The Elephant in the Sanctuary - Exposing the Jesus Trade's Inconsistencies

Selling Jesus

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Hey everyone, so I just wanted to do a really casual video, just chat, and talk about some of the things we've seen so far on this channel.

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And maybe walk through the skit that we did on our last episode. So in case you haven't seen it yet, go check it out.

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It's episode 2 in our series of longer form videos. And there's a skit at the beginning that's supposed to be funny, but there's a lot going on in the background.

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And I think it would be helpful to unpack some of the things that are going on in that background.

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Now the whole main premise of this skit is that if we apply all the common arguments that people use to defend the

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Jesus trade today to the local church, then this is how the local church would look and function.

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And all of the arguments that you're going to hear the church secretary articulate, or that you already did, these are arguments that we've heard thousands of times from people who defend the sale of Christian books, and Bibles, and biblical counseling, and worship music, and conference sermons, and all sorts of other

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Christian ministry. So this is what you might call an indirect logical argument, because it shows the fallacy in all of these arguments without directly addressing that fallacy.

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And instead, showing the ridiculousness of those arguments when applied to the local church.

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I'm convinced that it's super crucial for all believers to be as consistent as possible in their theology and their practice.

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And what this skit does is it points out these glaring inconsistencies in both of those things, when it regards the commercialization of Christianity, both practice and theology.

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And so it's interesting, so far with thousands of the Dorian Principle distributed, and with thousands of hours of our content being consumed, and with many, many conversations we've had with people of diverse backgrounds, and PhDs, and even professors in seminaries, we've never found anyone who can answer this logical inconsistency clearly or satisfactorily.

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So, later on in this episode, I'll get to the point where I'll share some of the ways these highly intelligent people respond to these logical arguments, and the ways it makes them compromise on both scripture and logic, in order to try to defend their status quo that we see all around us.

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It's kind of sad. So, the thing is, when you put people in a corner that they've created for themselves, because of their own inconsistencies, it tends to make them feel uncomfortable, and then they respond with irresponsible statements.

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And, you know, we saw this recently, this kind of thing, with the presidents of Penn State, and Harvard, and MIT, and there's this clip,

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I don't know if you saw this, of them being asked a very simple question, when they testified on Capitol Hill, because there was this hearing addressing the rise of anti -Semitic incidents on their campuses.

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And, let's just watch this clip and talk about it. Ms. McGill, at Penn, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate

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Penn's rules or code of conduct, yes or no? If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment, yes.

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I am asking, specifically calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment?

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If it is directed and severe or pervasive, it is harassment. So, the answer is yes.

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It is a context -dependent decision, Congresswoman. It's a context -dependent decision, that's your testimony today, calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context, that is not bullying or harassment.

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This is the easiest question to answer, yes, Ms. McGill. So, is your testimony that you will not answer yes?

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If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment, yes.

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Conduct meaning committing the act of genocide? The speech is not harassment?

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This is unacceptable, Ms. McGill. I'm going to give you one more opportunity for the world to see your answer.

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Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's code of conduct when it comes to bullying and harassment, yes or no?

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It can be harassment. The answer is yes. And Dr. Gay, at Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate

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Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment, yes or no? It can be, depending on the context.

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What's the context? Targeted as an individual, targeted at an individual. It's targeted at Jewish students,

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Jewish individuals. Do you understand your testimony is dehumanizing them? Do you understand that dehumanization is part of antisemitism?

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I will ask you one more time, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate

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Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment, yes or no? Antisemitic rhetoric.

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And is it antisemitic rhetoric? Antisemitic rhetoric, when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation, that is actionable conduct, and we do take action.

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So the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates

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Harvard's code of conduct, correct? Again, it depends on the context.

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It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes, and this is why you should resign.

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These are unacceptable answers across the board. So what happened? You know, they realized they were in a corner with a very simple question, and they didn't have the humility to give a straight answer.

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And this is the kind of sophistry, the exact sophistry that happens when we ask simple questions about the

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Jesus trade to people. Is it okay to be peddlers of God's word in some contexts and not others?

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Or why is it okay to hear a sermon at a conference but not at a church? And the answers we get are basically like saying idolatry just depends on the context.

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It's okay to worship idols as long as it's not inside your local church. So this is why no one has offered any rebuttal to our call for reform in this area.

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No one is willing so far to debate because I think everyone knows that they have no argument.

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And if they tried, they would come across like those presidents of Harvard, Penn State, and MIT.

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And so far, you know, they've decided, I guess, it's best to ignore what we're saying.

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And, you know, maybe that's because the backlash would be too severe. Kind of like what happened with those presidents.

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You know, the president of Penn State just resigned over what happened because of the backlash.

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You know, it's actually really interesting. If you go to Amazon and read the reviews of the Dorian Principle, you'll see this common thread or theme.

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And that is a number of people say things like, I like the book, but I don't agree with everything in it.

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And they never say why. And they never offer any counter arguments from scripture. So why is that?

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Well, I would venture to guess that it's because they don't have arguments or don't have the courage to admit that there is a deep hypocrisy in the accepted status quo that we're living in.

