OPRAH, THE ANTICHRIST, OH REALLY?

Recently, I witnessed a repugnant conversation where Christians cloaked their vitriolic conversation in “righteous indignation.” What was sadly comedic was all this was about Oprah’s brand of self-defined Christianity. First, let me say, Oprah is a media superstar and nothing more. She is not a pastor. When I seek Christian theology and spiritual counseling, I turn to experts, tried, tested persons whose personal lives reflect biblical spirituality and maturity. However, this does beg the question as to her appeal to so many people. So much of her programming is about people, their struggles, victories, ugly failures, reclaimed lives, and people in the throws of daily living! So many people follow her discussions because there is a connection between them and her. That connection is the sense that Oprah cares about them. Doctors Phil and Oz are just two examples of Oprah’s efforts to extend herself into the lives of her audience. Externally, she invests in communities from her own wealth and harnesses the compassion of her audience to share themselves with others, financially and through volunteer work. Oprah never cheapens herself to the slander and gossip of the day. On the contrary she does all she can to bring dignity to every member of the audience and respectfully interviews all her guests. While her theology is in conflict with fundamentalist, evangelicals and orthodox Christians, much of her personal life and choices reflect an amazing closeness to the biblical call to servant-hood. I personally do not know the specifics of what Oprah believes regarding God, Jesus the Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Scripture. However, I do know what I believe and what I teach as the Pastor of Hiouchi Community Fellowship.

Oprah’s theology does not frighten me and I am certainly not going to judge her today, for I do not know what God has for her future. There is much in her personal life indicating many “seeds” have been planted in her life that still may come to bear great fruit for the Kingdom of God. Within the theological structure, I learned from honest and “Christ-confessing” teachers, Oprah, today, does have errors in her personal spiritual understanding. Sadly, this is consistent with Christians today. Many believers in the Church of Christ possess significant spiritual errors in their own “home-made” theology. Bluntly, the church is filled with ignorant saints spouting theirs errors to the detriment of individual members of the body of Christ. Nevertheless, in the referenced conversation, the most sinful aspect was calling Oprah, the Antichrist. This judgment belongs to God alone! When Christians take upon themselves the robe of judgment, they do so by discarding the robe of righteousness. Unbeknown to the sinful judge, both stand “naked” before God, with all their wretched sinfulness totally exposed to our most Holy God. (Matthew 7:1-2) In this nakedness, both are subject to the judgment and disciple of God.

How quickly we Christians forget that we remain wretched sinners, totally depraved and continue lives filled with transgression. How arrogant for us to think that because we pray a bit more, because we tithe, because we attend bible study that we are qualified to judge the wretched sinner next to us. (Luke 18:9-14) I know my own life better than I know Oprah’s life. My soul is in a constant struggle with law of the flesh and law of the Spirit (Galatians 5:17[NLT], Romans 7:23). Paul declares “O wretched man that I am…” and so do I (Romans 7:24-25). Before we pronounce, in judgment, that anyone is the Antichrist, Scripture clearly states that in our state of grace we remain wretched, sinful, in a constant struggle to subject our carnal desires. Our salvation is solely through God’s grace and mercy. Scripture declares that Christ alone is the author and perfecter/finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Therefore, we know we bring neither initial effort to repentance nor any personal sufficiency in our own effort to complete the work of salvation. So shall it be with Oprah or any other person, Christ will author and perfect faith in their lives in accordance with God’s sovereignty, grace and mercy. I do not know the sovereign plan God has purposed for her life, but I will not undermine God’s grace and mercy by “name calling.”

When encountering religion that is different from the theology in scripture let us learn from Paul. In Acts 17: 16-21, we learn that Paul reasoned (dialogued) with all people regardless of their religious beliefs. Paul reasoned (dialogued) with the Jewish and Gentile worshipers in the synagogue. Paul reasoned (dialogued) with the common person in the market place. He reasoned (dialogued) with Epicureans and Stoics and others holding different religious beliefs. Interestingly, Paul did not rant and rave against the teachers or teachings of these religions and philosophies. Paul shared Jesus and His resurrection, Paul reasoned (dialogued) because of his confidence in the Holy Spirit.

The work of the Holy Spirit in the world is to convict the world of sin, righteousness and of judgment. We are to share the gospel, not to condemn Oprah by calling her the Antichrist. Only the Holy Spirit can convict and convert the sinner. Only Jesus as our Christ is worthy to judge, and only God’s love and mercy is sufficient to save, a wretched sinner like me. When our theology is void of the love of God it is dead theology!



by Grace Alone!
Pastor Steve Perez