Why Glenn Beck is a greater threat to the church than Jim Wallis

I have hit this topic before but I decided to revisit it again. My reasons? In part because I simply don’t care for Glenn Beck, mormonism aside. Beck represents the basest form of political conservatism, the sort of conservatism popularized by Rush Limbaugh decades ago and embraced today by the Beck/O’Reilly/Hannity/Coulter types of the world. Far too many Christians equate political conservatism with the Gospel and see these sorts of political entertainers as spokespeople for their political convictions including areas that touch on Scriptural matters. That doesn’t mean that political conservatism is wrong or unscriptural but it does mean that it addresses completely different issues than the Gospel. The other reason is something I read this morning. I saw an announcement of the latest effort by Glenn Beck to ingratiate himself with religious conservatives. Mr. Beck has announced the start of “Beck University”, an online series of lectures by “experts” in political science, religion and history, designed apparently to equip conservatives with a bunch of talking points to confound them lib’rals in blog comments and at family get-togethers. I prefer to base my political convictions in actual convictions that I can articulate beyond sound bytes but that is just me. You have to sign in as one of Beck’s “Insider Extreme” premium members to watch the videos (at the low, low price of $10/month. Gotta keep those tithe checks going to Salt Lake City!) but here is the summary of the first session, Faith 101:

Faith 101 Course Outline - The Black-Robed Regiment

Those who were long considered some of the most influential leaders in securing our independence and form of government are today largely unknown: the clergy and ministers of the American Revolution. The British called them “The Black Regiment” because of the black robes they wore; today, they are known as “The Black Robed Regiment.” Significantly, John Adams extolled that “the pulpits have thundered” and that ministers such as the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mayhew and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper were among the most influential in the movement that led to independence. Learn about these now unsung heroes of the American Revolution – leaders such as the Revs. Jonas Clark, John Steel, Peter Muhlenberg, Francis Willard and many others who not only preached liberty but even picked up their guns and led their churches to fight for liberty!

Amen, put down your Bible and lead your congregation to take up arms and kill people! That last sentence makes me sick to my stomach. The instructor for this class, Dr. David Barton, should be quite concerned that an unbeliever selected him to be his spokesperson on matters of faith and religion. The irony of course is that these men from the Revolutionary War would have likely labeled Glenn Beck a heretic, not a patriot, and would have welcomed him with the tar and feather treatment for claiming that God was once a man.

Here is where Beck is truly dangerous, where he is ideally suited to carry out the role of “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. Christians who are politically conservative listen to him and think: “Well he is conservative politically like me (or at least he says and writes things that sound conservative). He talks a lot about faith and about morality. He seems like a nice guy and talks a lot about loving his country. He is somebody I should pay attention to and trust his opinions!” As Beck talks about political issues he often intersperses talk about faith, using lots of “God talk” and sounding on the surface like he is speaking about the same God that Christians worship. I think a lot of Christians think that because he talks like us and thinks like us, he is one of us when the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Many Christians sided with Glenn Beck in his infamous kerfuffle with Jim Wallis over Beck’s call for Christians to flee any church that mentions the words “social justice”.

The net result? Christians see more in common with mormonism than “liberal Christianity” because they have only a cursory understanding of the key doctrines of the faith. When a Baptist college invites a mormon to speak at commencement and defend it by saying that we can worry about theology (i.e. the study of God) after we “save the country”, it is a warning bell that should alert the church that the effort by the mormon church to abandon the frontal assault on Christianity and instead sneak in the back door is being successful. Mormonism has by and large gotten away from talking about the apostasy of Christianity to focus on a message that “We are Christians too!”, a message that is being swallowed hook, line and sinker by way too many Christians who should know better.

On the other hand, while I don’t know much about the details of Jim Wallis’ theology and there are areas where I would vehemently disagree with him, he certainly sounds like someone who at least knows who Jesus Christ is. In fact some of his positions regarding war sound a lot closer to Biblical Christianity than what many conservative Christians espouse.

It is incredibly dangerous to say that we find ourselves in closer solidarity with an unbeliever, someone who blasphemes God and denies Christ, because we agree with his positions on secular political issues than we do with a politically more liberal fellow believer. If Christ returned right now the hard truth is that Glenn Beck would spend eternity in hell and many liberals would spend eternity in paradise with Christ. Many Christians would not give a seconds thought to rejecting advice from an avowed atheist but those same people will listen to “God talk” from a man who embraces a faith that is every bit as blasphemous as militant atheism.

Christians shouldn’t be linking arms with Glenn Beck and sitting at his feet to be taught about religion, we should be calling him to repent and place his faith in Jesus Christ.