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You know, maybe they're afraid that, like the thousands of people who fell for the pew rent system back in the day, they may be just as deceived as those people.

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Or maybe they're afraid that the emperor might actually not have any clothes.

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So I'd like to openly challenge every reviewer who does not agree with everything in the book to be specific and explain why their opinion on those issues is more biblical and back it up with solid arguments.

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I mean, that's fair to ask. You know, do they have the integrity to argue their position from scripture with the same diligence that the author has done?

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Or are they going to keep hiding behind sophistry and lame excuses that they know are hollow and empty in their heart of hearts?

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Now, when you hear people respond with, this is interesting, but it can't be right,

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I think what you're actually hearing is someone's attempt to justify themselves and give themselves a free pass from the radical generosity that Jesus taught and lived

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You know, maybe they can't stomach going against the greed and materialism that permeates every cell of our culture and Western church.

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So they'd rather say, I don't agree. And at the same time, please hear me out.

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I want to say it's fine. It's totally fine to take your time to wrap your mind around all of this.

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It's not something most people will be able to do overnight or just by watching one video or reading the

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Dorian principle through once. That's totally okay. But what I'm getting at is this, let's stop dismissing the problem and pretending that everything is okay.

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And let's stop making lame excuses and painfully inconsistent arguments to defend the sin we see all around us.

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That would be so refreshing, you know? So anyway, I say all of this because we genuinely want to have intelligent conversations and friendly, substantial debates about this issue.

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So here we go. Let's start with the first clip. Hello, welcome to our church.

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It'll be $10, please. Uh, what was that? The entry for Sunday mornings is $10. Unless, of course, you already have a paid membership.

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I guess it's just that I'm not used to paying to go to church. Sure, I understand.

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Let me just explain all the different options we provide. We've got something for everyone. Sure, why not?

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Okay, first of all, we have an option to pay by the month, which will save you 10%. And if you pay by the year, you'll save 20%.

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That's the best deal. And it also includes some premium benefits. Premium benefits? Yeah, such as access to a pastor's personal phone number if you ever need special prayer, access to our online catalog of sermons, and more.

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Okay, so this idea of freemium is so pervasive in the Jesus trade. So many ministries are using this gimmick of offering something free or discounted only to get people in the door and then buy more.

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So it's not really sincere. So here's a real example from my own experience the other day. I went to a website called iBelieve .com

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to read an article that was sent to me called something like Why are

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Christians peddling God's word for profit? So I would actually encourage you to read it for yourself because it's a good article.

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But when I clicked through the website a few times and came back to that article, this is what

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I saw. Okay, you're not going to believe this. So yeah, the irony is so thick you could spread it on toast.

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I mean, you can't make this stuff up, but it's real. And I love the place where it cut off.

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Let me read it to you here. God's gift of salvation is freely given to us.

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Ephesians 2 .8. And we are in return to freely give it away because this is what the gospel is all about.

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End of article. Paywall activated. And there's no way to read more unless you pay.

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So the question no one can answer so far is why is it okay to do this in any ministry context except for the local church?

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And sadly, you know, I've heard people with PhDs attempt to answer this by saying, well, it wouldn't be good for the church growth.

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It wouldn't make your church very successful. Hmm. Once again, you know, people default to pragmatism and squeamishly avoid

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Scripture because they realize that if they did go to Scripture to support their arguments, they'd come up short and find the opposite in Scripture, right?

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The Bible would actually mercilessly confront their allegiance to pragmatism and expediency rather than God's desires and biblical principles.

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Okay, so moving on. Next clip. What if I can't afford any of this and I still want to participate fully in the services?

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No worries. I've got you covered. We sometimes have these kinds of cases, usually with immigrants, and we want to be radically generous with the resources

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God has given us, so we have a scholarship fund. All you have to do is apply online and our committee will review your case and hopefully approve you.

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Here, just scan this QR code here. It should only take about an hour to fill out the application.

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Again, we really want to serve the less fortunate in this way and not place any hindrances in the way of the gospel.

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So this is the classic loophole to sugarcoat and justify sin.

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And that's make a complicated, labor -intensive, or even embarrassing option for the poor.

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Even the... The poor? He doesn't like it when people say poor. Now, the reasoning goes like this.

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We sincerely care for the poor, and I believe this. I believe that most people doing this are sincere.

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They're just deceived, but they're well -meaning. And so, the reasoning goes, we sincerely care for the poor and want to reflect the generous heart of God, so we will make a free option available for the poor.

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But, there's always a catch, isn't there? You have to prove that you're too poor, and it'll be a pain to get access to this option.

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So, you know, most people are too embarrassed to even ask about the possibility, and, you know, the truth of the matter is that many ministries keep this option secret until someone asks.

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So, really, is it serving people? By having them spend hours of their time filling out scholarship applications that then have to be reviewed and approved by a board of directors and may not even get approved?

