The False Roman Model of the Kingdom Used Today by Evangelical Pastors
As I have been travelling the world teaching on the Kingdom of God in many large Christian leadership conferences, I have noticed something of great concern to me. Since many pastors in Latin America, Europe and North America have come from a Roman Catholic background (or a city with a heavy Roman Catholic religious paradigm), their local church application of the kingdom message reflects this influence.
For example, the Roman Catholic Church in theory largely believes that their (Catholic) church is the physical manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth! This is why the pope is referred to as the Vicar of Christ or as the Prince of the kingdom on earth, representing God himself as the leader of His church on earth. Hence, the Vatican is viewed as a nation with innumerable riches and her hierarchy has accumulated enormous wealth (its own Vatican Bank), political influence (the Vatican has its own ambassadors to various nations), as well as its own institutions of education, art, music, and canon law (church doctrine, councils and legal procedures regarding various situations of applying church law both in church and in secular culture). Hence, in summary, the Roman Church has its own empire with an enormous subculture in which it (as a religious nation) relates to secular nations and institutions. Thus, the Roman Catholic application of the Kingdom of God is extremely church-centric which leads its adherents (in each parish or diocese) to depend upon their local church to exert religious influence in society instead of obligating non-clergy members in the marketplace to influence culture!
Consequently, this has become the subconscious model for many evangelical pastors in Roman Catholic paradigm cultures, resulting in many senior pastors of megachurches acting like popes to their large congregations and building their own mini-empires! Their (Roman) interpretation of the kingdom has resulted in further empowering a (pope-like) top-down leadership style without processing decisions through a multiplicity of ministers, as well as the use of the kingdom message of cultural dominion to get business people and congregations to donate vast sums of monies to build huge church-centric empires that include banks, shopping malls, businesses, hospitals, schools and many other vestiges of societal institutions. That is to say, the people in the congregation exist to empower their local church leadership to exert (institutional) cultural influence instead of the biblical model of local church leadership existing to equip the saints for the work of the ministry to exert cultural influence. (Read Ephesians 4:10-12. Verse 10 shows the work of the ministry involves filling up the whole earth for the glory of God. Thus, equipping the saints allows for marketplace activities to be called ministry, not just traditional ecclesial ministry.)
In special instances, I am all for a local church becoming a cultural institution and building shopping malls, starting banks, schools, etc., especially in at-risk communities in which it is difficult to effectively empower individuals economically. However, the key to an effective movement is the distribution of labor. Thus, I believe the ideal is to see a more decentralized strategy in which the local church exists to empower individual believers to have cultural influence in their spheres so they can maximize their human potential as kingdom experts! This is better than the marketplace leader merely existing to empower the local church in empire building! This (church-centric) kingdom model perpetuates a dualism in which the believer lives a totally secular life in the marketplace because their only duty is to give their tithes on Sunday to empower their local church to fulfill the Cultural Commission of Genesis 1:28. This dualism will result in nominal Christianity amongst its membership because believers are not encouraged to learn how to study and pray to apply a biblical worldview to their sphere of influence! (After all, they think, that’s the job of the professional clergy!)
Unless evangelical pastors reject the Roman Catholic template of the kingdom, and understand that the church is not the kingdom but only the key agent of the kingdom that exists to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, kingdom preaching in these nations will only continue to empower thousands of mini-popes and mini-kingdoms and limit the work of the kingdom to professional clergy!
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NEITHER SHALL THEY SAY, LO HERE! OR, LO THERE! FOR, BEHOLD, THE {KINGDOM} OF GOD IS ” WITHIN” YOU (LUKE 17:21)
Your quote…the Roman Catholic Church in theory largely believes that their (Catholic) church is the physical manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth!…Well, I would have to say that it is not a theory. It is fact. The Catholic Church is the physical Kingdom of God on earth, until Christ comes again. They are the bride of Christ. Matthew 16:19 (Peter’s role as prime minister is laid out), Matthew 18:17-18 (now speaking to 12 – the 12 apostles will replace the teaching authority of the 12 tribes and their princes) Jesus uses the word “Church” only twice and both here in Matthew. Furthermore he states that is “HIS” church…not Peter’s or James’ or Joseph’s or Francis’ or Benedict’s…but HIS church. So either he failed to be with HIS church for some period of time. Even though he gives the great commission just prior to His to Ascension as states to the Church – His apostles and disciples – He will be with them until the consummation of the world. The Evangelical pastors follow this model because it is what Christ instituted. 2000 years later the Institution does not look exactly like what it would have at it’s founding. A sampling tree will not look the same 40 years later when it was first planted. Nor should the Church. We know who planted it and we can trust in that. Again from Matthew 18. We must become as little children if we wish to enter the kingdom… Thank you
As Usual Joe, great job. I have been preaching this for some time and i am very glad to hear someone else saying it. I will say that you said it better than I and i am very glad that you have longer reach than I to get this message out. Be blessed brother
I wouldnn’t necesarily say they have a Catholic influence. I would say it is a selfish one. These pastors that state that they are the chosen pastors of a city and empower their sheep to go out and work hard in order to receive the incomes on The Day of the Sun, are Pimp influenced. They are building their own kingdom with thir iwn doctrines. A shame.
Insightful article and a needed word today. Blessings!
I posted this comment on CharismaNews, where your article was posted, so it only fair to post here too. I quote myself:
“Mr. Joseph Mattera: wake up and get a grip! Try attending a local Catholic Church and quit making sweeping, unsubstantiated statements about the Catholic hierarchy. I’m surprised CharismaNews is even publishing this anti-Catholic diatribe, right after 8 days of prayer for Christian unity.
“The real problem with the American mega-church cultural model is the hideous influence of the false material prosperity teaching, This is largely where the top-down leadership style that fleeces the sheep comes from – not the Roman Catholic Church.
“If anyone is serious about knowing what is at the heart of the Catholic Church, I recommend that they read the 16 documents of the Vatican II Council. This will give a far more accurate picture of Catholic orthodoxy and orthopraxy than the caricatures that emanate from many Protestant pulpits, which are usually based on what came out of the Counta-Reformation.
“Frankly, I wonder if Papa Francis’ model of a “poor church for the poor” is rather getting under Mr. Mattera’s skin, and that that may be the REAL reason for his uncharitable broadside published by Charisma.”
Postscript: Others have made comments in a similar vein. They should be visible here: http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/42564-are-some-evangelical-pastors-using-a-false-roman-model-of-the-kingdom#comment-1221530227 Thank you!
Brother John Ruffle