Thou Shalt Not Steal...(Vision Sunday 2015, pt.2)
Kairos vs. Kairos
An internet search of the word Kairos turns up the exact definition that Chris uses to point out that the church is in "'an opportune or supreme moment' that demands a response from all of us." And lest you think this is only "about seeing how big we can make a church," Chris assures us that it has "nothing to do with that," but that we are living in a time when "evil is more evil than ever before, and God's favor is more favorable than ever before."
The next slide pulls up with Chris letting us know that here is "what this means for us."
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| Kairos: a passing instant when and opening appears which must be driven through with force if success is to be achieved. |
I'm going to assume that Chris is speaking to the folks at the Church of the Highlands. I can't prove it, but is seems like a reasonable assumption based on his wording. The second question is more rhetorical in nature, as there is no obvious reason for why we get a special meaning other than it fits Chris' need to urge his church goers to be more involved with COTH's various ministry opportunities.
Since the first two questions seems ambiguous at best, I am going to focus on my third question. But first, here's an important definition for our (that's me and you) purpose for asking the third question: plagiarism: 1. an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original or 2. a piece of writing or other work reflecting such unauthorized use or imitation (dictionary.com).
When I read the screen ("Kairos: a passing instant when an opening appears which must be driven through with force if success is to be achieved") I was curious about whether or not this was an actual definition of the term (spoiler alert: it's not), so I did a quick internet search for Kairos. No surprise the first "hit" was for the Kairos Wikipedia page. Not immediately seeing what I was looking for, I backed out and instead did a search with the entire quote. Turns out it was there the whole time. If you click the Wikipedia link, scroll down, just a bit, until you see In classical rhetoric you can read it for yourself. I'm including a screenshot with the relevant quote circled in red. I have also taken the liberty of showing the original author of the quote,
one Eric Charles White. According to multiple sources the quote appeared in the book Kaironomia on page thirteen.
So now the question becomes, why did Chris quote Mr. White without giving him proper credit? A clear-cut instance of plagiarism. An unmistakable form of intellectual theft. Students get expelled for not properly citing sources. Celebrities get roasted for it online.
Also, is Chris getting his sermon material from Wikipedia? There are very few references to Eric Charles White online, and all of them that I found relate back to this single quote regarding Kairos and how it relates to classical rhetoric. There is no indication that Mr. White ever intended his theory to be applied to encouraging visions for a church's future.
Looks like Scripture isn't the only text Chris likes to twist to his own purpose.
Chris concludes the message stating that he needs "[the people in the church] to be a church in motion...a church taking steps...[his] job as a pastor is to make that movement clear." So he gives the church four verbs which he promises will make "this church, this generation" step into a "very favorable moment that God has given [them]," which will allow God to use them in these evil days. Here are the favorable moment making verbs:
- Follow- "Jesus never asked for believers. Can't find it in scripture." <---Just over two years later he will directly contradict (with Scripture) this statement. See for yourself here. Here (timestamp 32:48) he uses Mark 8:34 to direct his audience to "turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me."
- Connect- (timestamp 33:54) Chris states that "before God ever does anything great He will connect you. Connections are the key to your personal success. And by the way, that's true in every aspect of your life." I don't recall God ever stating that He can't do great things unless He connects us first. Unless of course Chris is speaking of getting connected to Christ (spoiler alert: he wasn't). Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure this is mostly just a plug for the church, as he quickly moves into encouraging folks to move from "consuming to contributing." And of course you have to "get a group!" Small groups are the "Sunday Schools" of COTH except any church member can lead one, and they don't actually have to agree to anything other than tithing 10% of your income, giving a brief devotional, and a prayer (I know because I led one once). My theory is they believe if you join a group and make friends within the church that you are less likely to leave (taking your money with you). He closes out this "verb" with an endorsement for the infamous 4-step Growth Track.
- Discover- "why in the world [they] were created in the first place." Chris took the opportunity to point out that the people in his church are "fearfully and wonderfully made," and they need to go on an "exploration and discover [their] gifts" and Chris wants to help them. Another Growth Track plug, this time to help them discover their "uniqueness." The Bible also says in Mark 7:21-23 "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” The worst thing you can ever tell someone is that God loves them just they way they are. If God has called them to salvation, then He absolutely loves them. But He loves them enough to supernaturally change them. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." If you believe you are a Christian, but your life hasn't changed...then you need to do some serious soul searching. You will still sin, but you will hate that sin in you. You will wrestle that sin into submission with the help of the Holy Spirit to get it as far away from yourself as possible.
- Serve- (timestamp 38:54) According to Chris, this is the verb that will bring with it the most "joy." Make a difference in someone else's life. Now, folks, I can't dispute this one. Jesus made it clear in Matthew 20:26-28 that "....whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as ransom for many." Christ demonstrated this for them (and all of us) during the Last Supper when He, the Son of God, knelt before His disciples and washed their feet. Therefore, it should absolutely be our joy to serve others, to put others before ourselves. However, where does service stop and slave labor begin? The ministry of Church of the Highlands runs on the free labor of it's "Dream Team." They use the Growth Track to discover the strengths of their members then find a place for those members to serve. Lighting, video, audio, parking, set-up of their multi-sight campuses are all done by members of the Dream Team. For free. All so COTH can add more people to its membership lists and collect more money.
- Understand- that you are by nature a sinner, you are dead in your trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Romans 3:23 tells us that "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23 explains that "the wages of sin is death." Because of this we have no hope in ourselves for salvation. Without the intervention of the Holy Spirit we are deserving of, and destined for, an eternity in hell.ou need to believe. In Ezekiel 36:26 God says, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will but within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statures and be careful to obey my rules." 1 Peter 1:3 says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Ephesians 2:8 says that "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
- Believe- that when God drew you to Himself, and you realized you are a sinner in need of a Savior, God put his Holy Spirit in you, and He gives you the Faith, then you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
- Know- that Christ, through His perfect, sinless life, took our sin, that we may take His righteousness and stand before God as though we are without sin. For "...God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Ephesians 2:4-6 states that, "God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If COTH and it's leadership preached the True Gospel, I would not be speaking out against them. If the Lord of all creation has given you a heart for Him, then I encourage you to find a sound, Bible preaching church. These churches are almost always small, and will most likely not have large worship bands, flashing lights, coffee bars, or parking attendants, but what they lack in amenities they make up for with sound doctrine. Visit the website of the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America to find just such a church in your area (I have to drive 30 miles one way to get to mine, and I would drive twice that if need be).
Until next time...
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. –1 Corinthians 1:3
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I understand that the posts on this blog may be upsetting for those who are members of Church of the Highlands, please know that it is not my intention to hurt you. Once the Lord opened my eyes to what was happening at COTH I just couldn't remain silent. I welcome your comments (even those that disagree with me) so long as they are made in a polite manner (no foul language will be tolerated).