The story I’m about to tell you isn’t a pleasant one. We, in the part of Christ’s body known as the Disciples of Christ, especially don’t like to talk about it.
If you’re my age or older, you’ve probably heard the story, or at least parts of it. But if you’re much younger than me, you might not have heard the story, because, like I said, we don’t like to talk about it.
But there are some important lessons in this story. Lessons that are needed, especially today. If we ignore the story and the lessons it has for us, then the tragedy and the horror of this story will be repeated.
In fact, in a very real way, this story is being repeated, every day, in too many churches across America.
Back in the 1970s, there was a preacher who went over to the dark side. In the end, his leadership spelled doom for hundreds of his followers.
His name was Jim Jones.
Jim Jones’ ministry began in the 1950s. He started a congregation in Indiana called the Peoples Temple. Early on, Jones was affiliated with the Methodist Church. Later, he was ordained in the Assemblies of God. Then, in 1964, Jones switched denominations again, this time joining the Disciples of Christ.
In 1965, Jones moved his church from Indiana to California. Reports of abuse began to surface, and the Disciples of Christ investigated; but no action could be taken. As a denomination we weren’t really all that organized - we didn’t even consider ourselves a denomination yet - and so there was no action the Disciples could take.
So Jim Jones continued his ministry, with little oversight or accountability.
But he could not escape attention. Reports continued to surface of abusive behavior. Jones wanted to take his church to a faraway place, where it would be harder for nosy reporters and concerned relatives of church members to interfere.
So, in 1974, Jones left California and began building a commune in Guyana, a commune that became known as “Jonestown.” Despite that distant location, reports still made it back to the United States. There were accusations that human rights were being violated, and that people were being held in Jonestown against their will.
Since most of the 1000+ people who went with Jones to Guyana were U.S. citizens, U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan traveled to Jonestown to investigate.
At the end of his visit, as he and his group were about to leave Jonestown, they were attacked by Jonestown gunmen, and four of them, including the congressman, died that day.
Jim Jones then ordered or coerced the members of his church to drink punch laced with deadly cyanide. It was a brand of punch called Flavor Aid, but early reports mistakenly said it was Kool-Aid. Those who refused were injected with the poison.
This resulted in the deaths of 909 people - many of them, children. It was the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001.
In the years that followed, the Disciples of Christ responded to the Jonestown tragedy with significant changes for ministerial ethics and a new process to remove ministers who abused their authority or otherwise demonstrated that they were unfit for ministry. Some of the requirements I have to meet for ordination and for standing are meant to prevent this sort of thing from ever happening again.
It is from the Jonestown tragedy that we get the expression “Drinking the Kool-Aid," which refers to a person who has been deceived into believing in a doomed or dangerous idea. And this phrase has become even more popular over time, even though it wasn’t actually Kool-Aid that they drank in Jonestown.
A 2007 episode of the TV show Veronica Mars had “Drinking the Kool-Aid” as its title. A 2017 episode of American Horror Story had “Drink the Kool-Aid” as its title… In February 2012, "Drinking the Kool-Aid" won first place in an online poll by Forbes magazine as "the single most annoying example of business jargon."
When people say that someone has “drunk the Kool-Aid,” they mean someone has believed in a dangerous idea. Someone who “drinks the Kool-Aid” is someone who blindly follows a path that leads to doom.
Like most pastors I know, I try very hard to speak only what is true, to think before I speak, to make sure that the path I lead people on is true and good. I pray often that I don’t lead anyone down a wrong path, a path that leads to doom. I take very seriously my role as a preacher, and my responsibility to share from the pulpit only that which is true, that which brings healing, that which is good and wholesome.
So I greatly appreciate the prayer Paul offers on behalf of the Colossians, that they may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding; that they may lead a life worthy of their calling, and that they bear good fruit. I offer that prayer for myself, and I invite others to offer it on my behalf…
…because sometimes I think about how it is that preachers like Jim Jones can deceive so many, and deceive themselves into thinking that what they are doing is right and good.
And I know that there are today, throughout our country, preachers who continue to persuade and coerce their people to drink the Kool-Aid.
By that I mean, there are preachers feeding their people lies, and convincing them to believe in things that are dangerous to their own well-being. The people are deceived; they’re led down a path that leads to doom.
