Dangerous Exports Part Two

As I have already stated: within the next series of posts I have decided to highlight some of the many issues that I am dealing with not only in my own particular part of the world in which I serve however, many issues that are faced by many who are involved in missions all over the world today. In my last post I dealt with the dangerous western export known as the Syncretistic Gospel which is most prevalent within many Muslim countries. However, in this post I want to shed light and my concern in what is also known as the “Prosperity” or “Word of Faith” Gospels.

The Word of Faith movement is heavily influenced by a number of popular pastors and teachers such as those coming out of the Hillsong church/movement in Australia and within many American teachers such as Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyers, Kenneth Copeland, Paul and Jan Crouch (TBN Broadcast Network), Paula White, T.D Jakes and Creflo Dollar (just to name a few).

The Word of Faith movement grew out of the Pentecostal movement in the late 20th century. Its founder was a man named E. W. Kenyon, who studied the metaphysical New Thought teachings of Phineas Quimby (considered cults then and still today). Mind science ("name it and claim it") was combined with Pentecostalism, resulting in a weird mixture of both orthodox Christianity and mysticism. A man named Kenneth Hagin studied under E. W. Kenyon and made the Word of Faith movement what it is today. Below are just a few of the many heretical theology in which most Word of Faith teachers espouse and teach.

Word of Faith theology teaches:  

• God created human beings in His literal, physical image as little gods. In a since we are all gods on this earth.

• Believers have the potential to call things into existence by using their spoken words. When this is done in faith and without wavering (doubt) the Lord certainly must and will act. If he does not, it is simply a matter of your lack of faith.

• Jesus Christ gave up His divinity and became a man, died spiritually, took Satan's nature upon Himself, went to hell, was born again, and rose from the dead with God's nature.

• God wants you rich in this world to declare his existence in what he blesses you with. There is usually a huge emphasis given to personal wealth within this movement.

• God wants everyone healthy and without sickness in this world that He may declare his existence in how healthy you are. If you are sick it is because of some sin in your life or once again a lack of faith on your part.

• God expects you to show your level of faith in how much money you give to His work. Usually of course, this means giving money to the works and so-called ministries of these teachers themselves.

• God continually gives prophetic messages and vision today. Often these teachers simply serve as Christ’s messengers for these new thoughts, teachings and visions.  Ironically these teachings and messages often contradict scripture and are of an extra-biblical nature.

The Rub (merely scratching the surface mind you):

As with anything that Satan uses to distract others from the truth of the Gospel, the Word of Faith message often possesses some truth (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). For some it is this mixture with truth that often makes it difficult for those to outright call this movement un-biblical or heretical. However is as Charles Spurgeon has stated;

“If God does not save men by the truth, He certainly will not save them by lies. And if the old Gospel is not competent to work a revival, then we will do without the revival. – Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong, rather, it is telling the difference between right and almost right.”

In the prosperity gospel, the believer is told to use God for their own personal well- being, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is that God uses individuals in order to glorify Himself. Word of Faith or prosperity theology sees the Holy Spirit as a power to be wielded for whatever the believer wants and desires. However, The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person who enables the believer to do God's will and seek His glory. In possessing such thinking prosperity teaching usually prohibits God from working on His own, meaning that God is not Lord of all however, He is bound until we release Him to do so. As the name “Word of Faith” implies, this movement teaches that faith is a matter of what we say more than whom we trust or what truths we embrace and affirm from “His” word.

Countering Word of Faith teaching is simply a matter of reading the Bible and possessing a heart more fixated on Christ rather than ourselves. Instead of stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it. Believers, especially leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:3), are to be free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5). The love of money leads to all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). In sharp contrast to the Word of Faith emphasis on gaining money and possessions in this life, Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). Simply stated there are just too many flat out contradictions between prosperity teaching and that of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ found in His word.

