Matt Chandler’s Controversial Sermon at Elevation Church/Code Orange
Previous post: Which Child Do You Want to Parent?
Next post: Why I Don’t Seek to be Entertaining When I Preach…
Previous post: Which Child Do You Want to Parent?
Next post: Why I Don’t Seek to be Entertaining When I Preach…
{ 65 comments… read them below or add one }
Ah, you must mean the one that was biblical.
Where’s the “like” button on here?
hahaha
Kudos to Chandler for taking the Gospel to the dark world of prosperity preachers. My prayer is that many who heard will respond with repentance and faith in Christ alone for salvation from their sins.
Squirrel
Squirrel,
I am not of the Furtick fold, but is he really a “prosperity preacher?”
I’m going strictly by hearsay, but I had heard that Furtick ended one of the sessions asking people to “plant a seed” of money. However, they may have heard wrong.
Matt,
I’m not an expert on Furtick, but his Sun Stand Still stuff just reeks of “Name it and claim it” stuff.
Squirrel
I havent read that book. I just hadnt heard anything that I would call “prosperity” in the few sermons I have heard.
Squirrel,
Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1saqHMggCQ
I find it rings of the prosperity gospel as well. I’m not a fan of Furtick or Noble. I find their knowledge of scripture deplorable and consistently misapplied.
And they said they edited it out of the rebroadcast because they wanted to focus on Christ and stay with where the spirit was leading them??? I have heard equally Christ focused sermons, but I’ve never heard a MORE Christ focused sermon. And, seriously, the Holy Spirit would lead them away from THAT????
I know they finally put it up on Vimeo. Has anyone watched their officially posted version to see if it was edited? I would betcha it was.
The SCARY thing is the youth pastor at my church took the youth group up to Elevation Church for church service. Not a youth conference, mind you. Just a vanilla ol’ Sunday service at Elevation. Needless to say, if he’s still there when my kids are old enough, they won’t be participating in the Youth group.
You must be somewhere near the Metrolina area like me. Our youth as a group haven’t gone (at least I know MY kids didn’t), and I think our staff is discerning enough not to take any of them.
I think I will abstain from mentioning exactly where I’m living or the name of the church.
I fully understand.
Great sermon…that’s all I should say before I get myself in trouble.
O:-)
SolaGratia!
I’ve heard charges that the sermon was edited. Does anyone know what was allegedly edited out?
Now what part of that is supposed to SHOCK me. It wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Mark, it was not edited, so far as I know – it was censored according to some bloggers. When it was scheduled for rebroadcast, there was a prayer time broadcast instead. There were reports that Furtick appeared furious during the message, but that is only the opinion of someone who was there.
Man, I think his body language definitely says “hacked off”. I was so thankful for Matt’s sermon, personally.
Dave,
They felt Chandler took a couple of shots at Furtick during his sermon. That is why people were upset.
I know. It was beautiful.
What’s a Code Orange Revival? Is it sponsored by Mt. Dew?
I watched the video cast live. All I know is that Chandler’s sermon brought me to my knees. A powerful message.
Josh stole my thunder…maybe Code Orange is a Homeland Security thing, since ‘fundamentalists’ are a national threat.
I love it.
Have yall seen this news report on the Elevation Church…watch it and weep.
http://youtu.be/WJDqVx3RlzI
“We focus on worship, not ministry…” Huhwhat? Elevation Church is NOT a church. It is an religious-themed entertainment venue.
Squirrel
Squirrel,
that’s the line that really made my ears perk up, too. Wow. Sad.
David
We have a special-needs child in our church whose parents bring him in to participate in the singing. He doesn’t sing, but he responds well to the choir and worships the best way he can. Sometimes they let him stay for the preaching if he’s up to the challenge of paying attention. But if people think such special people are distracting, then they don’t have a clue that worship is inextricable from ministry and that God increases worship by giving us opportunity to minister. The objects of our ministry become the means of expressing our love for our Lord.
If you are there to be entertained, then a special-needs child can be a distraction. However, if you are there to worship God Almighty, then worshiping with a special-needs child is a joy.
Squirrel
That whole thing was pretty confusing.
Do they not allow “normal” children in he service either?
Maybe the most convicting part of the whole sermon are his repeated professions of love and prayer for Elevation Church, even though it’s abundantly clear he has strong differences of opinion with them about the things of God. O that I would extend so much grace and love toward those I disagree with instead of just thinking and speaking harshly about them.
Typical Matt Chandler…gospel-centered,Christ-driven message.Glad to see that he didn’t compromise the biblical gospel!:)
I guess I don’t get it. This was a wonderful message, but is everyone saying that Furtick was ticked off that his friend Chandler would preach that at Elevation? Just wondering.
