The devoted followers of various leaders will post comments excusing the excesses and bad theology and defective Bible interpretation. Here are the most common excuses and my replies to them. I also cover where the unsoundness may come from.
I. Introduction
A. An inside view
I mostly have in mind the leaders who belong to the Renewal Movements, to which I have belonged since 1973. This movement is particularly vulnerable to foolishness and self-deception and demonic deception.
From then until now, I have observed countless strange practices and theology. I have not shared my observations and critiques publicly at this website (or anywhere else publicly) until recently.
I write as a sympathetic insider, not a hostile outsider.
B. Heresy hunters
I think the “heresy hunters” or “discernment ministers” perform a valuable service, as they work hard to view and clip out the videos, though, of course, I don’t always agree with some of their conclusions or cessationism. Cessationism is an error of absence (no gifts or not enough gifts), rather than an error of excess (abuse of the gifts). Continuationists can fall into the trap of excess and abuse.
And I don’t like the hunters’ mocking tone and condescending sneers. And sometimes they misrepresent things.
These “discernment ministers” must also stop consigning people to hell. This is beyond their knowledge and jurisdiction because the out-of-bounds leaders have not completed their journey. They still have time to repent. We will all stand before God at final judgment, and neither the critics nor I can know what the final verdict will be for these leaders listed in the companion post, here:
Calling Leaders by Name to Repent
I cannot recommend any one “hunter,” because individually each one has serious defects. But all in all, these “discernment ministers,” as a collective, offer a useful service for their video clips.
C. Defining terms and other matters
In this post “leader” stands in for the five (or four) ministry gifts in Ephesians 4:11 and elders and overseers (and so on).
All translations come from the NIV, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see others, please click on biblegateway.com.
This post comes from this one but is shortened:
Calling Leaders by Name to Repent
II. List of excuses
A. Brief intro.
The devoted followers of these leaders will post comments excusing the excesses and bad theology and strange ministry practices. Here are the most common excuses and my replies to them.
B. List of common excuses
1. Don’t judge.
This verse is referring to hypocritical judgment. When we take the plank out of our eye, we can see clearly to take the speck out our brother’s eye. Jesus said not to judge by mere appearances but to judge righteously or correctly (John 7:24).
A Misunderstood Biblical Command: “Don’t Judge!”
2. You’re gossiping.
No, podcasters who expose huge ministries are truth tellers. Once again, Ephesians 5:11: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
3. You are causing division.
No, I am causing correction.
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Tim. 4:2, emphasis added)
The verb “encourage” can also be translated as “appeal to,” “urge” or “exhort.” I am appealing to and urging and exhorting these leaders to repent.
Every book in the NT, except the tiny epistle to Philemon, says to watch out for false doctrines, teachers, prophets or apostles.
17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. (Rom. 16:17-18)
In this passage, it is outsiders who have entered the Christian communities and stirred up division. These people violate the clear teachings of Scripture. They serve their own appetites, that is, their greed. Some prophets flatter you and talk smoothly. “You will be special one day! A celebrity!” Immature disciples are naive and easily deceived.
Jesus to the church at Sardis:
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. (Rev. 3:3, emphasis added)
4. Don’t touch the Lord’s anointed.
This takes the verses way out of context. David’s men told him to kill King Saul, but David said no, for the Lord had anointed Saul with oil poured on his head by Samuel (1 Sam. 10 and 24). In Psalm 105:15, the Lord called all of his people “anointed ones” and “prophets.” He commanded the surrounding nations not to attack his people militarily, doing them physical harm. One fallen pastor quoted the verses and claimed, “I’m a protected species!”
No one is attempting to kill or attack these leaders to inflict bodily harm on them. But they certainly use those verses to protect themselves from Christians who are discerning their errors and falsehoods and exposing them. These leaders misuse those verses to isolate and insulate themselves.
5. Wealthy leaders are generous.
They give away money and lend out their luxury jets for missions. It is a good thing that they are rich because the missions could not procure a jet or finances from any other place.
