Greg Laurie: The Court Evangelical and His Gospel

Some coverage was given to Laurie's recent evangelical crusade in Idaho. It is claimed that over 3,000 people were saved. Laurie, a court Evangelical within Trumpite circles utilises the 'Invitation System' methodology popularised in the twentieth century by Billy Graham. It was built upon earlier models developed by the likes of Moody and Finney.

I disliked Laurie long before he was associated with Trump. Frankly I struggle to listen to him. He has a style that is popular but I find insufferable. It's kind of an almost effeminate 'California Cool Dude' type of cadence that I found irritating when I lived there. If we're in the car, and he comes on the radio my wife tends to respond, "What's the matter with him? Why does he talk like that?"

Well, it would be one thing if we merely didn't care for his style but it's his substance that's the real problem and I'm afraid the millionaire Laurie has sold himself out to a false form of Christianity – along with a false gospel that produces false ethics. Salvation and grace are made cheap and at the end of the day Christianity is apparently all about the good life, and alliance with money and power. He has repeatedly demonstrated a propensity to twist both Scripture and history to pursue these goals and falls into the Evangelical tendency to conflate and confuse American identity and institutions with the Church and Kingdom. Viewed from every angle he is a false teacher and yet he's hardly unique.

This video (linked below) which Laurie views as a 'victory lap' is a case of one glorying in his shame and it reveals that fame, celebrity, and fortune are what he's all about.

As I've argued repeatedly, the Evangelical analogies of Joseph and Daniel as 'believers in power' don't pan out or prove the point they're trying to make. What Laurie instead reveals is that he's been deeply influenced by Dominionism. I doubt he could elaborate that very clearly but that's just as much a part of his gospel as is his watered down version of the salvation message – even though there's not a shred of evidence found in the New Testament to support his Dominionism– and yet reams of evidence to oppose it. Laurie's Dominionism has also led him down some rather dubious roads in terms of the ecumenical movement.

The so-called presence of Christians within the Trump White House is not an occasion to glory but instead demonstrates the scope and profundity of modern Evangelicalism's apostasy. And Greg Laurie is one of its leaders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdXAvJrDUUE

In light of the report on Laurie's Crusade and the numbers of 'saved' people I wandered online to see if there was anyone challenging this. There wasn't much, but I did find one website that challenged Laurie's narrative in reference to a crusade back in 2016. Sadly it referenced Pulpit and Pen which is a terrible website associated with JD Hall – a dangerous and heretical figure within New Calvinism. Anyway, the points made were sound enough and I attempted to leave a comment but to no avail. Here's the link to the article and my otherwise blocked or unpublished comments below:

https://bereanresearch.org/greg-lauries-harvest-crusades-produce-false-converts/

Reading the comments one person suggested that if a single soul is saved then it’s worth it. What of Christ’s condemnation of the Pharisees? Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

People are saved despite Laurie’s pseudo-gospel not because of it. He touches on repentance but like many of that ilk – it becomes something less than what is presented in the New Testament and faith is reduced to mere intellectual assent rooted in a moment of emotional manipulation. The saints of God certainly persevere but that’s a far cry from the cheap grace understanding of ‘once saved always saved’ which ignores the literally dozens of passages that encourage Christians to keep pursuing faith and repentance and the many warnings regarding falling away. His methods while in keeping with the Finney-Moody-Sunday-Graham tradition are rooted in mass market consumerism and emotionalism, not in the gospel message and the Holy Spirit. It was also sad to see him give false comfort to suffering parents in Texas, and especially discouraging to couch the gospel in terms of - make a decision and you'll see your kids again.

You cannot serve God and mammon. Millionaire preachers are inherently corrupt and Laurie the court evangelical in allying himself with Trump and the power-players of the American Right (and this is related to his larger ecumenism) has played his hand. He’s rich and hip (by some people's estimations) and yet his message is deceptive and rooted in a larger set of deceptive ideas. Because of his alliances and activities, the way of truth is evil spoken of – something Peter warns us about with regard to the false prophets that will plague the New Testament era.

For my part, I was led astray by such methods for many years – confused in my Christian profession which eventually led to frustration and at times overt hostility. It was only when I understood that I had been deceiving myself and playing a game that I came to know true repentance and faith, true conversion. Revisiting the Scriptures I also learned that I had been deceived and confused by the altar call system, the decisionalist gospel, and the false doctrine of the carnal Christian. And in the end, though a few people are saved despite Laurie’s unbiblical presentation and methods, there are millions more who are deceived and hardened regarding the true gospel. When their decision fizzles out after a few months – they’re hardened and even harder to reach. They’ve tried it all before they say and they move on – twice the children of hell. I've known such people and because of Laurie and his ilk they're hard and at times (humanly speaking) impossible to reach. In the end Laurie is doing far more damage than good – in the realm of evangelism and certainly in terms of his larger 'ministry' and alliances.

If one person is saved then it's worth it? How is that any different from the end justifies the means? If that's the approach we should take, then just use any method that will get people to 'make the decision'.  Is that what we find in the New Testament?