Hope Church at ASU regularly distorts a number of Biblical passages and Biblical ideas to advance their own interests. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Romans 13, with regard to the statement "all authority is from God". The supposition by Hope here, is that therefore all authority is good like God is, and that we must blindly submit to the demands of all authority. They of course use this to further their influence in members' lives. This is a theological error of conflating God's decretive will with his dispositional will. While even wicked things are a part of God's ultimate plan (his decretive will) and thus serve a purpose, this does not mean that God "wills" all things in the sense that they are "pleasing in his sight" (his dispositional will). Therefore the Christian is by no means obliged to blindly follow all authority. This may in fact often be God's purpose for placing "bad" sources of authority in our lives-- helping us grow by providing examples of what NOT to do, or what NOT to be.
2. Invoking Korah's Rebellion with regard to dissenting opinion. Disagree with church leadership, or show signs of what they (subjectively) consider "a spirit of rebellion" and you may be lumped in with Korah and his wicked mutineers from Numbers 16. This is simply a false dichotomy where one either agrees with everything his "mentors" put before him, or he is a wicked rebel-rouser and spreader of strife.
3. Romans 10:9-10 with regard to how salvation occurs. The misinterpretation of this passage (particularly Hope's failure to cross-reference it with other scriptures on the topic) lead them to aggressively question and doubt the faith of other Christians, and shroud themselves with an air of superiority regarding the superiority of their own. The error here is that they believe "confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord" means that one has to pray a special prayer in order to be saved, and not only this, but that the prayer must involve more than just repentance for sin, an acknowledgment of one's need for salvation, and a trust in Jesus for that salvation-- but rather one must promise the Lord to not ever sin anymore, and submit to "Jesus Lordship" by agreeing to serve him through the church. These are not necessarily bad sentiments, but they do conflate the process of justification (when we are saved) with sanctification, and this is how the legalism of Hope Church often is able to manifest itself.
4. 1 Corinthians 7:1, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman", and Proverbs 4:23: "Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life". Hope is very legalistic when it comes to male-female friendships and relationships. They use these two passages to aid in that legalism. Rather than interpreting the 1 Corinthians verse in the context it was written (that of sexual immorality), they instead choose to take it rather literally. Even hugging members of the opposite sex, of giving "high fives" too often is frowned upon. Likewise, instead of interpreting Proverbs 4:23 in the context it was written, which is a contrasting of the "way of the wicked" and the "way of the righteous" (See Proverbs 4:14-27), Hope interprets this verse as guarding one's heart against too much friendliness or closeness with the opposite sex; which it has actually nothing to do with.
1. Romans 13, with regard to the statement "all authority is from God". The supposition by Hope here, is that therefore all authority is good like God is, and that we must blindly submit to the demands of all authority. They of course use this to further their influence in members' lives. This is a theological error of conflating God's decretive will with his dispositional will. While even wicked things are a part of God's ultimate plan (his decretive will) and thus serve a purpose, this does not mean that God "wills" all things in the sense that they are "pleasing in his sight" (his dispositional will). Therefore the Christian is by no means obliged to blindly follow all authority. This may in fact often be God's purpose for placing "bad" sources of authority in our lives-- helping us grow by providing examples of what NOT to do, or what NOT to be.
2. Invoking Korah's Rebellion with regard to dissenting opinion. Disagree with church leadership, or show signs of what they (subjectively) consider "a spirit of rebellion" and you may be lumped in with Korah and his wicked mutineers from Numbers 16. This is simply a false dichotomy where one either agrees with everything his "mentors" put before him, or he is a wicked rebel-rouser and spreader of strife.
3. Romans 10:9-10 with regard to how salvation occurs. The misinterpretation of this passage (particularly Hope's failure to cross-reference it with other scriptures on the topic) lead them to aggressively question and doubt the faith of other Christians, and shroud themselves with an air of superiority regarding the superiority of their own. The error here is that they believe "confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord" means that one has to pray a special prayer in order to be saved, and not only this, but that the prayer must involve more than just repentance for sin, an acknowledgment of one's need for salvation, and a trust in Jesus for that salvation-- but rather one must promise the Lord to not ever sin anymore, and submit to "Jesus Lordship" by agreeing to serve him through the church. These are not necessarily bad sentiments, but they do conflate the process of justification (when we are saved) with sanctification, and this is how the legalism of Hope Church often is able to manifest itself.
4. 1 Corinthians 7:1, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman", and Proverbs 4:23: "Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life". Hope is very legalistic when it comes to male-female friendships and relationships. They use these two passages to aid in that legalism. Rather than interpreting the 1 Corinthians verse in the context it was written (that of sexual immorality), they instead choose to take it rather literally. Even hugging members of the opposite sex, of giving "high fives" too often is frowned upon. Likewise, instead of interpreting Proverbs 4:23 in the context it was written, which is a contrasting of the "way of the wicked" and the "way of the righteous" (See Proverbs 4:14-27), Hope interprets this verse as guarding one's heart against too much friendliness or closeness with the opposite sex; which it has actually nothing to do with.
5. Various passages on sin and "separation from God". Typically, the concept of sin separating us from God means that we are separate from him while spiritually dead, because we do not have the Holy Spirit, and have not been reconciled to God. But hope takes it a step further; claiming that Christians too, can be separated by our sin. By "separated" we do not mean grow distant in relationship-- we mean to actually be separated. As in, if, as Christians, we sin too often or too gravely, God will hear and listen to our prayers less, be less inclined to bless us, help us less, uphold us less, comfort us less, etc. In other words, you must earn more of God's love by not sinning.
6. "Dominion Theology". Dominion theology is one of the central doctrines of Hope, although they may not even know what it is called. It is the idea that we are not to fulfill the great commission only by sharing the Gospel with others, but by infiltrating positions and seats of power in all areas of society so that the Gospel may have a "trickle-down" effect from us to the people we are in authority over. While this is not a bad thing if it occurs naturally (i.e., someone follows their dreams or their God-given passions, gets an opportunity from God to be in a position of influence, takes it, and then uses it as a tool for real, natural evangelism), it can become dangerous if we start devising crafty schemes on how to "infiltrate" institutions, or craftily try and place more church members in positions of power in the community. Hope definitely steps over this line, as they are very intent on getting more Hope members in leadership positions in the community at ASU (particularly in the dorms) both to expand their influence, and to legitimize their presence and activities on campus through their connections.
6. "Dominion Theology". Dominion theology is one of the central doctrines of Hope, although they may not even know what it is called. It is the idea that we are not to fulfill the great commission only by sharing the Gospel with others, but by infiltrating positions and seats of power in all areas of society so that the Gospel may have a "trickle-down" effect from us to the people we are in authority over. While this is not a bad thing if it occurs naturally (i.e., someone follows their dreams or their God-given passions, gets an opportunity from God to be in a position of influence, takes it, and then uses it as a tool for real, natural evangelism), it can become dangerous if we start devising crafty schemes on how to "infiltrate" institutions, or craftily try and place more church members in positions of power in the community. Hope definitely steps over this line, as they are very intent on getting more Hope members in leadership positions in the community at ASU (particularly in the dorms) both to expand their influence, and to legitimize their presence and activities on campus through their connections.
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