Reply: They better give! This will soften God’s judgment against them during final judgment when he calls everyone to render their account, particularly leaders (Heb. 13:17). However, those who have spent decades twisting Scripture to enrich themselves will not be judged kindly by God.
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
6. But I got healed at a Benny Hinn meeting. My friend got saved there.
This verse answer why those blessings came to you.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Heb. 11:6, emphasis added)
You went to a hyper-charismatic conference seeking God for your healing and your friend’s salvation. God rewarded you because you sought him. But these blessings do not justify these leaders’ tactics.
Signs and wonders and salvations are not the only criteria by which to judge them righteously and correctly (John 7:24). Sound or unsound doctrine, true or false prophecies, biblical or outlandish ministry practices, and manipulative or sound fund raising also have to be examined.
7. But sometimes the prophet’s words come true.
Sometimes, yes, but today’s prophets also have a large catalogue of failed prophecies. If they hit and miss half the time, then they are not prophets. They need to stop. During Elijah’s time, only Elijah and Micaiah were named as true prophets, compared to an army of false ones. Accurate and true prophets are rare.
Remember: all the books in the New Testament, except the tiny epistle to Philemon, tell us to watch out for false teachings, teachers, prophets, apostles, and messiahs.
8. You’re just jealous. You’re getting money from your website or youtube channel. You’re just like them!
As of right now, I don’t have a youtube channel. And anyone has access to this website for free. No money made. When I get a youtube channel (God willing), I trust people will give willingly because I ask them to, straightforwardly. I won’t use manipulative tactics.
No, I’m not jealous of these leaders and their manipulative tactics and failed prophecies. Just the opposite. I genuinely fear for them when they stand before God at final judgment.
9. Matthew 18:15-17 says to go first to the offending person one on one. You’re not following Scripture.
The context is a personal offense in a local Christian community. These famous (and not-so-famous) leaders have not offended me personally. However, public sins and bad public leadership requires public correction and rebuke, so everyone in the public can learn.
And if I did confront them one on one, what do you think they would say? They would laugh me out of court (or their gigantic houses in gated communities or their huge, tucked-away compounds). My counsel would be too strict for them because I would tell them to bring forth fruit demonstrating repentance, which may involve downsizing their personal possessions, selling luxury items and giving the proceeds to the poor, living modestly, and possibly even shutting down their ministries, in some cases.
10. They have spent over fifty years in ministry! How dare you criticize them!
They have spent all those years twisting Scripture and manipulating people. This means their final judgment will be more severe (James 3:1). Don’t defend or excuse them. Pity and pray for them.
11. What gives you the right to criticize major public ministries. You’re not famous. You have not risen to their mega-level.
No, I’m not famous, nor am I a mega-leader, but I still get a fair number of clicks on this website, considering I have not sought national attention on the radio or television or video platforms. And their fame and my lack of it has nothing to do with my correcting their errors and calling them to repent. I doubt they would listen to me or read my website anyway, but I must obey God and name names publicly.
12.. Those who point out ministers’ abuse are the accusers of the brothers and sisters. You are aligned with Satan.
Here is the verse these manipulators are referring to:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down. (Rev. 12:11, NIV)
The defenders of public ministries also quote Zechariah 3:1, in which Satan accuses Joshua the high priest. To claim that the victims of abuse who are speaking out are satanic accusers of the brothers and sisters is itself diabolical. This is accusing the brothers and sisters who have been abused.
First Timothy 5:19-20 guides us here:
19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. (1 Tim. 5:19-20, NIV)
Victims of abuse are not required to confront church leaders who abused them. In some states, like California, it is illegal to make the abusers and the abused meet.
13.. King David and Moses got restored. All church leaders today who fall can also be restored to ministry.
No, sorry, They were nation builders and receivers of covenants. Moses the Sinai covenant, and David had his own covenant. Ministers in the local church don’t have this status or live in those rare, one-off circumstances. See point no. 11.
