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advice to young pastors: don’t fall for devil-pact boo-honkey
Advice to young pastors: When someone with a major media platform like Pat Roberston asserts that Haiti’s founders made a pact with the devil, we’re not supposed to just swallow the assertion whole. It’s an extraordinary assertion, composed of four extraordinary necessities: 1.) that such a pact was actually made; 2.) that those who made it were authorized to act on behalf of the entire nation; 3.) that it’s being made by those authorized to enter into such a pact actually bound Haiti spiritually for the next 200 years (at least); 4.) that it had anything whatsoever to do with the recent earthquake. So far as I know, there’s no historical evidence that such a pact was made in the first place. A Haitian pastor with the Church of God, Jean R. Gelin, Ph.D, did his homework and could not come up with any credible historical source for the claim. And that’s just the first first of the four necessities. Why do we fall for these things?
Because we’re lazy; because we’re frightened by earthquakes and want to assure ourselves that it won’t happen where we live; and because there is a power of evil at work in the world who wants to cover up his/its real work.
We’re lazy. We prefer simple answers that we can grasp easily that seem to explain everything. This devil pact is a doozy on that front: why is Haiti in such a mess? Because it was founded on a pact with the devil. What could be simpler? What could require less mental effort to grasp?
And we’re afraid. To be going about your business one moment only to have the ground beneath your feet give way the next is a terrifying prospect. If it could happen there, it could happen here. Fortunately, there’s a reason it happened there: a pact was made with the devil by the nation’s founders. Our nation, by contrast, had a solid foundation. We’ve got The American Patriot’s Study Bible to prove it. I kid you not. Read it and learn how the second amendment was rooted in the book of Genesis.
And because there is a power of evil who likes nothing more than to cover up evil. Haiti was subjected to the most brutal, cruel slavery by a Christian nation, France. After the slaves overthrew the French, the developed nations of the time, ours included, made sure that Haiti paid reparations to their French oppressors, for about a hundred years–a crushing debt. This is all conveniently obscured by the story of some Haitian slaves making a pact with the devil.
And lets not forget our hankering for cheap thrills. How thrilling it is to be let in on a secret. Most people have a very difficult time explaining why these horrific things happen: an earthquake that costs 150,000 lives (and counting) and leaves a nation devastated. Ah, but we have a juicy tidbit of insider information: the founders of Haiti made a pact with the devil in a back room somewhere on January 1, 1804, or whenever it wasn’t.
Don’t fall for this stuff.
Instead, do something immediately to help the Haitian people. For starters, figure out how much money you make in a single day’s work, and give that amount to an organization involved in bringing relief to Haiti. If you make 100,000 a year that’s, what? $400. If you make 25,000 a year, it’s $100.
There is a universal gesture when confronted with staggering tragedy: we cover our mouths. This is wisdom at work: there are no explanations for these things. The Bible bears witness to the reality of evil. The Bible reveals humans engaged in a struggle with evil. The Bible, amazingly, reveals a God both sovereign over evil and affected, touched, bruised, bloodied by it himself. The one thing the Bible doesn’t try to do when it comes to evil is explain it. Neither should we.
Tags: advice to young pastors, bible, Haiti, pat robertson
January 28th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
I’m reminded of Luke 13 “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
January 28th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Ken,
I don’t even know what or how to respond to this post. I thought Christ taught us love. While you may not agree with how you perceived Robertson’s point, that does not give you the right to expose him. In my opinion, the devil is not interested in creating earthquakes, natural disasters, etc, he is interested in turning believers against one another, destroying relationships, and causing division among us. In my opinion attacking/exposing Robertson rather than trying to come along side and understand the point he was making is the devils work at hand.
I am not blind to the horrible slavery of Haiti’s history, but your blogs imply that because Robertson made that comment he is somehow a racist. Again I firmly do not agree with that approach, it is not filled with love for our brother in Christ.
With regards to curses, we don’t know for sure if there is a curse, but you cannot deny the possibility of one occurring nor generational ones for that matter. The bible calls them iniquities–curses passed down from one generation to another because of sin (some examples Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9). Generational curses can only be broken through repentance and acceptance Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 31:29-30).
Again, while Robertson made the comment he did he made it and it is done with. If he did so in a hateful matter, then why do you suppose his following statements were geared towards helping Haiti rebuild and to send them money? I choose to approach this matter with love and whether I agree with Robertson or not, he is my brother in Christ point blank. And point blank whether there is a curse or not we are still called by the Holy Spirit to love on those in need. In Christ love.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
First, just because we are brothers and sisters in Christ, doesn’t mean we must blindly support each other’s views and we cannot challenge each other. Especially when it comes to issues that influence our effectiveness of spreading the Gospel and leading the lost to Christ. In the end, it’s about whether or not we would be quick to embrace our brothers and sisters in Christ, despite our differences.
