Church giving away millions at Easter services

DISCLAIMER: If you think this is a blog "bashing" Bil Cornelius then you'll probably be disappointed if that's what you are looking for. Neither am I defending him. I am simply attempting to "test everything" (1 Thess 5:21) in light of the teachings of scripture. This is a blog that reflects my thoughts on many issues, but this particular post reflects how I processed a particular moment in the indicated interview.

Corpus Christ Pastor Bil Cornelius was featured on Fox News today in a video report entitled Church's Easter Cash Prizes. Not long into the beginning of the interview the female interviewer stated that she understood why Bay Area Fellowship was conducting the give away saying that BAF "hoped to attract the person who is saying to themselves, 'I haven't been to a church in a while.'" Following up on that statement the male interviewer considered what effect prizes may have on existing BAF members so he asked Bil, "If I am a congregant in the Bay Area Fellowship and I get to take home a car or a furniture set or some coupons that have some value what should I be feeling when I take that home? What should my reaction be?" Interestingly Bil Cornelius appealed to the biblical doctrine of assurance.

What is the doctrine of assurance? The doctrine of assurance is usually used in reference to personal salvation. It seeks to answer the question, "How can I be assured that I am saved or that I will remain saved?" Theologians have traditionally dealt with this issue by appealing to the scriptures such as Jesus' own words of promise that he would indeed "give [his flock] eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28). There are also the words of the Apostle John saying, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). Hence pastors have traditionally pointed struggling believers to look to the scriptures and find in them God's trustworthiness. God's own character is the basis for the believer's "hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began" (Titus 1:2). This is what the apostle Paul appealed to when writing to the believers in Philippi saying, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6).

So how did Bil answer the question about what effect prizes may have on existing members? Bil did not specifically say "assurance," but it is evident from his response that this is precisely what he desires to produce in existing BAF members. He said, "We pray the reaction is that God loves them. This is a tangible example of God's love. Uh, but the reality is…is that one of the things is that we struggle with the concept of gaining heaven through Christ is that you can't touch it yet. You can't feel it yet or, dare I say, you can't drive off in it. And so this is a tangible reminder that what we've been given is so much greater it's just that we can't see it yet, but one day we will."

I commend Pastor Bil for not balking in the interview, but confessing unashamedly that Jesus is the ultimate Prize. In fairness I personally believe that the nature of the controversy really has to do with the question of whether the end justifies the means and whether the very nature of the message we proclaim (the Gospel) is affected by how we communicate it. Does the method affect the message?

Part 2: Follow up comments

This section was not part of the original post, but I’ve added it because I felt I needed to point out what I think the issue is. I assumed that the reader might have recognized the problem I was pointing to, but then convinced myself that they may not. So I’ll try to be a bit clearer.

I want to just say that pastors are called to feed and cultivate faith in God. The way in which they are to do that is by reading and explaining the Bible. I do not mean comment upon it, but to explain the intended meaning of the Biblical author. Neither do I mean that pastors are to assume independently of the Bible and predetermine what they think the church and the world need and then find a scripture to support their own predetermined conclusions. God, through his word, has already diagnosed the human condition and provided the remedy. It’s the same diagnosis and solution regardless of the century or culture people may have or currently live in. Therefore we are to read the Bible and explain the Bible allowing God to set the agenda because “¹⁶All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17). Pastors recognize that people struggle with assurance, but at the root of a lack of assurance is nothing less then a lack of faith in God’s word. The main reason why people may struggle with assurance is the fact that they lack confidence not only in what God has said and in who God is. The pastor’s job is to employ the scriptures and to reason with believers and unbelievers alike so that they see the grandeur of God and thus they are reminded that we serve the same glorious God that brought the people out of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders. God has a long resume. We need only to look at redemptive history. We serve the same God who performed many miracles and reveals to us that he has the entire cosmos under his control, but the most amazing thing is that “Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6) i.e. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). How then do we minister to people weak in the faith (lacking assurance)? Do we teach the bible or do we give them material things as an object lesson? Or do we do both? If so, where should we place the majority of time and effort? In explaining the Bible and showing God as he has revealed himself in the scriptures or by spending millions in a giveaway? The Bible is objective and can therefore be understood objectively, but our actions are subjective.