But it's no joke when we say, "Take Glenn Beck, please!" Why do we say that and what do we mean? We see Bible-believing Christians rallying around Glenn Beck because of his politics. But before we get to the Bible and its statements on that subject, let's look at the man himself.
"As a prerequisite for his second marriage, his wife-to-be insisted that they find a church they could attend as a family, and so they embarked on a church [I use the word advisedly] tour. That landed them at the Church [I use the word advisedly] of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Beck gets teary when he talks about his baptism and how joining the church turned his life and his career around, and it’s clearly a huge part of his life.
'I do what I do because of my faith. I say the things I do. . . because of my faith. Because of my faith I am not afraid. It’s why I do have hope.'"He claims he didn’t talk about his faith on his shows for a long time, and still doesn’t talk about it much, because he’s not the model Mormon. But when it comes down to it, he talks about it quite a bit.
"In at least one segment on his Fox News show, he attempted to prove the Book of Mormon true through scientific evidence. And in the lead-up to the 2012 presidential election, he spent an episode on his online video show dispelling common Mormon myths and attempting to show that his faith–and that of the Republican nominee and Mormon Mitt Romney–was just as normal and mainstream as any other common sect of Christianity." (Caitlyn Frye)
Sandra Tanner, who left the Latter Day Saints and became a Christian and is the great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young, the second prophet [I use the word advisedly] of the Mormon Church, said, "In June of 1998, Gordon B. Hinckley, who was the president of the church at that time, said, 'The traditional Christ of whom they, meaning the Christians, speak, is not the Christ of whom I speak.'
"Now, why isn’t it the same Christ? Because the Christ of the Bible has eternally been God. He’s never been less than He is today. And yet Jesus of Mormonism is one of a whole string of gods. His father, Heavenly Father, had to earn the right to become a God; Jesus had to earn the right to become a God; Jesus in Mormonism has not always been God. This is something he achieved. It is the goal of every Mormon man to someday achieve godhood the same as Jesus did, the same as Jesus’ father did."
Therefore Mormonism is not Christianity; it is opposed to Christianity's fundamental doctrine of who Jesus is and what He did. Yet, in April 2014, Liberty University invited Mormon Glenn Beck to preach to its students at its compulsory convocation, handing out $10 fines to residential students who didn’t have a good reason for not attending. (During his speech to the students, he talked about his and their joint reverence for the "Scriptures." Notice that he said, "the Scriptures," plural," a statement that most would think, "He's talking about the Bible." But he wasn't because by "the Scriptures," he meant the Bible AND the Book of Mormon, AND the Doctrine and Covenants, AND the Pearl of Great Price. No wonder he used the plural. But that's being deceptive because Christianity's definition of "the Scriptures" differs from his definition.)
Let's take another example of Bible-believing Christians rallying around various national heroes because of their political philosophy, i. e. the consequentialist. A consequentialist "believes that what matters is not the truth or falsehood of Christianity but the consequences of Christian belief — that those consequences will make people happier, make them better citizens, making them more likely to lead moral lives, making for happier families, etc." (Definition from Kevin Williamson)
One of the problems with the consequentialist view is that what they're advocating, according to their logic, is to believe a lie so you can be a better person, a better citizen, and so you can vote like they do. But that's neither internally consistent nor sustainable.
What's needed is the biblical perspective. To have that, we ask the question, "What does the Bible say is our first priority, the most important information there is? We don't have to look very hard to find the answer. It's in I Corinthians 15: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, . . ."
Paul also instructs us that anyone who does not declare the good news he preached is to be considered "anathema." Instead, we find Bible-believing Christians allying themselves about whom Christ said, "He that is not with Me is against Me."
Paul says, "he [the one preaching a different gospel is to be accursed." As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" To give such ones a platform on which to speak, to give such ones a standing ovation, to punish those who refuse to listen is to marginalize the importance of the gospel. (Cf. Titus 1: "For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach . . ." Such a one isn't to be rallied around, supported, nor given a platform in our churches.
Dr. J. B. Hixson put it this way during an interview with "The Berean Call:" "We need to ask ourselves, 'Is this person really promoting the good news about Jesus Christ and how a person can have eternal life or are they undermining the gospel?' And one of the biggest problems with working together and sort of—you know, ecumenical movements, or working together for the well-being of all is that it marginalizes what really matters the most.
Dr. Hixson went on to say, "I can give an example: people will say, 'This guy is great—he’s written a great book about how to manage your money,' or, 'He’s written a great, fantastic book about marriage,' or, 'This guy’s written a great book about how to have your best life now,' but they’re wrong when it comes to the gospel."
"They’re wrong when it comes to what matters most. People have been conditioned to compartmentalize and say, 'Oh, well, that doesn’t matter. This is still really good stuff.' But I go back to what Paul said in Galatians 1, 'If you’re not preaching the right gospel, you’re anathema!'
"Anathema – literally, 'comes under strict judgment.' We need to be honest when we talk about these people that are promoting so-called good causes but they’re wrong on the gospel, I think we should say, 'Hey, I’ve got a great book to recommend for you. This guy has a lot to say about how to have your best life now. The Bible calls him ‘anathema,’ but other than that, he’s pretty good!' It just doesn’t make sense."
The question is, what is to be our first priority, political philosophy to the point it becomes our religion or the gospel? The answer is in I Corinthians 15.
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