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You know, the answer is a resounding no from Scripture. What this is doing at the end of the day is placing a stumbling block in the way of the poor, and even though it's not a literal paywall in this case, it's another kind of wall between them and the ministry

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God has called us to freely give. So, putting walls between God and the poor is something

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I hope everyone understands to be contrary to Scripture, and if this isn't obvious, please check out our article on sellingjesus .org

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about giving out of obligation to God, not man, or just read the whole

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Dorian principle. You know, the Bible calls us to share Paul's commitment in I think it's 1

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Corinthians 9 -12 where he says, we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

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So, let's check out the next clip. Why don't you just have free services and cover your operating costs through tithes and offerings and then wouldn't you reach more people that way?

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Oh, well, you see, people won't value the teaching and ministry they receive if they haven't paid anything for it.

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For example, when you've paid $10 to hear a sermon, you're more likely to listen closely, take notes, and apply it to your life, right?

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And God tells us to be wise, to be like the ant that stores up for the winter. So, in order for us to be sustainable, we need to make sure we charge a fair fee for our services.

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I mean, who knows when people may stop giving enough for our operation costs, and then who will pay the bills?

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So, we're just trying to be wise with the facility and ministry God has given us. It's all about sustainability. Now, these are some of the most classic arguments of all time, and we get this constantly, you know, this argument that you don't value what you don't pay for.

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And even though I've answered this at length on our episode about typical objections, let me talk about it a little bit more here.

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It's an interesting argument because it seems to be something that everyone in this day and age is born with in their blood.

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Everyone seems to intuitively think that this argument is the argument to end all arguments.

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And when you actually think about it for two seconds, you realize how laughable it is, not only from the point of view of Scripture, but from the point of view of basic logic and experience.

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So, once again, I've found some of the most intelligent people, some of the most well -meaning people, some of the most qualified people in ministry, repeating this idea as a mantra.

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Now, obviously, this idea goes completely against both the implicit and explicit teaching of Scripture.

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You know, we have the explicit command of Christ to give freely, right? And we have the implicit example of Christ and the apostles and the biblical authors giving their ministry and writing completely for free and never reasoning that, you know, people won't value if they don't charge for it.

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You know, wouldn't there be a proverb saying that if that were really something that Scripture believed? And, you know, even from a secular, practical, and psychological standpoint, this idea has been completely proven false in books like Free!

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The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson and Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.

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And so, let me just go through a few points of, further points of why

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I think this is such bad thinking. Now, number one, this reasoning assumes that this modern conventional wisdom from the marketing manipulation machine allows us to disobey

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Scripture. You know, and Paul's policy was to do ministry free of charge.

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You can look at our website to find out more about that, read the Dorian Principle. But, number two, it fails to account for many facts and realities that exist all around us.

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You know, like libraries, friendship, parks, fresh air, sunshine, rain, and the beauty of creation in general.

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All of those things are free, so why do we value them so much? And, number three, this fails to explain why conventional wisdom also says that the best things in life are free, along with the best things in life aren't things, two very true things.

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They're not in Scripture, but they're so true. And if the best things in life are free, then why do we value them?

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Have you thought about that? And then, number four, this just fails to understand that valuing things, mainly because of their association with money, is a deep heart problem.

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You know, if a man says, oh, I really want to divorce my wife, but I spent so much on the wedding that, you know, maybe

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I shouldn't do that. That's the wrong reason to stay with his wife, and it makes him a servant of money rather than a servant of God or his wife.

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Okay, so number five, I think that true virtue involves appreciating and valuing wonderful things that we receive for free.

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You know, for example, the prodigal son. He didn't value his inheritance and wasted it because he was rebellious and sinful, not because he received the inheritance for free.

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That's not the reason. And if he had received that gift and treated it with wisdom and care, he would rightly be held up as an example of a virtuous son.

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And then number six, you know, if I value a sermon only because I paid for it, what does that say about the preacher and the content?

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You know, isn't it an insult to the preacher to say that what he preaches has no inherent value?

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Is it not an insult to God to say that his word has no inherent value and thus we must make it valuable by paying for it?

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All right, so enough of that. Let's go to the next clip. Also, keep in mind that there are other institutions that charge twice as much as we do and offer less benefits.

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I mean, the church around the corner charges $18 for Sunday entry. We're trying to raise the bar and be more fair and charitable by offering such great discounts and scholarships.

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We believe we shine the light of Christ in this way and show the radically generous heart of God in contrast to the way of the world.

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Okay, so this is another classic example of the comparison fallacy, right? Which it wants you to believe that if something is not quite as bad as something else, then it's right.

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It's the right way to do things. It's righteous. It's actually like saying, oh,

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I only worship one idol and that guy across the street worships three idols, so get off my back.

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I'm basically a saint. This is a real argument, though, that I've heard from extremely intelligent people saying, well, at least

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I don't charge as much as that person for preaching, etc. You know, sadly, none of this is going to save us from Scripture's condemnation.

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Discounts, Black Friday deals, charging a fraction as much as others. You know, even if it's a penny,

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Scripture condemns charging in the first place. Anyway, this video is already way too long and I really appreciate your patience if you made it this far.

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And I hope it was helpful and I hope you'll join us in our endeavors to abolish the