Second, I’m really struggling to identify the part where Ken implies that PR is a racist?
Finally, it’s interesting to me how we will not hesitate to condemn an entire nation, yet we are quick to come to the defense of one man.
January 29th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Well, I suppose it depends on your objective. Are you interested in allowing the Holy Spirit to operate in you and through you to draw people to Christ. Or are you interested in causing a buzz that will advance your media career. Who is our brother in Christ? Which of these? Should Christians affirm our brotherhood with someone who drives people away from Christ? Or should we distance ourselves from such a person?
January 29th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Well said, Ken.
I do wonder, however, about the connection between national joy and national allegiance to Jesus. (and this applies to any country or community, and does not seek to explain the earthquake.)
Would it be correct to say that the further any person, group, community and nation is from following God, the less joy that population would encounter?
Though there is no evidence of a ‘pact with the devil’ in Haiti’s history, there is plenty of evidence of lots of Voodoo and other occultic practices in that society as well as extreme plain old corruption in its very fabric.
Wouldn’t this tend to at least be partly responsible for the that country’s societal ills? (again, I am not referring to natural disasters).
It seems to me that even the US, as it further moves away from its societal moorings in biblical christianity, is also moving towards greater societal strife.
I see this also in my birth country of Brazil. An incredibly rich nation that also is rife with corruption and far from, as a nation, walking in Jesus’s steps. (The corruption in Brazil makes the US seem puritan.)
Is there any connection between a nation’s population’s level of joy and the degree to which its society follows Jesus? (I am not referring to national wealth.) Wasn’t this the case with Israel in the old testament?
I mean, this cause and effect seems to apply to individuals, wouldn’t it apply to nations?
January 29th, 2010 at 10:59 am
I don’t believe the tone of this posting is to fuel a fire on which to toss Pat Robertson. He is certainly regarded as a brother and I believe Ken loves him. And by no means is there any implication of him being racist! I believe that the point here is to learn from Pat’s mistake. We love him, but he also must be accountable to our Church because he is in a position of great influence. Forgiveness is given. But Pat needs to be held accountable and discipline is an element of all loving relationships. Pastors who misuse the pulpit should be forgiven, but likewise they can and sometimes should be removed from office for the good of the community.
But in terms of assuming generational sin, it is not our place (or frankly our ability) to judge. Recall this story in John’s gospel:
As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
It is my prayer that Robertson will one day learn from his many mistakes and, if I may request, be more discerning with his words.
January 29th, 2010 at 11:24 am
I must confess that I have heard the story of Haiti’s pact with Satan and believed it for years. Good friends who have been missionaries to Haiti and another who was born and raised in Haiti believed the story. I personally hate believing and worse, hate propagating falsehood. That’s one reason I hate forwarded emails and I LOVE http://www.snopes.com so I can verify the urban myths that constantly come my way.
It seems that stories like the “pact with Satan” are created with good motives (ie. to inspire missionaries to reach the lost people of Haiti), but they foment fear and a distortion of truth in order to accomplish the goal they seek
So a note to pastors, when someone tells you the Himalayan glaciers are melting and will disappear by 2035 due to global warming, make sure you do your homework and check it out. Again, it’s the same story. People want to get their message across for good reasons, but it ends up fomenting fear and passes misinformation off as truth. See, we can all mean well and have good intentions. It’s because we’re human! That gives us the ability to have grace toward Pat, doesn’t it?
January 29th, 2010 at 11:47 am
happy, The IPCC is in the process of revising the estimates about glacial melt in the Himalyas. It is still melting but slower than reported. This is science at work. It can be messy around the edges, but it has a self correcting mechanism.
January 29th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Jon Miller,
I never said we blindly follow one another, I said we attempt to understand where one another is coming from, otherwise it gives the devil a foothold to create division–that is exactly what this whole things with PR is doing–creating division among believers.
For the record the only thing PR mentioned was the historical STORY about a so called pack with the devil. He never made the connection with the earthquake–although it was taken that way. Here is the statement made by CBN- http://www.cbn.com/about/pressrelease_patrobertson_haiti.aspx. Also I wonder, how many of you saw the entire program? Did you also know that he made statements about helping Haiti rebuild and also asked viewers to send money for relief funds? That’s why I personally view he had no harmful attentions, probably shouldn’t have said it, but he did. We all make dumb comments from time to time. So if you want to continue to rake him over the goals for it, try to explain to me how that is not attacking another brother and how that is not giving others grace?
Ken,
Sorry I don’t buy that science is responsible for everything. Who created science? the laws of nature? Unless you deny the existence of God and the power God has to control laws of nature, then really that argument is weak.