Here are three examples of the Kool-Aid given to so many church goers today.
Example number one: Preachers tell their people that science is not to be trusted.
Jim Jones trained his followers to believe that no one could be trusted but him. Many preachers today do the same. Don’t trust the scientists, they say. If the scientists tell you that human-caused climate change poses an existential threat, don’t believe them.
Yet we know that ignoring the effect humans are having on the climate is leading this planet to destruction.
Example number two is related to example number one, because it also feeds people the lie that science is not to be trusted. In this case, it is the lie that vaccines are not safe and not effective against viruses. Some preachers have been telling their congregations this. “Don’t get vaccinated. Don’t wear a mask. Trust God, not science.”
That’s some deadly Kool-Aid right there. They’ve had huge, disproportionate numbers of their congregants not only get sick, but die from COVID, because they swallowed that lie. They drank that Kool-Aid.
Example number three: preachers tell their congregations that any government program to help the poor is socialist and contrary to the gospel. And some of them also tell their congregations that, if you are faithful, God will reward you with material wealth.
No one was as faithful to God as Jesus, yet Jesus had no material wealth. And Jesus was constantly ministering to the poor, to the outcasts, to the ones that even the religious leaders wouldn’t help. “The Spirit has anointed me to preach good news to the poor,” were the first words of his ministry.
The government policies promoted by these preachers hurt the poor, and often cause people who are poor to die unnecessarily. As William Barber says, “We have too many people in power, who are too comfortable, with other people dying.”
When the idea first popped into my mind, to compare these pastors who mislead their people to Jim Jones, I said to myself, “You can’t do that. That’s going too far; it’s crossing the line.” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the comparison is accurate.
Because neither Jonestown nor 9/11 was actually the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act; I’m pretty sure the number of people who have died because their pastor said “don’t take that vaccine,” or “don’t wear a mask,” or, “don’t vote for that politician who helps the poor,” or, “don’t worry about climate change, it’s all a hoax,” … the number of people who died because their pastor said something like that is far greater!
These pastors are leading people to their deaths!
I wish this were not so. I wish I could stand with all Christian pastors, in a spirit of unity and friendship, and say, “We have our differences, but we all follow Jesus, and we all are doing our best to bring life and love to the people.”
But too many people are being given poisoned Kool-Aid to drink, and too many people are dying. And I am not comfortable with that.
Because the way of Christ is the way of life. It’s the way of healing and wholeness - not just for some, but for all of God’s people.
The way of Christ is the way of love; and anything that does not show love toward one’s neighbor is not the way of Christ.
And the way of Christ is the way of truth, and I’ve got to speak the truth, even if it puts me at odds with a few prominent pastors in our country.
In today’s scripture from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul prays that those who hear his words bear good fruit. In another letter attributed to Paul, it says that the fruits of the Spirit are (do you remember what they are?): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
And in Matthew 7, Jesus says you will be able to tell between true prophets and false prophets by the fruit they bear. Good prophets, good leaders, good pastors, bear good fruit. Bad prophets/leaders/pastors bear bad fruit.
And if people are dying because of something you’ve preached - that’s bad fruit!
Good fruit is fruit that is alive. It is alive, and filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
That is what I want in my ministry.
That is what we want in the church.
It is what God wants from us.
To bring life, and healing, and wholeness, to our world. To our community. To our neighbors. To one another.
To bring freedom and liberation; the gospel is not about enslavement, whether we’re talking about the enslavement of bodies or the enslavement of minds. The gospel isn’t about controlling people. The gospel is about liberation.
In Christ, we have been set free.
And every time I preach, I pray that my words bring life, and that they help lead people on a good path.
Because I don’t know how it happens, but I’ve seen too many preachers lead people on a path of doom.
And I pray that none of us are tempted to go down that path.
And I pray that none of us, even though we’re not all preachers here, lead anyone down that path because of things we say or things we do.
And I pray that Bixby Knolls Christian Church is always true to the way of Jesus - true to the gospel - true to the way of life and love and liberation.
And I pray that people in our community - our neighbors, even those who don’t go to church or don’t believe in God - know that what we say and what we stand for is good and true, and leads to life.
And I want it to be evident that we are a congregation that is filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding; that we have built and maintained a ministry worthy of our calling; and that we bear good fruit.
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