such views or even takes them seriously.
Finally, we should also point out that Truth for Life lists
over 1.2 million dollars in publically traded securities. In other words the
'ministry' rakes in so much money they don't know what to do with it and so
they invest it.
And they're not alone. It's one of the greatest dirty secrets
of American Christianity. The American Church is dominated by money-changers
and usurers. Ministries and denominations are in many cases heavily invested in
Wall Street – the very vehicle that drives the avaricious and destructive US
economy. And so, when corporations cut jobs and stock prices go up – they're
cashing in. Towns are destroyed, jobs are lost, families are broken, and these people
profit off that – including these denominations, para-church ministries and the
wolves in sheep's clothing that run them.
When corporations steal land and drive people out of their
villages in the developing world – they're cashing in. When banks squeeze poor
countries and people suffer as a result – they're cashing in. When Wall Street
interests drive the CIA to manipulate international politics – they're cashing
in. When the same interests motivate the Pentagon to sell weapons to other
nations, fuel conflict or ultimately engage in it – they're cashing in.
And they berate the poor for not working hard enough, even
while they through usury, and sleight-of-hand economic alchemy fill their
coffers without lifting a finger – building their wealth on the sweat of
others, through no work of their own, and by means of Wall Street machinations
which manipulate the prices of stocks.
The Whore-Beast imagery of Revelation couldn't be any more
poignant. Throughout the Old Testament the unfaithful people of God, the
covenant breakers, those who swear falsely by God's name, those who join house
to house, those who step on, trample, and exploit the poor, those who are part of
evil plots but think no one sees – these people are constantly referred to as spiritual
harlots and whores. They have been unfaithful covenant breakers and have
committed spiritual fornication giving themselves over to idols and idolatry.
With Jehovah's name on their lips, they join with the Beast. It's the story of
Church history since the days of Constantine. The Magisterial Reformation did
nothing to change that. Post-war Evangelicalism merely re-established and
re-invigorated the relationship.
There is a real danger at present. Because there are so many
truly egregious teachers out there, because there are so many over-the-top
charlatans out on the airwaves, there are many terrible and compromised
teachers who get a pass – a pass they don't deserve. While Begg may be more
sound than some, I have never been able to stand listening to him. His sermons
are often half-comedy and filled with borderline sacrilege. His church model
and notions of worship and the Christian life have nothing to do with the New
Testament. It all reeks of the world. I don't care if he pals around with
'solid Calvinists' or has connections with Banner of Truth. If anything the
fact that the Banner associates with the likes of him – it only shows their
organisation in undergoing a shift and is succumbing to the pressures and
temptations of the New Calvinism of which Begg is certainly a part.
I'm also continually baffled that someone like Begg is able
to gain such a following. It seems a cruel thing to say but I believe it's
true. There are many like Begg, Ken Ham, along with figures like Michael
Youseff, that really are not especially profound or gifted – but to the
American ear they are exotic and thus they are able to possess a certain kind
of appeal. And it seems that many such church leaders who come to the United
States are either affected by its culture or came specifically as
entrepreneurs. And businessmen they are. There's no doubt about that.
Let's be candid – if Ham was running his 'ministry' in
Australia he wouldn't be the millionaire he is today. If Begg were still in
Scotland he'd probably be pastoring a congregation of 200, not his current
5,000+.
The idea that someone like Begg, an acculturated,
accommodationist, worldling is going to provide comfort for strangers and
pilgrims is offensive and disingenuous.
The idea that he's going to write a book (patterned after
Daniel in Babylonian exile) about living Biblically and faithfully is to blunt
somewhat obscene. He hasn't done so. He's one of the compromised who has sold
out to Babylon and cashed in on its riches. How dare he speak of Christians
having to choose between obedience and comfort? Has he even toyed with the
idea? He's exactly the type of false shepherd the New Testament warns us about.
I don't worry about the TBN crowd. I'm sorry but the people
chasing after Benny Hinn and those like him are lost. They've not understood even
the basic messages of the New Testament. People need to be warned but anyone
reading the Bible will not be taken in by these people – even for a moment.
But there's another type of false teacher and one far more
dangerous, one that can make serious inroads into the viable spheres of the
Church and can poison and corrupt the minds of those who do take the faith
seriously. Their teaching is also polluted and its most glaring examples are
found in the realms of ecclesiology and ethics – which really touches on basic
questions not only in terms of prolegomena (the starting point of theological
discussion dealing with questions of authority) but in what the Christian life
is. In other words they build on false foundations and as expected produce
twisted results.
Sometimes their messages can seem sound – especially at first
glance. There's nothing inherently wrong with Begg has written about the
Christian call to be strangers and pilgrims, but when you peel back a layer,
read closer, and understand who he is what he represents – only then is the
deceitful nature of what he's saying become clear. It's a testimony to
compromise, erroneous doctrine, and mere lip service to New Testament ethics
and the Christian calling.
The Gospel Coalition is an organisation committed to
Christians seeking and retaining cultural power and as such it dovetails nicely
with the kind of Christianity being advocated by the likes of Begg. It is fully
appropriate that his writings are published on the site. It is a hub of worldly
wisdom and Scriptural compromise.
----
*And yet his read of Daniel is fully in line with standard
Constantinian (politicised Christianity) readings. Rather than understand the
Daniel 2 imagery of the rock smashing the beast powers as eschatological, he
sees the 'victory' as taking place in the course of history and with the rise
of Christendom – something akin to either Postmillennialism or Historicism.
That's a doctrine of the Kingdom fully at odds with the New Testament and its
notion of a Kingdom that is heavenly and unseen and uncomprehended by the lost
and blind of this present evil age.
A more correct reading demands the imagery to be understood
in terms of the stone cut out from the mountain without hands as being
connected to the First Advent and the smashing of the Bestial idol finding its
only true fulfillment in the Second. The Already-Not Yet Kingdom dynamic (which
helps to explain how the one event of the Messianic coming is temporally
divided) will not allow for the pseudo-Kingdom construct and sham 'victory'
identified with Constantinian Christendom – the very thing on which Begg rests
his argument.
The imagery also represents a case of Prophetic Perspective,
a common enough occurrence in Old Testament prophecy in which elements of the
First and Second Advent (and often typological apocalyptic events under the Old
Covenant) are all blended in the imagery of the vision – all pointing to Christ
and the Day of the Lord.
See also:
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/07/some-reflections-on-death-of-ji-packer.html