Why Jack Hibbs Remains Wrong for Reopening His Church Amidst Pandemic (2024)

"Andto the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, thefaithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation."' I know yourworks: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So,because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of mymouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, notrealizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counselyou to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and whitegarments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness maynot be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom Ilove, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand atthe door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant himto sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father onhis throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to thechurches.'" - Revelation 3:14-22 (ESV)

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Jack Hibbs is the founder and seniorpastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Southern California. He rose hisnational platform by being a vocal proponent for reopening his church in themiddle of the most lethal pandemic in a century by violating state ordinancesagainst such. This of course made him a darling amongst the apostate church thatknows so little about the actual church because of their purpose drivenfoundations. Defying common sense and science, these alleged church leaderscared more about collecting tithes than the health of their congregants. Make nomistake about it, people died because of actions such as these. People became irreparablysick because of these actions. There is simply no way of getting around thenumbers. Many pastors tried to use carnal arguments pretending they knew betterthan scientists and epidemiologists. One pastor lamented that pastors should knowbetter than anyone when it would be safe for their churches to meet again. Thatis scientifically and biblically insane.

They behaved so reprehensibly even thoughpastors have literally died from COVID for such behaviors across this country. Letus not lose sight of what was really at issue last year. Many of thesechurches, including Hibbs' opened around May of 2020, when the pandemic was infull swing. There have been over two million cases with over 50,000 deaths inthis country. The state governments that ordered churches not meet did not "closethe church." That is a silly argument. They simply said that large indoor gatherings,such as Charismaniacal church serves, needed to be temporarily suspended. Theydid not say that the church could not service their congregants, either individuallyor in small groups. They did not say that pastoral care visits had to stop. Theydid not say that services could not be virtual. They did not say churches couldnot find more creative ways to help their communities and spread theGospel. They just could not packthousands of people into close quarters. The problem is Jack Hibbs and the cultof personality pastors of today were trained under the Rick Warren PurposeDriven Church model where those hour and a half on Sundays ARE the church. Withoutthem they simply do not know what else to do. More to the point they also losetheir primary revenue generation, Sunday tithes and offerings. So they lunchedinto their two pronged strategy. First attack the government in direct violationof Romans 13. Second was to hide behind bible fragments to pretend their causewas righteous when it most certainly was not. A year later, the pastors thatthumbed their noses at authority such as Hibbs are still trying to defend theirindefensible behavior. Above is a link to a recent article from Hibbs doingjust that. Let us reason once more together.

'"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write ... Iknow your works" (Rev. 3:7a-8a). While these words were penned to aspecific local church in Asia Minor, they also echo throughout eternity as areminder for every church throughout the New Testament era. Christ is King andLord over the churches. He alone has authority over the church. However, inrecent years, the church has seemed confused about its holy pedigree, itsprophetic place and God's great plan. Sadly, many people are questioning thevalue and the relevancy of what a church is in our day. This has led people toask, "What purpose does the church serve today?"' - Jack Hibbs

Hibbs just missed the church from Revelation that more closelyresembles where the church is today in America. The key verses may as well havebeen spoken directly to Hibbs. His works are neither hot nor cold. He thinks heis rich and needs nothing but he cannot see he is wretched, pitiable, poor,blind and naked. The reason why many question the relevancy of the church todayhas nothing to do with COVID and everything to do with the NAR dominionism thathas taken over the modern church. When your opening position eliminates morethan half the population based upon political affiliation, what else do youexpect? Then factor in the purpose driven church growth model that reduceschurch to a mere hour and a half each Sunday and what are you left with? Realizethat Hibbs and his ilk were arguing only to be allowed to hold their weekend services.That is not the church! A half an hour of vapid music that centers on maninstead of God, followed by a twenty-minute sermonette about how special we are?That is not the church yet that is what Hibbs is fighting for! Growing theLaodicean Church is not the great commission.

"More alarming is the reality that many people have now becomecomfortable not attending church at all. Sure, people will say they now dochurch online, but let's be honest--viewing an online service is no differentthan listening to a radio teaching program while driving down the highway. Itmay be learning, but it is not church. It will not be church until God's peoplecreate the opportunity to meet physically. The truth is that tens of thousandsof former church attendees have now found it much more comfortable andconvenient to stay home. They have adopted a "wait and see" approach.This is exactly why I believe the Scriptures exhort us to be careful about howwe value Christ's church in these days and our meeting together (see Heb.10:25).

The great news is that Jesus told the pastor in Philadelphia,"I know your works. Look! I have set before you an open door, and no onecan shut it" (Rev. 3:8a). No pastor, board of elders, governor, presidentor ruler in this world has the authority to shut the doors of Jesus' church.Only Jesus has that right." Jack Hibbs

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