Within scripture Paul and the other apostles were not men characterized as those accommodating or becoming fans with the false teachers who propagated such heresy. They identified them as dangerous false teachers and urged Christians to avoid them (2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 4:1, 1 Timothy 6:5, 9-11, 2 Timothy 4:1-5, Galatians 1:6-10, Matthew 24:24)

Many of you may not already know this about me but, I am no stranger to this movement and its teachings. Before, I was truly converted to Christ I spent two summers in Africa (Botswana and Zimbabwe) with a missions organization known as “TeenMania Ministries”. Ironically this organization boasts of such endorsements coming from Joyce Meyer, T.D Jakes and Myles Munroe (all Word of Faith-ers) It was during this season that I found myself being exposed to much of these thoughts and teachings within the Word of Faith movement. When in Africa I even served and sat under missionaries from Lakewood Church (Joel Osteen). Since then and after my conversion I have also served as a mission’s pastor in the States and was privileged to serve the name of Christ in places such as Kenya, Honduras, Mexico and Australia. Now I have had the blessed opportunity and call to serve in the land of South East Asia and have ministered in many locations/ countries located here.

Sadly, much of what is called Christianity/ Christian in many of these locations fall under the teaching and beliefs of much of what we have come to know as the Prosperity Gospel/ Word of Faith movements. I am continually astonished at how often I am hearing this teaching in the churches here and how continually blitzed these people are with books, speakers and teachings coming out of America and Australia here within this movement.

One such example of this teaching being present here was when I was preaching the gospel in a large city located here and a group of about 50 men and women came forward at the end of the service for prayer. It was at this time I expressed a desire to stop the service and breakup with these folks in smaller groups and have the church leadership share in praying for these folks. The leadership would not have it. They said, “These people have come here for YOU to anoint them”.  I should have stopped everything right there however I went on to pray for each person all while expressing that I was not anointed (as having any power). In doing so I learned really fast that every one of these people (and yes I mean every one of them) merely wanted me to pray that they would receive more money, that they would be healthy, that they would get that new promotion, that they would become more influential at work.

I must admit a huge sickness came over me and frustration soon ensued. Not one of these people asked that they may become better witnesses of Christ and his gospel. No one asked that they might receive boldness and courage to take the message of the gospel to a friend, co-worker or family member. No one asked for prayer that they might grow more and more in the likeness of Christ. No one wanted to grow in humility. No one wanted to profess a desire to serve Christ and seek prayer for such service. All these people simple wanted was what they perceived that they could receive and get from God. Kind of like rubbing the lamp and waiting for the Genie to appear and grant their three wishes. These people were simply products of the Prosperity Gospel in which was coming out of that church and its leadership.

Frankly the Word of Faith movement is deceiving countless millions, causing many to grasp after a way of life and faith that is not biblical in the least. This gospel as with the syncretism coming out from the insider movements are no Gospesl at all. At its (Word of Faith) core is the same lie Satan has been telling ever since the beginning in the Garden: “You shall be as God” (Genesis 3:5). Sadly, millions are still listening and believing in this lie. So, be wary of the Word of Faith movement and any church that aligns itself with Word of Faith teachings.
 

For more great teaching on these subjects check out the ministry of Justin Peters

Dangerous Exports Part One

In these next set of posts I want to speak concerning a few issue that I am continually facing here on the field. This First issue is over the "Insider Movements" and the syncretism of the Christian message here with say that of Islam. Although I will not go very deep into what these movements actually teach in an in depth way. I have however posted links for you to follow and do your own homework. 

"Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with Gods word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God."  - 2Corinthians 4:1-2

Contextualization is that process of taking the Gospel which has been received in one’s own culture to a different culture and effectively communicating its unchangeable biblical message in a form that is culturally understandable and acceptable to the receiving culture.

I am speaking of course in regards to “Cultural” contextualization and never will you ever hear from me a defense or approval of anything remotely aligned with a contextualization of the Gospel.  I am speaking here of a contextualization that leaves the message of the Gospel unchanged, but merely seeks to present it in a manner that is not culturally offensive (being offensive outside of what the bible has allowed.)

However, make no mistake the Gospel is offensive! It is as J.C Ryle has written;

“Heart religion is too humbling to be popular. It leaves natural man no room to boast. It tells him that he is guilty, lost, hell-deserving sinner and that he must flee to Christ for salvation. It tells him that he is dead, and must be made alive again, and born of the Spirit. The pride of man rebels against such tidings as these. He hates to be told his case is so bad.”

