Gospel Prism

I was driving to the office this morning when I turned on the Christian radio station. On came the familiar voice of Chuck Swindoll, as he said, “Host of Insight for Living,” and I figured his show was about to come on the air. But no, it wasn’t his preaching that I’d hear, but rather, a pitch for a weight-loss program called “Thinergetics.” And as he tried to get the audience to see that God cares about weight and health (which I agree with), he then exhorted people to call the toll free number to try this product. I must say, I didn’t know what to think. I began to reflect on the two Whitefield bios that I just read and his passion to live for Christ in all things, even being beaten and reviled and have things thrown at him for Christ’s sake. And then to hear Chuck hawking weight-loss products seemed disturbingly contradictory to the Gospel. People will buy this product because they trust this minister of the Gospel. What if the product does physical damage to people? What if it fails to do what Chuck is stating that it will do? Will people’s faith in the Gospel be undermined because Chuck’s product does not live up to his endorsement? Is preaching the Gospel different from selling weight-loss products?

I am one who thinks Chuck Swindoll has been used by the Lord throughout his ministry. Some of the things he has said have really benefited the church. But this is a line that once crossed, leads to dangerous territory. As Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and money.” I hope Pastor Chuck leaves the commercial-hawking to the world and goes back to what is most important, preaching the Gospel.