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BraveHeart
What do you mean by "Lordship Commitment"?
& BJW
What part of the gospel message are you rejecting? Or maybe you could explane, what your understanding is of how people can be saved by God. The reason I say this, is in many churches people use phrases that end up having multiple meanings. I'm asking this in an effort to understand and have clarity.
This is a good example of what I was talking about. I do not reject any of the gospel because John MacArthur does not teach the gospel. It is a counseling cult that masquerades as Christianity, with a merit, works-based system in which one must do more and more, getting better and better all the time or else they are not saved.
In the back of the MacArthur Study Bible is a list called "Character of Genuine Saving Faith" which has a list of about 20 items that must be present in your life to merit salvation. You must constantly increase the abundance of these things and answer to a mentor, a "more mature Christian" (usually a small group leader or church appointed counselor that has paid thousands of dollars to the church to take "Nouthetic" counseling classes) who will evaluate how you are doing. Not doing enough (not topping your last progress) is grounds for discipline, or as they call it "stumbling." If you stumble over the same thing 3 times in a row you are shunned, or as they call it "treated as a pagan or a tax collector." Friends are made to constantly report on each other, and when they catch someone "stumbling" if the person was considered more mature than you, you are not allowed to question their findings. (There were signs up all through the dorm halls saying "Am I making sure everyone else is engaged in holy living?") You are not allowed to see a psychologist or psychiatrist as MacArthur feels these are a conspiracy to infiltrate Christianity by the evolutionists, and should you have depression, anxiety, etc. and want counseling you must sign a release stating that GCC will not be sued should you be injured or committ suicide while in their care. The longer you are in is the more authoritarian the church becomes over your life to the point that most of your free time is spent serving the church or witnessing, mostly to other churches who do not accept Lordship Salvation. You are constantly reminded that not doing enough works means you do not have genuine saving faith, thus condemning you to burn in hell for eternity.
Now, I do not consider this the Gospel because it is an authoritarian cult that gets people by deception and ruins lives. My view is that our salvation, that is, us not burning in hell eternally, is only accomplished through the blood of Christ, not through any works or merit-based system, and not by learning any theology or going to any church. My view of the function of churches is to give us a place to grow spiritually and do works not because we're trying to prove we are saved but because we are receiving blessings from a loving Heavenly Father that are both in this world and in the rewards we will receive in the world to come. Remeber, the Bible says salvation is not by works lest any man should boast.
Yes, people use phrases that have different meanings, and I think that GCC exploits this to the max. When high school kids see fancy brochures with "non-denominational Christian college" and "Bible believing Christian" written all over them it strikes an impression that they will encounter what a majority of Christianity believes. In reality this is a relatively small movement, and I have met very few Christians outside of Southern California that have even heard of MacArthur, even though every Christian bookstore stocks his books (which in my opinion do not fully explain GCC's doctrine, but are only an introduction.) When I first got there and I would ask questions about what I heard they would say that I probably already believe like they do, I just understand it differently or use different terminology. When they use the word "Christian" they are using it to mean those that have what they consider "genuine saving faith." The word grace to them, as in the name of the church, refers only to God's grace in giving them the opportunity to enter the lordship/discipleship committment that MacArthur teaches, and not a "free" gift as most Christians would understand, since MacArthur's books say that all non-Lordship churches believe in "cheap grace." To the unsuspecting public this church would seem like it is run of the mill Christianity with words like "grace," "salvation," and "Christian" being used so freely, but a careful reading of MacArthur's books will reveal that this is not the case.