What would the cheap shots be? I watched some of the Elephant Room videos and it’s obvious that Chandler and Furtick are not in agreement about ministry, but I was paying attention and I didn’t see anything that looked like it was blatantly directed at Furtick in the sermon.
Google Elevation and Matt Chandler and there are several posts that will come up that describe the whole brouhaha in detail.
Dave,
I did as you suggested and didn’t find a brouhaha, just a lot of speculation as to why Chandler’s sermon wasn’t posted as scheduled. For some reason, the church’s explanation is not enough for some. I wonder why?
Because that was a Christ centered sermon. Therefore, for them to say they didn’t rebroadcast it the first time is a joke. Secondly, the Holy Spirit would not have lead them to replace that in the first rebroadcast since the message was so full of the gospel.
Look at Pope Furtick’s body language during the sermon. He was ticked. The only reason that sermon ever saw the light of day again is because people pointed out that it wasn’t in the first rebroadcast. Then the church had to go into damage control (i.e. lie) and make the sermon available.
I’m part of Elevation, I love & respect both Furtick & Chandler, I was there the night Chandler delivered his outstanding message, and I watched the rebroadcast. Nothing was edited & nothing was censored. It was rebroadcast twice in full and has been released in full as both an audio & a video podcast. I also have a child with special needs, and throughout all our involvement at Elevation I’ve been impressed and grateful for the level of love, care, and understanding given our family and my son.
The sermon most certainly was edited out of the first rebroadcast.
According to your Motion Graphic Designer, the sermon was edited out of the rebroadcast. Apparently they wanted to focus on Christ. (eye roll)
Joe,
People are using “edited” in 2 different ways in these conversations. One is accurate and the other inaccurate.
You’re right that the whole sermon was removed from the 2 initial rebroadcast times. None of the sermon was shown during those first 2 rebroadcasts.
Others have said, though, that during subsequent rebroadcasts only an edited version of the sermon was shown, with certain parts of the sermon edited out. This is false. The sermon was rebroadcast in full twice the day following the event, and the full sermon has been released on video & audio podcast.
I hope this clarification helps.
Brian B: Are you allowed to bring your special needs child into the chapel? Are you aware of the lady in the news story and did this happen?
The facts surrounding Matt Chandler’s sermon seems to be that it was not rebroadcast and instead a prayer time was put in the place of the sermon. Twice. The explanation is on tweets and facebook. How do you explain that? The sermon was rebroadcast later, according to some, because of the outcry. Can you address that as well?
My main question is why do you think it was not rebroadcast twice in a row?
I would also ask what ministry is offered to your child?
Hi Debbie.
Our children (we have 4, one of whom has special needs) typically stay in the kids’ ministry area during the worship service, where they have age-appropriate worship & teaching for elementary age & younger kids. However, when we do bring our kids’ into the main worship experience on occasion that also includes our son with Down Syndrome (he’s 6 years old). I don’t know anything about the news stories other than what I’ve read in the news, so I can’t add anything further about that. As my son grows older, I fully expect him to have every opportunity that his typical peers do for attending worship experiences, participating in small groups, doing volunteer service, etc. just like any other person his age.
Regarding Chandler’s sermon, I don’t know why church staff decided to not rebroadcast the sermon during the first two rescheduled times beyond what’s already been published. Chandler’s sermon concluded at about 9pm Friday night, and Pastor Furtick announced at about 9am the next morning (https://twitter.com/#!/stevenfurtick/status/158191064715501568) that they would re-air the sermon twice that day. The outcry may or may not have factored into that decision, but only about 12 hours passed between the end of Chandler’s sermon and the announcement to re-air it, so I’m not sure how much affect it had.
I loved this sermon and I will surely ‘favorite’ it.
Matt Chandler may have a limited time (as we all do) with us and it seems to me that he is not wasting any time making truth palatable for those who will not hear it.
I did perceive that Matt was being blunt about the purpose of church and some may have seen that as a cheap shot at Furtick. I don’t know Matt’s motives, but that’s how I read his comparisons of his church (The Village) and Elevation.
I could be wrong and accept that.
Why was this sermon controversial?
The controversy is that Chandler walked into a prosperity gospel conference and told them that the Bible wasn’t about them at all. He basically nuked their whole premise from orbit.
Squirrel
He preached the Biblical gospel at Elevation church.
For those interested in learning more about Elevation and the prosperity gospel, take a listen to a recent Elevation sermon called “Favor Finders” about experiencing the favor of God.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/found-favor-walking-in-the/id216015753?i=107995811
Some of my notes from the sermon:
- Favor is unearned & undeserved.
