Why “Hyper”-Grace And Charisma News Can’t Play Well Together

I used to enjoy Charisma Magazine.  Honest!  I was the guy who arranged for a group subscription at the church because I thought it was that important for others around me be encouraged by what God was doing in his church around the world.  True, I always struggled a bit with some of the wacky advertisements they accepted for print but dismissed those as a small price to pay to produce a quality magazine.

 

 

 

But in the last few years it seems Charisma (and particularly it’s web based news page) has shifted it’s mission from “promoting the Kingdom” to “defending America”.

A quick perusal of the Charisma News website reveals “where their treasure lies” (Matthew 6:21)

* Atheists

* Terrorists

* Political candidates

* Gays

The reason for these topics is, of course, these headlines evoke passions, which drives viewing traffic and promote business.

So, I wasn’t surprised when Charisma News also included, as they often do, an article warning of the dangers of “Hyper-Grace” churches.

In the piece author Joseph Matterra suggests 8 things that identify a “Hyper-Grace” church or pastor.  The list is depressing for a number of reasons. Besides being largely hyperbolic and frightfully inaccurate, the article serves as a tool to lead Believers and non-Believers alike away from the Life, mercy, and healing Jesus brings.

Christ himself warned the religious leaders of his day about doing this kind of thing:

You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Matthew 23:13

My friend Paul Ellis who blogs over at Escape to Reality is one of those “Hyper” Grace teachers Joseph Mattera and Charisma are warning about.  As a loving husband of many years to his wife Camilla and doting father of 4 beautiful children I was fairly confident he wasn’t promoting free sex, recreational drug usage, and total anarchy within the church, but to be certain I shared the Charisma article with him.

It turns out Paul had dealt with this type of thing before with Charisma so he shared with me his 8 signs of a real Grace message as opposed to the 8 signs suggested by Charisma.

As I looked at Paul’s list I realized why Charisma had to reject the Grace message.  To accept it would bring a fundamental shift in the content they provide.  The focus would again be on promoting the Kingdom of Heaven rather than defending the Republic of America.

Articles on Donald Trump, Muslim terrorism, border control, and gay marriage would fade to be replaced by messages of hope and compassion that would inspire Christians to reflect the image of Christ in their lives.

But Donald Trump and Muslim terrorists articles drive web traffic so I don’t imagine “Hyper”-Grace will be embraced by Charisma anytime soon.

It’s just bad for business…

Peace,

Steve