To say that a Corpus Christi church’s Easter spectacle of giving away cars, flat screen TV’s, bicycles, and a cornucopia of other prizes is appalling would be a gross understatement. Just watch:
Even after all the press they received, the bulk of press reports focus on the giveaway, and the message of the resurrection is lost in the skipping-down-the-aisle of the lucky winners of new cars. As if Oprah’s favorite things were somehow in the neighborhood of the crucifixion and resurrection, the AP reports that the pastor says “the prizes are a metaphor for the Easter message of the ultimate giveaway.”
The Gospel is not a game show, and pragmatism at all costs costs us much indeed — more than just a few hundred thousand dollars in prizes.
April 5th, 2010 | 10:56 am | #1
If we were playing Jeopardy, and the video were the answer, the question would be,
What is pastorbation?
April 5th, 2010 | 11:47 am | #2
[...] Jared Bridges (First [...]
April 5th, 2010 | 2:40 pm | #3
I suppose some might regard this as an apt metaphor for the essential arbitrariness of God’s gift of salvation. On some views, winning salvation is a lot like winning one of these cars. Is there anything appalling about God’s method of dispensing salvation?
April 5th, 2010 | 5:37 pm | #4
Were the winners pre-selected? It’s possible they were predestined to win.
April 6th, 2010 | 7:59 pm | #5
Protestantism is worldliness through and through, said Kierkegaard.
April 12th, 2010 | 11:24 pm | #6
I think I just puked.
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