- The favor of God is the guarantee of his presence & the provision of his power to accomplish his special purpose in & through my life.
- Usually the favor of God makes your life less comfortable & convenient, not more. More favor requires more faith.
- We all deserve hell, so favor isn’t fair. It’s undeserved & initiated by God.
- Sometimes God shows his favor by opening doors and sometimes through closing doors.
Brian B: I am going to be listening to some of the sermons from elevation, but one question I have is the appropriateness of 2 sermons entitled F-bomb parts 1 and 2 speaking of forgiveness. Do you think this is an appropriate title for these sermons, knowing what the words F-bomb means in the secular and why do you think it’s appropriate or right?
Hi Debbie. F-Bomb is definitely a provocative title, and I can understand how some would consider it inappropriate. My personal opinion is that it doesn’t cross the line, but I respect those who feel otherwise.
While Chandler’s sermon content is commendable, Chandler’s target makes him hypocritical. There is not a single thing that Chandler said to The Elevation Church and Steve Furtick that cannot be said of The Village Church and himself.
Frank, I think that’s why he said at least twice that his prayer for Elevation to heed this message was the same prayer he prayed for The Village.
You obviously haven’t heard him preach at the Village if you think he would give this message at Elevation and not to his flock…..because he has, many, many times.
Brian, I have head Matt Chandler preach. And no. I don’t think he’s preached THAT sermon at his church.
Chandler seems to have the heart of a pastor and likewise preaches what he perceives people need to hear according to the gift given by the Spirit to apply the scriptures to people’s lives. I haven’t heard everything he’s ever preached to The Village like you have, so I don’t have a clue if he’s ever preached that sermon there or not. However, I know that he preaches similar sermons to The Village. It doesn’t seem like he’s afraid to step on spiritual toes anywhere.
Jim, I’m sure that there are thousands of people who’d say the same thing about Steve Furtick and Elevation Church.
And Jim, I didn’t say that Matt Chandler wasn’t willing to step on toes in his church. I said that I don’t think he’s preached THAT sermon at his church.
Frank, I am a member at The Village and this sermon was taken almost word for word from a recent series of sermons he preached there. Matt stays with the gospel message no matter who the audience…see the message at Code Orange and Elephant Room 1.
Frank, I too am a member at the Village and I have heard this sermon come from Matt at the Village myself. He’s definitely not shy about highlighting his flaws as a pastor, rebuking his own flock and stepping on toes in the name of the Gospel.
I’m sorry, I’m supposed to care about Furtick and his feelings?
Not sure why he’d be upset, he got his paycheck. Pretty much all he’s doing “ministry” for these days anyways…
I’m not a fan of Furtick, but an accusation that he is only doing ministry for a paycheck is a pretty harsh accusation. I’d rather you deal with his beliefs and practices than to have you make such charges against his integrity.
You are not the Holy Spirit and you cannot see his soul. Critique his beliefs and practices, but no more slanderous statements such as this, please.
Y
And I stand by my accusation…
I’d also level this charge against Ed Young, Jr. and others too.
I just follow the money and the actions.
I don’t know why the world would need to attack the Church when its own body seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.
So sad that an alleged “church” invites a non-Trinitarian prosperity heretic and nobody seems to noticed the difference. Without any kind of repentance for allowing false “gospel” to be preached there they have disqualified themselves from being a true church. Then again, those of who prefer forms of worship that are over 1500 years old (and more) aren’t really snookered by any so-called “worship experience”. I mean good on you if this does something for you but you have to wonder how many failings a group like this is going to have when their primary objective is to get bodies in the door. Jesus said to go into the world and make disciples- not simply converts. Their goal is (their understanding of) “conversion” and not discipleship so the end justifies the means in getting people to buy into their experience-oriented environment. Religiotainment is what I’d call it… and not really that good anyway. If I wanted to see a rock concert there’s plenty of better venues.
There are many people on here who have never been to Elevation. I’m not necessarily a fan of everything Furtick does, I think he struggles with his ego a bit (as all of us have sin that we struggle with, honestly it appears to me that many of the commentors are struggling with their ego a bit), the worship expereinces are a bit much for my personal taste. However, every time I have been to elevation I have heard a clear biblical presentation of the gospel (sin, cross, resurection, faith, and repentance). Those that claim Furtick is a prosperity teacher, or is not preaching the truth, have obviously never heard a full sermon from Elevation (3 1/2 minute edited clips on youtube can be made to say whatever the editor wants them to say).