A Dialogue in Regard To The Health And Wealth
Word of Faith Prosperity Gospel.
What follows are objections and my replies in regard to this ministry exposing false teachers. The sole intent and motive of this post is to serve as an apologetics piece to help, encourage, edify and educate people who may be encountering similar objections. It is solely out of love to see people freed from the destructive heresies of the Word of Faith Movement that I share the following dialogue with you.
OBJECTION: "Speaking against the Word of Faith movement (Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Jesse Duplantis, T.D Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Myles Monroe, Benny Hinn, Paula White, TBN, Joel Osteen and etc, is wrong. To do this is contrary to the Word of God!"
RESPONSE: What has been communicated here is contrary to something...I'll give you that; but certainly not the Word of God. What has been communicated here is contrary to a few health and wealth prosperity teachers...NOT the Word of God.
The word of Copeland, Meyer, Hinn, Duplantis or Dollar$$ isn't the equivalent of God's word...in fact, most times, it's the complete opposite.
What is happening here, is the false teachers you and so many others have heaped to your itching ears, are being exposed by the Word of God for what they really are. Most within the Word of Faith movement don't know the Word of God (they only know the word of Copeland or Meyer's and hereby mistake it as the replacement or equivalent to the Word of God). Therefore, upon hearing the actual Word of God (as found in the Bible), they are taken aback and repulsed...and hereby reject it while "casting it to the ground" declaring it "The Word of Satan" . Yes, Word of Faith adherents really like to "Call Those Things That Be Not As Though They Were" as they call the conviction that comes along with the actual Word of God: "Satan".
Tell me something: If you were stranded on a desert island from a young age up through adulthood with a group of a few others, with no other books to read but a Bible and absolutely no outward influence from the outside world whatsoever ...would you come to the conclusions of the Word of Faith movement? Would the church meetings you and your other island dwellers have resemble ANYTHING like what is seen in the Word Of Faith movement? Is there even a remote possibility you could come out looking anything like a Copeland, Osteen, Duplantis or Creflo?
I think we both know the answer to this question. The truth is, one cannot come to the conclusions of the WOF movement from reading your Bible alone. You must be severely indoctrinated and inoculated by and through the leaders of this unorthodox/cultic movement.
Within our desert island scenario, considering your meetings and personal devotions would never stand a chance to look ANYTHING like that of the Word of Faith movement......what does this tell us? This tells us, the Bible doesn't teach these things (man teaches these things).
You do realize that (just like other cults, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons) the WOF movement didn't exist for nearly the entire duration of the 2,000 years of church history, right? This means, that in order for the Word of Faithers to be right...nearly two thousand years worth of church history MUST BE WRONG.
The Word of Faith movement doesn't come from the Word of God. So next time you see someone exposing it for what it is, by using the Word of God...don't accuse them of going against the Word of God. What the Word of Faith teachers say... isn't the "Word of God". You have your "Words" messed up. And I must be blunt with you: Anyone within the church who has their Words messed up...when pertaining to God and man...also has their Gods messed up.
The Word of Faith movement as a whole is another gospel...a false god.
Read the first 1,900+ years of church history yourself...it is ABSOLUTELY and UTTERLY devoid of what these false teachers teach. I used to belong to the WOF movement...but then, I started reading my Bible in light of early Christianity (the first 300 years especially). Church history is devoid of the WOF movement because the Bible is devoid of the WOF movement. And if this is the case, we must surmise, the WOF movement is devoid of the God it claims to adhere to.
The phrase that best sums up the Word of Faith movement is: "Forever learning (the word of man) but never coming to the knowledge of the truth". 2 Timothy 3:7-
If we wish to be anything like the orthodox Christians of the first century church, we must be forever "unlearning" the tenants of the WOF movement. Otherwise, we don't stand a chance of coming to the knowledge of the Truth.
So, to reiterate: What I have done here is contrary to the man-made Word of Faith movement...NOT the Spirit-inspired Word of God".
OBJECTION: "You are judgmental and publicly slandering these anointed men and women of God (Touch not the Lord's anointed). We are to go these people in private. By you publicly calling them out, you are potentially hindering others from coming and responding to the Gospel. You may be turning people away from the truth by appearing negative and judgmental."
RESPONSE: Many, many, MANY leaders in the church have approached these teachers over the years and lovingly pleaded with them to abandon their false teaching...all to no avail. (David Wilkerson is one of them). Matthew 18:15- They vehemently refused every loving advance; thus the reason we still have the false teachers in the Word of Faith Movement. The Bible says if they refuse to repent when you go to them privately, they are to be expelled from the church publicly. But you see, you can't expel an apostate when people continue to sit as his feet.
People in the pews of an apostate teacher is the fuel to the fire of the false teachings that proceed from the apostate pulpit.
