“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in you stop them.
–Matthew 23:13
Several years ago, I invented a term:
Hamiltonne: The combined weight of Adam Hamilton books and DVDs that local churches have in their libraries.
I met Adam in 1994. Church of the Resurrection had launched with four people four years before. By 1994 they were moving into their first sanctuary.
Today? They reach roughly 24,000 total weekly worshippers in-person, online and on television. It’s the largest United Methodist congregation in the United States.
I wanted to write this not as an endorsement for Adam, but an endorsement for faithfulness. He’s among the most faithful people I’ve known.
For some people, that’s hard to believe! And I get it–between what you know about megachurches and what you know from recent rhetoric, it’s probably hard to know exactly what to think about this guy.
The biggest concern about Adam, and I hear this from both ends of the political spectrum, is that Adam is a hypocrite.
Some on the left think any pastor of a megachurch must be a hypocrite. Hands out, raising money. Creating a cult-like environment, and certainly not caring about people who aren’t Christian.
I don’t think that’s him, or his church. Here are some necessary stats:
In 35 years, Resurrection has donated more than 10 million pounds of food, filled 794,000 weekend food backpacks, given 487,390 books to children, and donated 64,608 pints of blood. That’s just scraping the surface.
The Hartford Institute for Religion Research’s 2020 Megachurch Survey found that only 7% of megachurches lean moderate or progressive. They are a rare breed, so I get the assumption some have made.
This church leads with justice, service, and compassion, and they put their money where their heart is.
From the right I see political ads saying the church is “too woke”. After Hamilton began publicly changing his position on homosexuality in 2004, hundreds left COR—but more than 1,000 joined in the same year.
So, if that’s your issue, you’ve got a legitimate complaint. I would point out, however, that nearly four in ten evangelicals support legal same-sex marriage.
But woke? His congregation contains Republicans, Democrats and independents in nearly equal proportions.
By the way: There are only a very few churches that label themselves MAGA churches. Let me be clear, there are lots of conservative evangelical churches, and lots more who seem to practice Christian Nationalism, but in 2020 the same study found that 63% of megachurches said they avoid discussing political issues when the congregation gathers. And 66% rejected the statement that almost everyone in their church has the same political position.
What counts as “political” discussion is open for debate, but being conservative does not make one a hypocrite any more than being “woke”. And assuming one group is homogenously one or the other is unfair.
Case in point: 58% of White nonevangelical Protestant voters voted for Donald Trump, including, I’m reasonably sure, many of the 35% of Resurrection members who are Republican.
I lean a bit farther to the left than Adam does, but I’ve served multiple churches that were split right down the middle politically. It was exhausting trying to keep us together and maintain my own integrity. We managed well enough.
How Adam has avoided hypocrisy in so many difficult years of ministry is difficult for me to understand. But I’ve seen it.
Before you call another Christian a hypocrite, look at the fruit of their life. Faithfulness doesn’t mean they agree with you. It means their professed faith and lived life increasingly correspond.
Neither Church of the Resurrection nor their pastor is perfect. But they are perfecting. John Wesley preached about sanctification — a lifelong process of becoming more Christ-like, sinning less, and doing good in the world.
Thousands of people in the Kansas City area have a Church of the Resurrection coffee mug on their shelf. For many years, it was Adam Hamilton that delivered them by hand, saying, “I want to be your pastor.”
If I wasn’t a pastor myself,
I’d be grateful to have him as mine.
Have a great week,
Mitch
Leave a Reply