For anyone interested, here is the full history of the revolution in Haiti: http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/revolution/revolution1.htm
While there is no wording that says “devil-pack”, there is documentation that clearly shows there was Voodoo service held before the revolution where a women was possessed by a warrior spirit, there were animal sacrificed, and there was drinking of animal blood–which in some ancient religions signifies a deal with the spirit world–so can you see why people would view that as a devil-pack? Further this revolution wasn’t just the slaves uprising and the slave masters (which were not just white–some were mulatto (black/white) backed off, it was very very brutal. When the slaves revolted “Plantation owners were murdered, their women raped and killed, children slaughtered and their bodies mounted on poles to lead the slaves”– mounted on poles–you know who else did that–Vlad the Impaler–aka who legends say is Dracula/vampire.–who the world now views as one of the most evil men in history and who legends say also had a “devil-pack”. My point is you have to understand where these things originate from to truly understand why they are perceived the way they are now.
January 29th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Ken,
True science is using real studies and interviewing a host of scientists. The IPCC used the “opinion” of one glaciologist (who has since rescinded his model)to use in the IPCC report on the melting of glacial ice. That is NOT science. It wasn’t messy. It was poor science at best. Yet we heard all over the news about this phenomenon. How is that different from Pat’s bad research? Let’s leave out the fact that he said it in a time of devastation (you covered that in the previous post). Let’s just address the statement he made and how it compares to the fear causing statements made about the glacial ice and how that falsehood has been spread by many. How is that any different?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Happylad, I think it’s quite different. The IPCC report does involve hundreds of scientists and multiple studies over multiple years; it’s the clearinghouse in fact for all the studies done. This part of the report was mistaken and not up to the IPCC standards, an embarassment in fact, and they are taking steps to change it. The IPCC mistaken report was mistaken in matter of degree, not kind. The glaciers in that region are melting, just not as fast as was reported in the IPCC report. Another difference. Also the IPCC report makes conclusions based on probablity [that warming is 90% likely caused by human activity}; these internet myths don’t use the language of probability, which is more humble and cautious.
January 29th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Ken,
I find it interesting that you’re willing to so publicly criticize PR for what I agree is an unwise comment (although much different when taken in the context he said it than when one line is pulled out of context) but you seem to have no interest in publicly criticizing religious leaders that lead their congregations/denominations into accepting false teaching and immorality. This is a widespread problem in the American church. Much more pervasive of a problem than an occasional poor comment from a PR.
I’m doing a series on the churches of Revelation, and it has really been striking that Christ had such strong words for Pergamum and Thyatira because they tolerated false teaching and immorality. They had a lot of good things going for them, but because they ‘tolerated’ false teaching and immorality in their churches Christ ‘had something against them.’
Why the willingness to criticize the PRs of Christianity but not those spreading false teaching and encouraging immorality?
January 29th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Brian, well said. I completely agree.
January 29th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
In response to Joao, It has always baffled me how the northern european countries. Norway, Sweden, Finland etc.. have always scored high in the joy or quality of living, surveys.I believe most of these countries are nominally Christian say 10% at best. I am currently living in the bible belt and I see that we come up pretty low in these survey’s. Not sure what it all means?
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
It’s been interesting to me to read the last two posts by Ken and then the comments. As far as I can tell, the strongest accusation Ken has made against Pat Robertson is “laziness” in terms of fact checking and disagreeing with his theology regarding the causes of natural disaster. Hardly an “exposé” or attack. (Some of the comments have attacked Pat’s character but it is important to distinguish those comments from Ken’s posts).
I, too, have been guilty of propagating the false factoid of Haiti’s pact with the devil, though I would also add to it that Papa Doc Duvalier was purported to have reaffirmed the pact during his presidency. I heard it “first hand” from missionaries in Haiti. I also have struggled with the cause of evil and wanted to explain it in simple terms that my pea brain can grasp.
So with that in mind, I welcome Ken’s call to introspection, both in terms of our tendency to repeat what we hear when it suits the message we want to communicate, regardless of the provenance of the “fact” and our confusion regarding how God does or doesn’t work through nature.
Some have called on Ken to cut Pat some slack and look behind the words to his heart. Hear, Hear! But while you’re at it, please do the same for Ken. Certainly don’t conflate the commenters to his post with him. Ken raised some serious theological and cultural issues that are raised by Robertson’s comments. To use a celebrity such as Robertson to focus attention on an issue is hardly a sin.
The truth is, we struggle with these issues of God and evil. It’s a serious issue and its important to work through such things. Is America blessed because of our Christian heritage in the sense that God intervenes in History to our benefit? Is Haiti, likewise cursed, causing God to dish out punishment? Or is it Satan dishing out punishment because the church is gaining ground in Haiti? Or was the earthquake caused by the clash of archangels fighting for territory?