And although this cannot be avoided as Christ’s messengers in this world, we need not clothe the Gospel in our American, British, etc. culture and contexts which may, in itself, be offensive to the receiving culture. The problem is, biblically, we are to put aside all culture, and take on the Kingdom culture of Jesus. We are Christians/ Disciples of Jesus Christ before we are American, British, etc.

A Healthy example of contextualizing the Gospel is Hudson Taylor, the great pioneer missionary of inland China. Taylor shed the British clerical garments the other missionaries to China continued to wear, and put on the garments of the Chinese clergy; he cut his hair like the Chinese, and ate Chinese food.  He did all this while not compromising the Gospel. He merely clothed the message and the messenger so that the Chinese were not immediately repulsed by a message packaged in foreign attire and weighed down in 19th Century British culture.  In setting out in this manner Hudson had tremendous success. Remember Paul became all things to all men, in order that he might win the more, but he never altered the Gospel to do so… Never.

Contextualization (Cultural) can be an accepted and even a necessary process. Unfortunately there are those who have twisted this concept of healthy contextualization and in doing so even the Gospel itself. For these Christians, contextualization means the same thing as compromise. They believe it means giving people what they want and telling people what they want to hear. Even flirting close with the belief that there are many ways to serve God, even if it is in worshiping a different God all together (John 14:6, John 20:32, Acts 4:12). What they misunderstand, however, is that contextualization is still a process of giving people God’s answers and message, which they may not want to hear. A message that frankly transcends all cultures and all of history.

The Rub:

This form of contextualization is known as Syncretism. Syncretism is the combining of different (often contradictory) beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. Syncretism may involve the merger of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and practices of religion, therefore asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.

One such example would be levels within much of the practices and teaching that is given to workers among/towards Muslims known as the C5 Scale of Contextualization or what is known as “The Insider Movement” (also click here). This is a movement that is very prevalent here and something I deal with on a continual basis among westerners.

One of the main problems within this approach is that these scales are vague, and much can fall under them. Some may consider C4 as possibly biblical, though it depends on what the actual “permissible” or even biblical forms of Christian expression are. The biggest controversy tends to fall within the C4 & C5 sections.  Ultimately, the C-scale is a culturally biased scale. Made by westerners to put down western culture, and lift up indigenous culture. The problem is, biblically, we are to put aside all culture, and take on the Kingdom culture of Christ. On this subject John Macarthur has written;

“The Apostles went out with an absolute disdain for contextualization [that which is outside of biblically accepted practices]. The modern drive for contextualization is a curse, because people are wasting their time trying to figure out clever ways to draw in the elect. Contextualization is “Zip Code” ministry. The message of Jesus Christ, on the other hand is transcendent. It goes beyond its immediate culture or sub-culture. It crosses the world and ignores the nuances of culture.” [Emphasis mine]

I am continually awed by the creativity of humans to mix and match various religious beliefs and rituals to suit their changing worldview inclinations.  I am completely appalled at what many westerners here on the field call gospel and how often times God dis-honoring it all really is. Often times you hear things in conversation like; “Many here (Muslim) in all actuality serve the same God as us, it’s just that we serve and worship Him more fully.” Or as I had one friend approached by another western worker here; “All you seem consumed with and care about is that these people bow a knee to Christ.” Can you believe that? God forbid that be my objective as a missionary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is as John Piper has stated;

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church, worship is. Missions exists because worship does not. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man… Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It is the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations [any and all cultures] into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God.”

Simply put this is a movement in which sadly I find many westerners advocating and working in confines to here. This is a movement that in all actuality threatens the very biblical Gospel in which we are all to be promoting and heralding. I have often said that one of the greatest things that could happen for these people (indigenous) is for many of these western workers to simply pack up their bags on go home. And sadly I mean it. 

Please, continue to pray for us as we continually contend and proclaim the gospel here. Pray that I would have love and complete compassion towards those who advocate such practices here. Pray for the many here are involved in much of these views towards ministry. Please, pray that I would continually have boldness, courage, love and compassion as I continually speak against such work here.