I call this blog Why Heaven Always Matters Most because I
believe it. There are times when the cause of Heaven seems to be accomplished
by un-heavenly means, and I have to pause to consider the correct response. I
recall the Gospel
record of some disciples wanting to stop “good works” because the perpetrators
were not “following us.” Jesus was not upset with these outliers because as He
said, “no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to
speak evil of me.” Okay, fine. But I wonder how Jesus would respond if the
mighty work is done contrary to Jesus’ Word, if not His name.
The reason I am thinking this way is because of a post by a
friend on Facebook. The friend made an innocent comment praising the work of Kit
Cummings’ Power of Peace Project
(POPP). A little research reveals that POPP is doing some really great things
to bring peace to arenas of conflict, especially inside prisons. The
organization is taking their message of peace to schools in hopes of preventing
young people from making life decisions that will result in non-peace. This is
a good thing; I would like to applaud the effort.
I dug a little deeper into the fruit of the POPP program and
found a worm in the apple. On their blog, they write a glowing report of a tribe
in Africa that practices a peace program. “In this African tribe, when someone
does something harmful, they take the person to the center of the village where
the whole tribe comes and surrounds them. For two days, they will say to the
man all the good things that he has done. The
tribe believes that each human being comes into the world as good. Each one
of us only desiring safety, love, peace and happiness. But sometimes, in the
pursuit of these things, people make mistakes. The community sees those
mistakes as a cry for help. They unite then to lift him, to reconnect him with
his true nature, to remind him who he really is, until he fully remembers the
truth of which he had been temporarily disconnected: ‘I am good’.” Is that
right? We are all good by nature.
If this were the only instance of unbiblical thinking, one might
excuse it as poor judgment in choosing examples. However, more searching
reveals the totally humanistic ethos of the POPP program. The Mission Statement
and the Twelve Power of Peace
Principles repeat the same psychobabble that secular motivational speakers
have been using for years. If the POPP repackaging results in fewer fights in
prison and reduced gang recruitment, I can appreciate the effort. But I cannot
agree with the methods.
For one thing, their basis for peace is terribly wrong.
Humans do not come into the world good; quite the opposite is true. The Bible
is clear that humans are born in sin and in need of redemption. The human heart
is not a place of peace, but is full of deceit and desperate wickedness. The
lie perpetrated by POPP on its subjects is the same one told to Adam and Eve in
the Garden by the Serpent. It is the same lie sold by many New Age religions
and, sadly, many wayward souls using the label of Christian.
The other problem, perhaps worst of all, is that the POPP
program leaves its followers in their sin. From what I can see, they make no
mention of sin whatsoever. No sin, no need for a Cross. Ignoring sin and replacing
the Cross with one’s own bootstraps abolishes the only way to true peace. The
POPP way may give peace of the world’s making. Jesus
said, “My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.”
The Prince of Peace gives something that rests on eternal truth; the world
gives temporary peace that rests on a false premise.
On one level, I am glad that Kit Cummings and his POPP
program are bringing a measure of peace to troubled waters. On another level I
think it is tragic that a man who holds a Master of Theology does not teach the
truth, but propagates the big lie instead. Peace on earth was promised in
Bethlehem years ago; it was promised to “those with whom [God] is pleased.” As
much as I want to applaud what Cummings is doing, I am sitting on my hands on
this one. Heaven matters most; I don’t think Cummings is someone with whom God
is pleased. I could be wrong, but for the right reasons.
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