So long as people sit at their feet and fill their pews, it makes it impossible to fulfill the verse of taking two or three witnesses to speak to them privately. And most of them are "celebrity" preachers who you can't get to if you wanted to. They are "too good" for the common peasant. (But again, many well known preachers like David Wilkerson has confronted them according to the scriptures and they have refused to repent). To a false teacher, people in the pews is a sign of God's approval and blessing. For every false teacher there are hundreds of thousands who adhere to the teaching. So the problem not only lies with the teacher...it lies with their adherents.
Furthermore, I am not slandering them...they are slandering themselves by not being obedient to scripture. The Word of God exposes them for being in error. I am merely a messenger pointing people to what the Word of God has already declared as true (and false).
The Bible has judged them...I am not judging them...The Word of God is judging them. I don't expose ANYONE under my own authority. The scriptures are the ultimate authority that has already passed judgment...I merely point people to that fact, by repeating what the scriptures say. I am a mere mouthpiece to the words and teachings of scripture...nothing more.
How do we know what is false? By what the scriptures tell us is false.
Was Paul guilty of "public slander" and a "judgmental spirit" when he publically made known the sin of the Corinthian brother in the beginning chapters of 1 Corinthians? Was he hindering folks from seeing the True gospel by doing this? No, on the contrary, he was showing people EXACTLY what the true Gospel was by making deeply ingrained, stark contrasts of what the behavior of a Christian should and shouldn't be. The Corinthian brother, who was guilty of fornication, had already exposed himself publically...EVERYONE already knew. Paul was simply addressing what was already known and diagnosing the situation according to the Word of God.
How did Paul know this situation was wrong? Because he knew the Word of God...was inspired to write the Word of God and hereby held himself and others who call themselves "Christians" to be accountable to it. To simply pass it by, is the epitome of HATE...not love. Furthermore, the leaders in the church in Corinth were refusing to deal with this brother's sin. Which ironically, is the very thing you are suggesting I do with the above forementioned teachers. Paul was not only addressing the fornicating brother's sin...he was addressing the leadership of the church in Corinth for their sin as well. And what was their sin? NOT DEALING WITH SOMEONE ELSES SIN ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES. You see, the sin in Corinth was a two-edged one. To ignore an already public sin by not exposing it for what it is and just brushing it under the rug...is just as much of a sin as the sin of the person you are refusing to acknowledge and deal with. THIS WAS THE DOUBLE-EDGED SIN OF CORINTH. 1 Corinthians
1-5
Making contrasts as to what is right and what is wrong is NOT wrong...it's wrong NOT to do this and makes you spiritually irresponsible and liable to God as an accomplice to the sin you refuse to expose and hereby deal with.
We judge no one. The Bible has already done that. But we have a responsibility to hold people accountable to what the Bible says, lest the Name of God be slandered amongst the heathen.
"But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." Ephesians 5:3-5
This verse calls people who are greedy "idolaters". The people within the Word of Faith movement are all a part of the prosperity gospel which is a gospel of greed. Or as the Bible calls it "A gospel of Idolatry".
And within this very same context in Ephesians 5:11 the Bible tells us "Not to participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even EXPOSE them".
According to the context, what is an "unfruitul deed of darkness" according to Paul in Ephesians? GREED (which is idolatry) is the definition within the context of what an unfruitful deed of darkness is. And we are told to EXPOSE it.
We don't expose out of hate, ridicule or malicious slander...we expose out of LOVE...to prevent others from being swept into these false doctrines that carry the price tag of immense judgment when we (and they) stand before Christ. And not only that, we expose out of obedience...for the scriptures tell us to do so.
"Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." James 5:20
It's the opposite of love NOT to point out the things in which the Bible defines as error. Why? Because continuance in error carries the price tag of Judgment. Is it loving to watch someone walk headlong into an error that most assuredly leads to the death of their soul? No, it's hatefully charged direct disobedience to Christ and His Word. And again, this was the sin of the leaders within Corinth: REFUSING TO DEAL WITH BLATANT ERROR.
Refusing to deal with blatant error and sin is a blatant error and sin in and of itself.
Within the church, God considers it a sin NOT to deal with other people's sin.
Obedience to God's Word and the Love and concern for the eternal state of our fellow man is the ONLY motive by which we expose ANYTHING or ANYONE.
We're are talking about eternity here...let that sink in. In light of the Judgment Seat, we are not talking about a single afternoon of mild verbal scolding over tea and crumpets. Eternity hinges upon our obedience and disobedience to the Word of God. ALL roads lead to the Judgment Seat."
OBJECTION: "We shouldn't expose the teachers by name...we should only expose the false doctrines. We should never make public such things. It may turn non-Christians off from responding to the Gospel".
RESPONSE: Does this rule come from the Word of God? In light of everything I've already said: Where does it say we should conceal such things? When I see vast multitudes of people being swept into false doctrines under the influence of false teachers...I think it's scripturally irresponsible NOT to call them out by name. You cannot have a false teaching without the necessity of a false teacher. For every false doctrine...there is a false teacher. If the doctrine is wrong...then the teacher by which the doctrine comes is wrong as well. This is a default situation that cannot be separated. You cannot separate the doctrine that proceeds from the teacher. They are Siamese twins who share the same beating heart.
