Paul's Passing Thoughts

“This is a classic case of not having a thorough understanding of what you are following.”     

The first clue that there may be authoritarian issues at Harvest Bible Chapel is the logo for James MacDonald’s Vertical Church project and book. It is the military insignia for the rank of Sergeant with a steeple on top. The next level up in authority is First Sergeant and Master Sergeant. I asked a few folks here at the Potter’s House what this logo brings to mind when you first look at it. Without any coaching, and like my first thought, the answer was, “military.”

At some point in James MacDonald’s ministry, he converted to New Calvinism which is a return to authentic Geneva style Calvinism. This is a doctrine that teaches the absolute authority of the elders. Calvin referred to this as the “power of the keys.” Whatever the elders bind on earth, heaven will confirm it. If they “declare” you an unbeliever, you ARE an unbeliever—heaven will honor the judgment of the elders.

This is why this stripe of elder, no pun intended, is expected to be feared in circles like Harvest Bible Chapel—they can literally have you blotted out of the book of life. If you doubt this is the mentality of MacDonald and his core elders, you are naive.

They play by their own rules totally, and they at least function like their authority supersedes a literal interpretation of the Bible. All, let me repeat that, “all” New Calvinists function like that. Examples can be found wherever you point a stick. Just one example is the dissenting elders at Harvest who were disciplined. Whether or not these former elders were still members is beside the point, New Calvinist elders routinely declare people unregenerate who are not even members of their church.

But their process for disciplining these elders, protocol for New Calvinist “redemptive church discipline,” does not follow Scripture. Clearly, the matter is to be brought before the church for consideration, and if the church agrees that there has been an offence, and the offender or offenders will not “hear the church,” only then are they to be “treated like” unbelievers, not declared such. New Calvinist elders believe they have the authority to “declare” people as unbelievers.

In the case of the Harvest elders, the matter was not taken to the congregation. The congregation was informed of the elder judgment, and instructed not to associate with the former elders of Harvest. Now, many would argue in regard to the feasibility of sharing matters of dispute with a congregation of thousands. Is this to say that Christ didn’tk foresee congregations of thousands? Or is this to say that congregations of thousands are not the New Testament model? And if small groups are so important to mega churches, why not just have the small groups and be done with it? By the way, in geographies that don’t have American-like money, clusters of home fellowships that cooperate with each other are the norm. The institutional church only exists in geographies that thrive monetarily.

Also, in New Testament-like home fellowships (where sharing a matter of dispute with the whole group would be no problem at all), fellowship is the issue, not authority. Overseers lead by example and exhort the people from Scripture, and fellowship is based on likeminded agreement concerning the one mind of Christ. Unity is predicated on the authority of Scripture, not men.

These are thoughts to consider, but yes, aside from foul doctrine, the very way Harvest is organized as an institution will invariably arrive at the current circumstances. It also leads to a blind following unable to see disaster coming. Harvest is presently made up of seven campuses located, for the most part, in upper income areas around Chicago. Again, institutional churches can only operate in that venue. But note, all of the formal preaching is telecasted from one campus to all the other campuses, and is delivered by James MacDonald himself. In other words, this massive ministry is predicated on one man! Who doesn’t see disaster coming in that scenario? This builds a ministry on a personality brand-name resulting in all kinds of politics surrounding efforts  to protect the institution. “Hey, are we going to let the whole institution fall just because the guy isn’t perfect?” The answer to that question is most likely, “no.”

But let’s talk about the blindness issue, and unbiblical authority leading to people turning their brains off. Several churches have left Harvest over MacDonald’s association with TD Jakes. One of the major campuses was kicked out of the “denomination” because they dared to question MacDonald on this issue. I have no doubt that MacDonald and his inner core did the math and decided said campus was worth more to them as a manipulative statement than a future partner.

Nevertheless, has it occurred to anybody that MacDonald associates with TD Jakes because their core ideology is the same? The pastor of the church that was “catapulted” out of Harvest said that he was perplexed by the relationship. Why? Does he really think MacDonald got up one morning and decided to invite Benny Hinn to preach at Harvest, but when his line was busy, he called TD instead? Why is this so perplexing? He hangs out with people who share the same fundamentals. Why is this confusing? More on the doctrinal aspect in future posts, but people always do what they do for a reason. This is a classic case of not having a thorough understanding of what you are following.

Furthermore, the confused pastor should also understand that MacDonald, in essence, declared him and his congregation unregenerate. He should contact MacDonald and ask what the perceived ramifications are for his church—he might be in for a big surprise.

All in all, this is a huge opportunity for those leaving Harvest. They have the resources to rethink everything and set an example for many other Christians. These situations are unfortunate, but nonetheless very good teachers if we are listening and thinking.

Things happen for a reason, and people act from their beliefs.

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