J Lee Grady

J Lee Grady, the editor of Charisma Magazine, has written again about the Senator Grassley televangelist investigation in the February edition of Charisma. Grady writes several comments on the editorial page and among them he suggests to everyone involved in this debate “Let’s cool off”. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that Grady has helped start a war that now cannot be stopped. And, perhaps, Grady has helped start a war that he thought he could simply sit back and watch others fight.

Grady also gives a glowing resume of the spiritual pedigree of Senator Grassley and his spiritual upbringing as a Baptist growing up in the mid-West. Grady goes on to say that Senator Grassley is not the anti-Christ. Granted, the Senator is not the anti-Christ. But, this does not mean that the Senator is exempt from harboring theological disagreements with other Christians, and, that those same theological disagreements might be influencing his approach to this investigation. I know, having grown up in southern West Virginia, that there are some Baptists who are rabidly anti-Pentecostal. How many times have I heard Baptist ministers preach that “Speaking In Tongues is of the Devil”.

That’s right, it’s time for some straight talk. No longer can Christians be neutral on these types of issues. Furthermore, if an automobile is in “neutral” then guess what, it isn’t going anywhere, and, it cannot take anyone anywhere!

More straight talk. The first and most glaring short-coming of Grady’s analysis is
that he reasons from the framework of the false premise that the U.S. Government is church friendly. Secondly, in perceiving that the U.S. Government is church friendly, Grady goes on to complicate his premise in that he implies we can all assume that the U.S. Government will always be church friendly. Both positions are naïve.

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J. Lee Grady

J. Lee Grady, the Editor of Charisma Magazine, just sent out his list of who he perceives to be the Top Newsmakers in the Christian world for the year 2007. It is noted that Senator Charles Grassley is number 12 on the list. Grady is sold on the idea of unleashing the government against the “abusive Televangelists”. This I’m afraid, will prove to be a grave miscalculation on Grady’s part.

I have viewed a couple of interview clips on Youtube that show the Senator being asked questions about the investigation. The Senator states that he is responding to the requests of “very interested third parties”. The Senator goes on to give examples of what he considers abuse by certain ministers in the form of “owning and driving Rolls Royce Bentleys” and having a “$28,000 toilet”.

However, the most alarming part of the interview is when the interviewer asks the Senator if the FCC is going to get involved. The Senator innocently goes on to say the he is not involved with the FCC part of it but, if the FCC chooses to get involved in the investigation, then that is their business. This is very alarming because the FCC is the very agency that has the authority to “pull the plug” on a ministry. Christians had better wake up to what is transpiring in this investigation.

The Senator goes on to state in the interview that he believes in accountability of ministries. He implies that it is his responsibility to “see what is going on” with the six televangelists. He then goes on to say that this investigation is not evolving out of any doctrinal differences he has with the televangelists. Then he says that he believes that Jews and Muslims would also expect the same accountability of their leaders.

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Rolls Royce

Recently, I was at London’s Heathrow Airport waiting with a group from my church to catch a flight to Entebbe. We had a several hour layover. After my fourth or fifth trip walking around the terminal, I stopped by to view a Ferrari that was on the floor for display. There were a couple of young men selling raffle tickets for this car. So, being bored and tired of walking, I began asking a few basic questions to satisfy my curiosity. I asked how many horsepower the motor had and what would be the price of the car in American dollars. The price of the car was $230, 000, and I learned that the engine in this particular model had 430 horsepower. I stood there, only able to imagine what it would be like to drive such a car, even one time. Oh, by the way, I did NOT buy a raffle ticket.

So, what would Jesus drive? Or, in this case, ride? This question was recently asked by the interviewers on a recent CNN news show who were interviewing Pastor Creflo Dollar. Pastor Dollar was being interviewed as part of the ongoing coverage and unfolding story about the investigation by U.S. Senator Charles Grassley’s office of Pastor Dollar and several other prominent TV Evangelists.

So, if Jesus were to appear today, in person, what type of car would he choose to ride in? Or, as the Senator suggests, maybe Jesus would still prefer to use a donkey as His mode of transportation. This question is not as easy as one may think. And, this question has far greater theological implications than meets the eye.

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We know the story of Pandora’s Box and the evil that Pandora unleashes upon the world and her unsuccessful attempt to stop what she had started. One cannot help but make the same comparison with the drama we see unfolding in the U.S. Senate. U.S Senator Charles Grassley has taken it upon himself to “investigate” several prominent Pentecostal ministries. Note that I said “Pentecostal”, the significance of which will become more distinct as we go.

As a pastor of Pentecostal persuasion, I am very interested, even concerned, about what is going on with this investigation. I was recently in Africa and that is where I first heard the news of the investigation. My point is, there are far more than just a few “disgruntled Americans” who are watching this investigation. A point that the Senator would do well to recognize.

By the way, I see that the Senator has been quoted as saying that he too, is a Christian. I am curious as to what denomination or church the Senator belongs? This question may sound like a non-issue to the casual observer, but in this investigation, it means everything. For you see, the ministries that have been targeted by this investigation are Pentecostal or, as some say Charismatic. By definition, Pentecostals and Charismatics believe in things like The Baptism in The Holy Spirit, Speaking In Tongues, the Gifts of The Spirit, Healing, Prophecy etc. Needless-to-say, these doctrinal issues are of major debate among denominations and groups within Christianity. Thus the question, what is the Senator’s theological frame of reference?

One can only imagine the outcry if ministries of non-Christian religions had been targeted by this investigation. On that note, why are not some of them included? I mean, what ever happened to the “stratified random sample”? Or, is this investigation to be interpreted as a “Pentecostal Only shake-down”? It is one thing to have a theological disagreement with another Christian, another denomination, another church, or another religion, but, it is an entirely different matter to open up a governmental inquiry into the activities of those you disagree with.

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