Word/Faith preachers at time emphasize the necessity "to stay with the Word," "to stay with all of the Word," and "to stay with the Word only." That advice is excellent but the practice usually lags far behind the theory.
To preach the prosperity gospel is not to "stay with the Word." It has correctly been called "a modern heresy. . . to say that those who have genuine faith will unfailingly experience health, wealth, success and freedom from trouble." It is simply unbiblical to advocate that God is the author of health and wealth, Satan the source of sickness and poverty, and that the believer has the right to demand health and wealth. It is biblically unconscionable to insist that upon paying the tithes (Malachi 3:10), or any kind of "seed" money (II Corinthians 9:6-10), the Christian may decree physical vigor, financial success, a comfortable home, a new car, or even the salvation of a loved one as part of his reign over anything satanic and evil. The "name it and claim it" position cannot be reconciled with biblical truths such as found in Genesis 15:13; 50:20; Job 1 and 2; Psalms 119:67, 71, 75; Amos 3:6; John 15:18-20; 16:2; Romans 8:18-23; Hebrews 11:35-38; 12:4-11; Revelation 2:8-11, and so on.
Further, to make success and the "name it, claim it" message, the main focus of one's ministry is not to "stay with all of the Word." At worst it is heresy and at best majoring in minors. The whole counsel of God vanishes from view (Acts 20:27), and so does the truly "full Gospel" of Christ (Romans 15:29). Modern Word/Faith preaching is advised to return to the solid themes that in the past brought on the genuine and mighty revivals, such as total depravity, original sin, sovereign grace, the substitutionary atonement, regeneration, repentance, saving faith, justification, holiness, the judgment, and the two-fold eternal state.
Finally, the all-to-frequent references to private communications from God or the Spirit do not square with the emphasis "to stay with the Word only." Since the canon is closed, there is every reason to hold that such communications have ceased. New and authoritative revelation is a thing of the past. Reliance upon extra-biblical revelation, therefore, brings the sufficiency of Scripture into serious question.
The only standard of faith and practice is, indeed, the Word, all of the Word, and the Word only. But a formal commitment to this is insufficient. It takes a properly constructed and detailed systematic and biblical theology to flesh this out and to ensure substantive adherence to it. Regrettably such theology is not in evidence.
Under the present circumstances no respite can be expected from the interpretive process either.
The possibility thinker makes self-esteem the material principle of the interpretation of Scripture and therefore the ultimate determinant of its meaning and of the theology built upon it. The net effect is "another gospel." The contention that Jesus came into the world to save from the shame of a low self-image and to instill self-esteem hardly warrants any other conclusion.
The positive confessionist has a similar problem. For him health and wealth is the material principle of the interpretation of Scripture. The upshot is that he believes that every Scripture passage and every Scripture doctrine affirms that the believer may anticipate, indeed, decree, success. This is "another gospel" as well.
On balance, it is appropriate to recommend that much, if not all, of Word/Faith preaching take a second look at its hermeneutics so as to ensure that the voice of God, the full voice of God and only the voice of God comes through to the audience. Otherwise, the listener should be advised frequently to make his first look his last.
- Henry Krabbendam
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
3 comments:
Once again, Mr. Poo-Bah, you have hit the nail right on the head. These Faith Movement people are so deceived by their leaders (I refuse to call them pastors or ministers--they can stick anybody at the front to rant and rave at them--and that's preaching????) It really saddens me that these uneducated followers of the Faith Movement are going to hell because they are being led down the garden path by charlatans and false teachers just like the Bible says will happen in the end times. Keep the faith, Brother. God will pass His final judgment on all of these when it is in His time.
The twisting of Scriptures is something that the Faith Movement does well. They take a piece of God's Word and manipulate it to suit their purposes. Nowhere in the Word are Christians guarantee health, wealth or freedom from trials by having enough faith. In fact, the Bible says that Christians will face many trials to bring us closer to God. A "feel good" church is a "bad" church. For example, true churches teach everything based on Scripture while "feel good" places (like Joel Olsteen's) are full of deceived people. I enjoy reading your blog.
If these so-called churches are twisting Scripture to suit their warped sense of worth to deceive their followers into giving them things that aren't scriptural - they should be closed. Most of these Faith Movement organizations are run by a tyrant who keeps everyone toeing the line. There is no accountability and that's why they get away with it. I wish that their followers would miraculously get their eyes and ears opened and run these charlatans out of town.
Post a Comment