To conceal the identity of a propagator of eternally-destructive doctrines would be like law enforcement knowing their is a serial killer on the loose but refusing to name or apprehend him. They not only know his name, address and current whereabouts...but also the probability of his next target. But to avoid appearing judgmental and making people think law enforcement is out to publicly slander people...they conceal his whereabouts and the likelihood of his next target. Because you know, making this information public might turn people away from dialing 911 when they have an emergency. So, they just let the past and future murders along with the murderer himself...get away with murder and brush it under the rug. Law enforcement doesn't deny there are murders (false doctrines)...but they refuse to name, try and convict the murderer (false teacher).
This is MADNESS.
Yet THIS is what happens when we refuse to expose the false teachings ALONG WITH the false teacher for what they really are. This is what happens when we become so lax, cowardly and spiritually irresponsible, that we allow our feelings to begin to dictate our actions rather than the Word of God. When we choose popularity and an "unrealistic spiritually-positive-optimism" over and above what the Word of God tells us, we become disobedient like Saul and a traitor like Judas...and will soon be met with the same end. When we as a church begin to act like this, people (false teachers) get away with murder...and...PEOPLE DIE (and the blood is on our hands).
May we become sick to our stomach for what we've allowed and bitterly repent, weep, howl and mown in regard to the judgment that is coming upon us if we continue to operate under such ridiculous disobedience.
If law enforcement operated as such, it'd be all-out anarchy. And we wonder why the church is full of God-anarchists? We wonder why the church is filled to overflowing with apostates? The blood of many, many apostates, backsliders and false converts are dripping down the hands of this modern church. Our pews are filled to capacity with spiritual-murder victims. Why? Because our pulpits are filled with serial killers and career criminals who are given free reign to murder whom they will...because we have a church filled with people who could care less. We have a church that would rather be popular and "positive" than to point out the whereabouts of a spiritual-murderer.
The modern church has become a spiritual crime scene.
The shape of the modern church is that of the figure of a human body outlined with chalk upon the blood-ridden pavement of our disregard for God's Word.
In light of this, sometimes I wonder if ANY of us REALLY believe that what we are doing with our Christian walk will carry ANY eternal weight or consequence whatsoever.
If we really thought our lives and how we live them holds any spiritual significance where eternity is concerned, why do we continue to live in such an un-profound, insignificantly, flippant manner?
Do we REALLY believe that hell is hot and heaven is not? (Or is it just a cute rhyme)?
Is the Christian life just a cutesy-tootsy Facebook post or a clichéd one liner to help us be able to live with ourselves?
Is this just a game to us?
Is the Christian life just a bumper sticker, fridge magnet, clique, club or some other shallow outward expression to us?
Is the Christian life a mere mental assertion; a meaningless psychological exercise to help pass the dull, monotonous and tediousness of time?
Is the Christian life just a way to pass the time because we don't have anything better to do?
If we had any reality in regard to the seriousness and profound gravity of what things REALLY are in light of eternity, we would then realize that measly feelings are NOT more important than shaking the sense into somebody and hereby saving their soul from impending doom.
Most of us don't really care about hurting someone else's feelings or offending them. If we were honest with ourselves we would realize our refusal to speak the truth and expose things for what they are (in light of scripture) stems from the fact we are cowards who feel Christ isn't worth the potential backlash and persecution that would come upon us if we shared the truth so boldly (so we don't).
Sometimes feelings MUST be hurt in order to get a message across and nine times out of ten persecution WILL come upon the one who is delivering the message.
"Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted". 2 Timothy 3:12-
The reason most aren't persecuted in the modern church is because they refuse to live godly in Christ Jesus. Living Godly in Christ isn't just going to church or reading your Bible. Living Godly in Christ is also loving someone enough that you are willing to tell them the truth...then gladly suffering the persecution that comes with it.
"Suck it up buttercup" is a message I'd love to preach to the entirety of the modern church.
Most times it is harder to tell the truth than it is to tell a lie (get used to it). This is where speaking the truth in LOVE comes into play. Speaking the truth in love is saying the hard things that most people refuse to say because they're afraid of the price tag that comes along with it: PERSECUTION.
This modern church has redefined "speaking the truth in love" as:
"Telling people what they want to hear because we love ourselves and don't think Christ is worth being persecuted for".
"Speaking lies in the love of self at the detriment of another man's soul".
"Speaking lies because we refuse to suffer for a truth we don't even believe ourselves".
The reason modern Christian's aren't persecuted is because there just simply isn't enough evidence to convict them. Most in the church are never mistaken as being a Christian outside of church...so what makes us think we'll be mistaken as a Christian at the Judgment Seat? Christ will make no mistakes...make no mistake of that.
Cowards...murderers and accomplices...nearly the whole lot of us. May Christ return soon and put an end to this madness. I can scarcely bear much more.
We're speaking about eternity...if the thought of this doesn't move you...you are spiritually dead. If our false teachers are more important than someone else's eternity...we may as well get fitted for a millstone. Matthew 18:6