A Preliminary Assessment of Word/Faith Televangelism

A preliminary assessment can now be made.  There are two types that are most prominent today.  The first type is that of positive or possibility thinkers such as Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller.  The second type is that of positive confessionists, such as Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Robert Tilton and others.

The positive/possibility thinker believes in the power of the mind, the power of visualizing, the power of imagination, the power of faith.  What one thinks, visualizes, imagines, or believes strongly enough will be realized.  One's inner potential is so enormous and one's inner energy so powerful that one can literally think, visualize, imagine, or believe into being what one desires.  To the possibility thinker, the greatest threat to the possibilities that can be brought into being are a bad self-image and an absence of self-love.  Those negative elements are produced by negative thinking, it is said, including the type of thinking that entertains mans lostness before God, not to mention his total depravity.  In fact, the emphasis upon human sinfulness is itself the cardinal sin, for such emphasis would quickly turn a beckoning success story into a string of failures.  Instead, all the God talk, Christ talk, Spirit talk, and Bible talk, in general  should be designed to bolster or produce self-esteem so that one can begin to tap one's vast inner resources and realize one's incredible potential.

The positive confessionists have much in common with this approach.  But there is a difference.  Whereas the positive/possibility thinker is more "natural" in his orientation, the positive confessionist is more "supernatural."  The former emphasizes success as the natural outflow of the enormous human spirit.  In a sense, it is one-upmanship -- what the secularist can accomplish, the Christian can achieve more effectively...with Jesus.  The latter holds out the prospect of prosperity and success as the supernatural realization of the even more enormous possibilities that are presented to him in the framework of salvation.

In short, according to the positive/possibility thinker, man succeeds by mobilizing what he already is and regards success as no surprise.  Overcoming a bad self-image, of course, is part of the total package.  According to the positive confessionist, man prospers be claiming what God promises and calls this a miracle.  Part of the package is that he rests from Satan what is already his.  .

However these types may differ, they are at one in that they place man in the center rather than God.  And in spite of their different shades, they are only too eager to cooperate with one another.  For instance, the leading proponent of possibility thinking, Robert Schuller, frequently participates in the conferences of the positive confessionists and has even contributed the forward to one of Paul Yongi Cho's books.  The objective of both groups is to secure success and happiness for man rather than to present the biblical message of sin and grace.  Forget "glorifying God and enjoying Him forever!"  The goal of the Christian life is to "name it and claim it."  

It appears that biblical theology as defined previously and a systematic theology carefully built upon that theology and, on the other hand, the two types of televangelism described thus far are worlds in collision, for a properly constructed systematic theology places our attention upon the sin-holiness polarity with all that that entails.  Biblical theology does not allow a single issue -- and a man-centered issue at that -- isolated from the thrust of Scripture to dominate the preaching enterprise.

It should further be underscored that both types of televangelism are quite pretentious and aware of the different direction they take.  The first type of televangelism holds that the perspective of self-esteem puts its own imprint upon, and therefore requires a radical change in, the way one does (systematic) theology and in one's philosophical outlook upon life.  The second type of televangelism is of the opinion that it has finally unearthed the "full Gospel," well beyond any gospel that (biblical theology) has been able to formulate.

The Apostle Paul informs the Romans that he desires to come in the "fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:29, KJV).  In the light of the context of the epistle, in which he describes the "full gospel," it is questionable whether the theology of self-esteem squares with that "gospel," or whether the theology of prosperity squares with that gospel in its "fullness."  In a nutshell, the full gospel according to Paul is that sinners are accepted in the presence of God as members of the kingdom only through the righteousness of Christ and subsequently as saints enjoy that presence and serve in that kingdom only by surrendering everything to Christ.  Prerequisite for entrance into the kingdom is a loss of self rather than an esteem of self, although characteristic of service in that kingdom is self-sacrifice rather than health and wealth.

A televangelist, just like any other preacher, must preach the Word.  He must do so properly, informed by a properly construed biblical theology, one that springs from a covenantal perspective.  He must do so fully, informed by a carefully constructed systematic theology, which is to say that he does not confine himself to some popular themes, let alone fund-raising schemes.

His preaching must be evangelistic and edificational.  In his evangelistic preaching he must invite the sinner to come to Christ with his rebellious heart for it to be killed (Romans 6:6), with his guilty record for it to be cleansed (Romans 3:25), and with his unholy life for it to be transformed (John 15:5).  In short, he must invite the sinner to come to Christ for regeneration, justification, and sanctification, the sum and substance of the New Covenant, promised by the Father, personified by the Son, and personalized by the Spirit.

In his edificational preaching, he must bring the Word of God, including promise and law, to bear upon the believer.  He must seek to bring him into an ever-closer conformity to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) and  be intent upon mobilizing the church as the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14) in the areas of evangelism and edification, so as to make an impact upon all of society (Acts 17:6).


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. 

Hope My Family Are Reading!

