On a Sunday night I had decided to relax and leave the men watching the football game for something more subdued as it had been a long day, although a good one. I began to flip through my normal go-to channels and found nothing of interest and thought about a brief nap when I landed on the national news that announced an event on the Discovery Channel that would be broadcast live. As a child I had attended a movie about circus performers called The Big Circus that had intrigued and yet troubled me even then. The story told how circus performers are bound to wow audiences and keep the owners happy by constantly raising the stakes in risky trapeze and high wire acts. In the end, a performer attempts to traverse Niagara Falls as a stunt to keep the circus solvent to continue to its next venue. It was extremely dangerous but the performer was obligated to perform to save the Circus from foreclosure. When I tuned into the Discovery Channel I saw that Nik Wallenda was going to perform two new feats in an effort to add two more Guinness World Records to his resume.

The show was billed as a live performance, however, they did broadcast on a delay, in the event he slipped and fell. Wallenda was going to walk the highwire across two  Chicago skyscrapers at a sharp incline. The second feat was to traverse two more buildings while blindfolded. Mr. Wallenda did succeed and had it been merely about a circus performance, to bring attention to the family act, it would have been nothing new up his sleeve, but another example of man striving to defy God and the laws of gravity, to prove how wonderful he is.

The thing that held my attention for the two hours is that Nik Wallenda has a testimony of being a Born-again Christian, and he had invited pastor Joel Osteen, his friend, to bless his endeavor. (Wallenda attends a non-denominational, evangelical church in Sarasota, Florida, but maintains a close friendship with Joel Osteen.) Nik Wallenda spent some time in prayer prior to his walk on the wire and repeatedly said “All glory to God” and “Thank you Jesus.” as he did his performance. To the world, this may appear like Nik Wallenda is a very religious man and devoted to his faith. However, as a mature Christian who is familiar with God’s Word, I found the whole thing suspect and highly offensive.

Anyone who has read the Gospel in the account of Jesus in the wilderness, fasting for the 40 days and nights, should remember that Satan came to tempt Jesus. Satan told Jesus that if he jumped off the top of the temple, that God would send his angels to save him, not even allowing him to dash his foot. Jesus rebuked Satan and told him “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” If God’s very Son would not take a foolish risk to prove to Satan his real power and spiritual authority, why would a mere mortal put it to a test, and even declare he had God’s approval before the whole world? The answer is the same as the message in that old circus movie, money and a need for notoriety to keep the circus act going.

Wallenda grew up in the circus and it is a long-standing tradition in his family but it has come at a very great cost. Six members of the performing family have died in accidents as a result of their performances. Yet the family continues in the circus tradition, even doing the same routines that have cost lives.

The term circus comes from its origins in Ancient Rome where performance was made in a circular arena. The performance often featured feats of strength and murderous acts of the trained killer gladiators, coupled with the use of animals, often of exotic nature, doing unnatural behaviors provoked by men. The actual word is from Middle English but is derived from the Roman tradition. It is born out of the antichrist kingdom of the time, Rome, which for me is a tip-off on the whole spirit of circus and the motivation to perform unnatural, to supernatural acts to bedazzle the audience. With this in mind, I do not find Wallenda’s chosen field of work/ministry to resonate as inspired by a need to glorify God and His son whom He sent. Clearly, his stunts are inspired to prove how talented and clever Nik Wallenda is to captivate millions of people on network television and to keep his name and that of his family in the press.

Nik has raised the stakes considerably, giving their performance a much wider audience with his stunts being televised. The first big event, the crossing of Niagara Falls came at a financial loss, according to Wallenda, after he paid for equipment and licensing. Since the crossing of Niagara Falls performance, his stunts have made the family more famous than ever and wealthy. He has subsequently signed a deal with the Discovery Channel and has crossed the Grand Canyon. Nik also tempted God in performing a high wire crossing in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the very place that his grandfather died while attempting a high wire act in 2011. Publicly, Wallenda blames his grandfather’s accident on faulty rigging and human error by the crew that set up the high wire. By insisting on that explanation, he can keep his grandfather’s reputation intact, and maintain the image he wants, to prove that he and his crew know what they are doing in these stunts.

The latest test of balance in defiance of death is Wallenda’s double record achieving the Chicago skyscraper wire act in November of 2014. He wowed thousands of Chicago residents who held their collective breath as he traversed the buildings in each leg of his performance. It was broadcast live, on a 5-minute delay in the event of a slip up in his death-defying, God tempting, stunt.

Nik Wallenda released a biographical book in 2013 about his career and how it has shaped his faith called A Story of Faith, Family, and Life on the Line. Nik was quoted as saying that a motivator for him is that these events are very lucrative for the family in a piece he did on CBN. Nik also tours the country giving motivational talks and speeches at churches, conferences, and corporate events. Prior to Nik Wallenda’s public stunts, his family was facing some financial problems and now they are enjoying renewed wealth. Nik’s reported to have a net worth of 3 million dollars. At what price has this new found wealth come for Nik Wallenda’s relationship with Jesus Christ?

If you asked someone like Joel Osteen what Nik Wallenda’s life as a circus tempter and daredevil does to his relationship with Jesus, he would probably say that Jesus approves of it and that it is his calling. That is what Nik Wallenda answers to anyone that asks about how this conforms to the Gospel when Jesus said not to put God to a test. Nik always prays before setting out on the wire, and then repeats like a mantra over the course of the act, as a devotee of some other religion might, “All glory to Jesus.” Just the kind of thing Jesus asked us not to engage in.

As believers in the Gospel, should we think this routine in any way glorifies Jesus Christ? If Wallenda is declaring that his ability to cheat the odds and defy death, is all due to God approving the routine because he is such a special person, he is deluded. God does not change, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If God would not approve Jesus defying death by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple, then should we believe God wants some guy who has seen six family members die from such ‘tests’ continue such ‘fall dirall’? And further, having a high profile preacher there to pray with Nik Wallenda gives an illusion of some holiness, but don’t be fooled.

Nik Wallenda, like Joel Osteen, and many other Evangelical Christians have adopted the “Prosperity Gospel” as a cornerstone of their belief system and that is how they can declare that God approves of what they are doing because they named it, claimed it, and now God has to approve and support it. How did that work for the other six who named it and claimed it? Don’t drink the kool-aid fellow Christians. If you are considering Christ as your Savior don’t be impressed by these stunts. You don’t have to be. Let me say in no uncertain terms this is spiritual extortion and it stinks to high Heaven.  It’s more like Wallenda is walking a Devil’s plank than a tightrope.

What does Jesus say about Christian people in this condition?

Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
   And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matt. 7:22-23