Some read the above paragraph and think I’m exaggerating, perhaps too much, to make a point. Others are saying “well, yes, sort of but let me tell you how spiritual warfare really works!” Most of us, though, probably don’t think too deeply about it, but are none the less influenced in our thinking and our heart by bits and pieces of “lazy” theology.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a deist. God does work in the world today. But as far as I can tell, the clearest verses on God’s use of nature can be paraphrased “he causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine on the wicked and the righteous.” How does He then work today in the world? Through the church! “we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as through God were making his appeal [to be reconciled to Him and to each other] through us.” (2Cor 5:20)
The problems in Haiti are vast and deeply entrenched. No doubt, the prevalence of voodoo worship hinders many from the freedom that comes in Christ and then energizes people to build better societies. The problems also appear to stem from greed, both of the nations that forced reparations unjustly and from the wealthy Haitian families that stripped Haiti’s natural resources for personal gain–leading to massive deforestation which then led to rampant erosion of top soil to the extent that their fisheries were ruined. (I was told when I was there that seven families controlled the vast majority of the land in Haiti and made millions of dollars from exporting wood. True? I honestly don’t know. )
What I do know, is that both Pat Robertson and Ken Wilson care deeply about the people of Haiti and, both, in there own way have called on the church to respond. Ken and Pat may disagree on the best way to motivate us to act, but the point is the same.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
I would like to see these surveys because standard of living does not equate to joy in life.
Also as I understand it, the rate of alcoholism in Norway (been there) is extremely high, so high in fact that they have a huge tax on alcohol as a means to control it.. That to me would indicate depression and hopelessness, not joy.
January 29th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Okay fine. Haiti has a history godlessness, corruption, and vodoo.
What does this have to do with the fact that these people are desperately poor and they have just experienced a horrific tragedy? Why is so important that we make sure this history is duly noted and acknowleged by all before we give them the help that they need? And how does pointing all this out going to help to lead any of these people to Christ?
January 30th, 2010 at 10:08 am
Jon, yes! Exactly.
January 30th, 2010 at 10:14 am
In a lot of the comments here, there seems to be an anxiety to defend somebody who routinely weighs in after disasters with a comment about God’s judgment. How is PR qualified to do that? How does the Bible lead PR or any of us to do that? Isn’t this out-of-bounds? Aren’t we led by Jesus in the Gospels away from this sort of thing? Why would any Christian want to go there? Isn’t this the opposite of what we are asked to do, and isn’t it against what we are asked to do? Or do I not understand correctly what Jesus asks us to do and tells us not to do?
January 30th, 2010 at 10:25 am
What if we start taking this approach of pointing out people’s past transgressions whenever new people visit our Churches? We could call them to the front of the congregation. For example, “Bob’s been going through a rough patch lately, he lost his job lately, his house is being foreclosed on and his wife is about to file for divorce. Now just so everyone is fully aware Bob has been known to verbally abused his wife and kids, cheat on his wife, and he is addicted to pain killers. He’s even dabbled in the occult recently looking for answers and there is some evidence for some generational sin involving incest in his bloodlines. Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what can we do to help this mand and lead him to Christ.”
Do we really think Bob will ever step foot in a Church again after this, let alone repent and give his life over to Christ?
January 30th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Joao, Here is one list I found on the top ten happiest countries. http://www.tripbase.com/blog/top-10-happiest-countries-in-the-world/.
It looks like most of these countries are nominally christian and socially progressive.
January 30th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Well put Ken. We live in a fallen world where tragic things happen. Rather than taking the lazy path of pointing fingers, fixing the blame and making excuses, we need to do the hard work of ministering and cooperating with God to use even the bad things to bring about good.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Jon M- I have cancer because I drank in college my freshman year. I just wanted to get that out there before I got called out at church.
On a more serious note, I appreciate everyone’s struggle to make sense of the statement made by PR. I like the tension. It looks like there is a lot of learning going on. Dialogue is key. Ken- thank for initiating it. Posters- thanks for posting.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:03 am
Thanks for the post, Ken. Please keep this up. My daughter is not a Christian, but she wants to be. The comments of people like PR drive her away. We need people like you to stand up and show her and those who want to be persuaded that following Jesus doesn’t have to look like that.
February 6th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
I looked up “boo-honkey” in the Urban Dictionary, and apparently it’s slang for BUTT.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:30 am
To all of you, didn’t Ken just write,
“We’re lazy. We prefer simple answers that we can grasp easily that seem to explain everything.”
My friends, couldn’t the same be said about the evangelical or fundamentalistic versions of our religious beliefs in general, and justifiably so? Honestly, couldn’t it?