Physician, Heal Thyself

You've all heard by now that the famed Crystal Cathedral, the ministry built by Robert Schuller, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Apparently the church is facing some $50 million in debt that they can't pay. Their salvation is coming from several fronts. First is the bankruptcy that will allow them to pay off debt at a slower rate. They have laid off staff, sold property, and cut expenses. And Dr. Schuller has asked that his congregation and those who watch his Hour of Power to become tithers if they aren't already and to tithe double if they are. They will stay in business, continue their services, and keep up the Hour of Power broadcast.

It all strikes me as horribly ironic. Dr. Schuller made his name on the "Possibility Thinking" ticket. It was his own brand of the Prosperity Gospel whereby, if you think nice thoughts about yourself, you can do anything. It hasn't seemed to work in this case. It wasn't working a few years ago when Schuller fired his own son from the Hour of Power. They had different ideas of what should be done. Dad won out. And it didn't seem to be working later when his daughter replaced his son as the lead pastor at the Crystal Cathedral. One might think it was working fine when God told the senior Schuller "Give me two more years — 24 more months. Give the message — cast my original vision for this ministry. Don't worry. I have called your daughter Sheila, too. She is equipped and she will be your legs." (I say that it was working fine because of this remarkable event in which Sheila had managed to change God's mind regarding women in leadership over men.) I mean, now his daughter is the lead pastor over a megachurch, and the only education she has had for the job is her doctorate in administration and leadership. So I guess perhaps "pastor" isn't the right term here. CEO?

No, not ironic. Sad. In fact, wrong. The church's ministry has explicitly been that of "a mission, not a church." Dr. Schuller came to believe that "sin" was not a violation of God's commands, but low self-esteem, and the mission of the church was not to offer salvation from sin, but better feelings about ourselves. He told his congregation, "You don't try to preach what is sin and what isn't sin." Dr. Schuller has done everything he could to distance himself from biblical Christianity, replacing the Gospel with "possibility thinking" -- a "therapeutic gospel" -- which is not another gospel. That he has led so many down this path is not merely sad or ironic. It is devastating.

My mom always told me that it has to play in Bangladesh. The Gospel, if it is real, is the Gospel to all. "Have faith and you'll be rich" doesn't work. "Think positive and you'll be fine" doesn't seem to work, either. At least, not for this ministry. Bankruptcy, family splits, open disregard for biblical Christianity, these are not things that bode well. I can only pray that others who were on the line might look and see it, too. "Oh! That's not right!" It's pretty clear that positive self-esteem isn't going to solve these problems. I hope others see this, too.