PROPHETIC VOICE - A corporate takeover is coming your way! (Part One)

In an article entitled "Corporate Christianity: As Big Business Cashes in on Christianity, Can They Serve God and Mammon?" in BIOLA University's Connections Magazine, managing editor Holly Pivec writes with concern concerning the increasing number of Christian business buyouts by secular enterprises.

So, what's the problem? Is there a problem? Why was it necessary to write this? Is the title a rhetorical question, requiring no answer; or is it an authentic inquiry, demanding an answer?

I believe it is the latter; I also believe the answer will be none to easy for the weakened church to understand, let alone accept!

For the secular world the temptation to share in an estimated $4.2 billion US Christian market is just too much to resist; for Christian retailers the additional resources and exposure is too good to be true.

But if we really believe what we teach -

• then we believe there is a real war going on, a war requiring the full armor of God [Ephesians 6:10-17]
• then we believe there is a world, a devil, and something called the flesh which are in opposition to God (and therefore in opposition to all believers)
• then we believe there is also something called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life (things the Apostle John told us would be passing away) [1 John 2:15-16]
• then we believe we should not be unequally yoked with non-believers (and not just in marriage) [2 Corinthians 6:14]
• then we believe we should submit to those in authority over us, no matter how oppressive or unjust [2 Peter 2:13-20] (what promise is there a secular authority will not turn on you?)
• then we believe we should render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s [Matthew 22:21]
• then we believe we should seek after the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first (and all the things the world seeks will be added unto us) [Matthew 6:33]

And there is much more, but why beat it to death?

It is my opinion we should not sell to Caesar that which is God’s. How can we sell what we once called "ministry," to one who has no vested interest in that ministry or any other?

If we truly believe "apart from me you can do nothing" [John 15:5] and "every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." [James 1:17]; then anything we do, especially that which is successful, we do by the permissive or providential will of God, not by the will or skill of man ... all that we have to possess is a grace-gift from Him.

Having spent over twenty years in the Silicon Valley in various management positions, my experiences there now make me fear for those Christian corporations who've sold their souls to the devil.

The same imported, top down business ethic and operational philosophy which has atrophied the mainline denominations (which were sold to the devil by apostate leaders) will eventually atrophy any Christian establishment sold into bondage to Caesar (by their founders and/or owners). Why? Because the system of rewards and expectations between Christian employers/retailers and employees/customers is ameliorated by the common indwelling of the Spirit of God and the Word which is in their mouths and near their hearts [Romans 10:8-10] ... an amelioration not present in a secular owner, director, manager or shareholder.

That ethic and philosophy seems only to work within the context of and under the direction of a secular worldview, where employees and customers expect a non-biblical business ethic and environment; Christian employees and customers are not so inclined ... though there is evidence they are becoming more and more so with the passage of time.

Consider this passage in Pivec's article; Stan Gundry, BIOLA grad and senior vice president/editor-in-chief of Zondervan, now part of HarperCollins, suggested ...

all Christian publishers are tempted to publish Christian “celebrities” simply because they’ll sell ... there are dozens of ways to rationalize such a decision. But Zondervan, he said, tries to only publish books that will make “positive contributions to the Kingdom."

Aside from the positive contribution, tell me how Christian firms will not be pressured to produce that which "sells" by secular owners? If "Christian publishers" are tempted to this end, how can we expect the unsaved to be tempted any less?

Stan Gundry may be one of the Zondervan leaders who has a vision for success under HarperCollins’ control but he is also the same Stan Gundry who signed on to the horrible, virtually heretical decision to publish the gender-neutral TNIV this past year. Can the TNIV really be called a positive contribution to the Knigdom? Worldly wisdom notwithstanding, there is a better wisdom. [James 3:13-18]

Continued in Part Two ... here!