Why should you boycott Together 2016? Let me explain. The Christian Post reported: “A Minnesota-based evangelist is calling on 1 million Americans to gather in the nation’s capital this summer to pray, worship and “stand for Jesus” and “catalytic change” at Together 2016.” Dubbed by some as the “Billy Graham of the next generation,” Nick Hall is “is calling on Americans to unite on the National Mall on July 16 to offer prayer that God will change the hearts of a divided America.”
Some of those attending Together 2016 include Mark Batterson, Francis Chan, Lou Engle, Pastor Ronnie Floyd, Lou Giglio, Josh McDowell, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, evangelist Luis Palau, and Ravi Zacharias. Also performers Jeremy Camp, Michael W. Smith, Lecrae, Passion, Hillsong United, Kirk Franklin, Kari Jobe, Tasha Cobbs, Casting Crowns, Crowder, Andy Mineo and Trip Lee.
Now Pope Francis is “adding his voice to a diverse collection of leaders, artists, and youth from many backgrounds.” According to the video Together 2016 – An Invitation from Pope Francis, “Amid their differences, they believe in one common thing: that Jesus changes everything.” Pope Francis says:
I invite you to the great gathering of all the youth in Washington, D.C., to find the One who can give you an answer to your restlessness . . . Jesus is waiting for you.
Pope Francis says that Jesus “is the One who planted the seeds of restlessness in your heart.” What is Francis talking about? It was Jesus who said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus did not plant seeds of restlessness in our hearts.
How can Protestants and Roman Catholics gather together around Jesus with their conflicting views of salvation, the Papacy, Purgatory, the Eucharist, veneration of the saints, and Mariology?
In a single blog post, I cannot address all the heretical problems with those in the Together 2016 line-up. It is enough to say, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16). For our present purposes, we will focus on the Together 2016 event rather than the participants.
One promo video says, “Imagine if every follower of Jesus put aside their differences and gathered together on one day around one man: Jesus.” First of all, they are making no distinctions about “followers of Jesus.” To them, a follower of Jesus includes anybody and everybody who professes Christ. We know from the doctrine of Christ that not everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus is really following Him (see Matthew 7:15-23). Rather than calling us together with those professing Christians who are living ungodly lives, Apostle Paul wrote, “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person” (1 Corinthians 5:11).
In regard to affirming sin, the Together 2016 App located homosexual affirming churches. Amy Spreeman of Berean Research reported:
In the 9 hours since this story was published, those who now download (or update) this app have reported that the “Find a Church” function is no longer available. The screen shots in this article are from my downloaded version at 6:30 a.m. this morning, July 14th. I think I will keep the original version for awhile.
Need to find a church that affirms the homosexual lifestyle? The new Together 2016 iPhone and Android app can help you find a place of worship where your sin is affirmed. . . .
You can also locate churches with a Yoga program, and any number of worship styles from happy clapping to the more stodgy traditional, all with your smart phone. I downloaded it and found that if you live in a small rural community like I do, you may have to type a larger community into the locator in order to see your gay-affirming selections.
According to the official website: “July 16, 2016 is the day when this generation lays down what divides us and lifts up Jesus who unites us.” But Jesus will not unite false teachers and those with false doctrine. Jesus will not unite the 33,000 “Christian” denominations of apostate Christianity. Many of these denominational differences are major dividing lines of fellowship. Rather than “laying down what divides us” and uniting together, Apostle Paul wrote:
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. (Romans 16:17)
And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. (2 Thessalonians 3:14)
If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. (1 Timothy 6:3-5)
So withdraw yourself from Together 2016. The doctrine of Christ is exclusive and cannot be exchanged for a false sense of unity. Apostle John wrote:
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. (2 John 1:9-11)
Moreover, Apostle Paul wrote, “For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you” (1 Corinthians 11:19). The factions, heresies, divisions, etc. make it clear who are genuine Christians.
Rather than taking a stand agains the false doctrines that divide professing Christians, Together 2016 is taking a stand against division itself. In their own words, Together 2016 is “taking a stand against division.” How can you take a stand against division without addressing the root errors and heresies which divide professing Christians? The only way is to agree to disagree, an approach which would be unthinkable to Jesus and the Apostles. According to the official event page,
Jesus directly challenged a culture of division. He prayed we would be one—one family, one body. And He told us to love our enemies. Everyone loves their friends; it’s when we love those who aren’t like us that the world takes note. It’s time to come together around Jesus in a counter-cultural moment of unity and love for each other.
If Together 2016 believes Christians should love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48), they ought to divide from those professing Christians who believe they can go to war for their country. In John 17, Jesus prayed for His disciples to be one. But wherever Jesus went He brought division (see Matthew 10:34f; Luke 12:49-53; John 7:43; 9:16; 10:19). Jesus said,
I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. (Luke 12:49-53)
In The Vision Behind Together 2016, Nick Hall says, “On July 16, we’re going to see all these waves collide. Catholics, Lutherans, Evangelicals and Charismatics literally rallying across the nation saying, ‘We may not say the same thing, but we’re on the same team.'” This statement is settling for less than the rule of Scripture. Apostle Paul wrote,
Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
According to Together 2016, all professing Christians may be on the “same team” even though they’re not saying the same thing. In order to be on the same team, we must be speaking the same thing, joined together in the same mind and judgment. Only then will there be no divisions among us. Rallying in Washington D.C. and overlooking those major differences is not helpful but hurtful.
Nick Hall continued, “Do whatever you have to do to get to the National Mall on July 16, believing that God has invited you.” He says, “God is calling you. The time is now for the church to rally to meet with Jesus.” I don’t believe for a moment that God has invited me to be a part of Together 2016, unless the purpose were to protest the false unity and apostasy in the professing Church.
You don’t need to go to the National Mall in Washington D.C. in order to meet with Jesus. This reminds me of the Lord’s conversation with the woman at the well. The Lord said,
Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24)
Those who attend Together 2016 may feel like their a part of something big and historical, but Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Jesus is interested in small gatherings of those who worship Him in spirit and truth, not worldliness and compromise.
Below is a picture of Nick Hall with Pope Francis. In a statement to the Christian Post, Hall referred to Francis with the blasphemous title of “His Holiness”:
We are humbled and honored by his involvement and are eager to share his message with the crowd that gathers at Together 2016. That His Holiness would choose to speak into this historic day is a testament to the urgency and the need for followers of Jesus to unite in prayer for our nation and our world.
Together 2016 “will be a massive collective moment when we will ask Jesus to reset our lives, our nation, and our generation.” God will “reset” individual lives when Christians preach the Gospel, when Christians make disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all things Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).
I believe God is inviting you to boycott Together 2016. Withdraw yourself from those who teaches otherwise and those who do not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness. Lay down your doctrinal and moral compromises and lift up Jesus who came to bring division.
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it! (2 Corinthians 11:4)