Grace Donner says - The more I read about what is going on with different families, the more worried I am about my children. They are involved in different churches in different parts of the world but all seem to have a similar slant on Biblical truth. They can tell God what to do and expect Him to provide exactly what they ask. They can all be healthy (fortunately, none of my family has any illnesses) and that they will have little or no opposition to becoming wealthy or whatever else they desire. This is so non-Scriptural. Christians are supposed to have trials. We do not get our reward until heaven and material blessings have never been part of the Apostles or Jesus' life. Bless you for sharing your story and the stories of your readers. I have noted some of the books from the photo and will try to purchase them so that I can read for myself. Thank you.

B. & R. Post says - These stories are almost beyond belief except for the fact that we are in the midst of a similar situation. Our grandchildren were invited to one of these "cults" by some friends. Our children had not gone to church in years and all of a sudden, the family means nothing and their church family is everything. We are beside ourselves about how this could have happened that we have now been told that we are not welcome in their homes at Christmas because their spiritual moms and dads are going to be there and we would be out of place. How did this happen? We know that you don't have the answer but please print our story so that others can be aware of how easy it is for children to be duped by these cults. We did not realize that they were involved in a cult til we started reading your blog. Thank you. We hope you can stay strong so that your family will eventually see the light.

Nance Smith says - It is nice to see that you are able to be objective and allow people to have their say. I enjoy reading your blog and look forward to many more informative and insightful comments from you.

Mitchell Graeffe says - Given all of the stuff going on with these fringe churches or cults, why aren't the main-stream churches doing something? Aren't they interested in protecting people from this type of influence? I guess as Canadians we are too "polite" to interfere but what does that say about our Christianity? My rant for the day.

The Grand Poo-Bah says - The mainstream churches are failing miserably in this area. When you talk to anyone in the mainstream churches about cults, they look at you kind of funny. The truth is they are not knowledgeable about the huge threat that cults represent in modern-day society. It requires reading to be knowledgeable on this subject. My experience on trying to find information about cults since I realized my children were in one is that many of the Christian bookstores are not carrying books on cults because these books implicate the Pentecostal church directly or indirectly. Many of the Christian bookstores are owned and operated by members of the Pentecostal church and they do not want these books on their shelves. I had to go to www.amazon.com, Chapters and websites to get most of my books on the subject. Sorry, I really don't have an answer to your question. Maybe somebody else can send in an answer.

D. Dee says - Well.. how do you manage to attract all of these individuals who are so misguided? Our pastor only wants what is best for us based on God's Word. Why would we read any books that are not divinely inspired by God? You really should take a good look at God's book and concentrate on it instead of reading works of man.

The Grand Poo-Bah says - Cults put blinders on people so that they can be controlled and manipulated by the leader. This is what your pastor has done to you. You need to read these books to make your pastor accountable for what he is teaching. What can possibly be wrong with reading books written by world-renowned Bible scholars? Your pastor is not God; he is just a man. After you read the books, I'm sure you will have a number of questions for your pastor to answer. You need to understand that he will not tolerate you questioning him. Then you will know for sure that you are in a cult and you need to get out ASAP. I hope this is helpful to you and any other readers.

Name Witheld says - I am very interested in this subject. We have had one of these "cult" churches open in our small town and they have been actively recruiting at our local high school by inviting the teenagers to "fun nights". My daughter went to one because her friends were going and when she came home, she was very concerned about what she had heard at this "fun" night - that this was the only place in town where the Spirit of the Lord was at work and that all other churches are dying. She was also assigned a "buddy" who has not stopped phoning her for weeks. We are going to have to change our phone number because they just won't quit. We are now reading Christianity in Crisis -- thanks to the Grand Poo-Bah. Forewarned is forearmed! Thank you.

Amiee Thornton says - Yes. John McArthur is a wonderful author and very knowledgable about this frightening phenomenon that is sweeping the world today. The sad part is the people get caught up in wanting everything now and not having to wait for anything. This puts them as prime candidates for this false Christianity like "health and wealth" theology. We as Christians need to pray that God will open the eyes of the foolish to where they are going to end up if they continue to follow this path.

Mariessa Browne says - My parents are involved in one of these places. I didn't know it until I was researching a paper on Joel Osteen and your blog came up. After reading some of the stories, I am very frightened for my parents' financial future. Thank you.

The Grand Poo-Bah says - I am also concerned for the financial future of my children. The pastor is the owner of their church/business. Health and wealth churches don't stop at 10% giving. There are numerous on-going opportunities for followers to part with their hard-earned money to various "worthy" causes on a weekly basis. Faith Movement churches are like big money-sucking machines with only one purpose in mind; making their pastor rich. You will soon discover that the Health and Wealth gospel is mostly about making the pastor rich while keeping the followers hoping for riches.

S. Shears says - Keep plugging on. Eventually, your sons will become disallusioned with the lack of fulfilled promises and get out.

D & D. Sisson says - We are very tired of you continuing to debase our church. You are just making us more determined to wait for God's blessings in health and wealth.

The Grand Poo-Bah says - You are the one being debased here. Your pastor is getting rich and guess who's contributing to his riches every week? You are. How long are you willing to wait for your riches -- a day, a month, a year, five years, ten years? Some people spend a decade in one of these false churches before they realize it's all a crock and that they're never going to be wealthy and finally get out. I just hope you are not willing to wait too long.