14. Don’t name names. Your brother is not your enemy.
I heard this back in the 1980s, and generally this is true. but I’m of a certain age now, and God has permitted–compelled–me to call them out publicly. I have spent a year and a half (or more) wrestling with God about whether I should name names. I believe God has backed me into a corner to do this. I am being obedient to him.
I name them here:
Calling Leaders by Name to Repent
In any case, calling leaders by name to repent is only my secondary mission. My primary ministry, as of the publication of this post, is teaching.
III. Three Sources of Guidance
A. Brief intro.
The leaders are confused because they do not understand the three sources that guide them. One is right, the other two are wrong.
B. Three sources
1. Right: The Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7-11)
2. Wrong: Their own mind and imagination (Jer. 23 and Ezek. 13)
3. Wrong: Lying or deceiving spirits (1 Kings 22; 2 Chron. 18)
See this post for more information and quoted Scripture:
C. Vulnerable leaders
When God places a ministry or leaders under judgment, they become vulnerable to lying spirits. The leaders who believe they are insightful and prophetic may actually be listening to these spirits or their own imagination.
Note that I did not say they are fully possessed and owned by evil spirits. But demons are influencing their minds. They speak numerous false prophecies and bad teachings and are arrogant and defiant about them. Arrogance and defiance opens them up to more judgment and therefore to even stronger demonic influence.
How Does New Testament Define Demonic Control?
D. How we can be sure leaders are under judgment
How do I know that these leaders may now be influenced by a deceiving spirit? Satan is the father (= source) of lies (John 8:44). He twisted Scripture during the temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4 and Luke 4). Leaders who constantly twist Scripture are in danger of being influenced by lying spirits or are actually influenced by them. Jesus defeated Satan by interpreting Scripture correctly.
No, I’m not talking about sincere interpretations that may have to be adjusted with further study (I do this often enough!). I’m not talking about theological disagreements, say, between the details within one eschatological system and another. Those are secondary or tertiary doctrines.
Rather, the leaders twist Scripture and make it say things it does not really say, for self-interest, like learning how to teleport or becoming an independent youtube prophet without (known) church connections or a prophet assuming he is the main leader of a local church or how to enrich themselves.
E. Their greed is something to watch for.
Many times God warns against greed (see, e.g. Matt. 23:25; Mark 7:22; 2 Peter 2:3, 14).
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15, emphasis added)
In contrast, when they listen to the Holy Spirit, they will stay close to Scripture, which the Spirit inspired. They will closely follow the ministry of Jesus in the four Gospels and the apostolic community in Acts and the epistles. They did not do outlandish displays and shriek and freak and dance and prance and push people down and guarantee riches for anyone who gives 1000.00 drachmas or shekels to their ministry.
Instead, these current leaders’ arrogance leads them to deviate from the NT, so they teach all sorts of strange doctrines, do show-offy platform displays, and engage in self-serving fund-raising tactics. The leaders have no wholesome fear of God and his word.
IV. CBU Spectrum
A. Defining the term.
CBU means that the leaders are still Christian But Unsound (or Unsafe or Unstable or Unreliable). More specifically, leaders are still Christians but have unsound ministry practices or theology or a defiant and arrogant public demeanor, often all three combined. You never know which sermon you’ll get on a given Sunday. One sermon may be wonky, or maybe on another Sunday the sermon will be a standard Bible teaching. Inconsistent.
This term stands in between false teachers and false prophets who are outside of the faith and have lost contact with the head (Christ) on the one side, and on the other side, sound leaders who do not have outlandish beliefs or practices but humbly carry out their commission from the Lord.
In short, CBUs stand somewhere on the spectrum between true teachers and prophets and leaders and false ones. To which side will the CBUs drift? That’s an open question.
B. The diagram
Here’s a diagram to illustrate the spectrum:
Sound ?← CBUs →? False
Teachers _______________________,_________ Teachers
Prophets Prophets
Leaders Leaders
C. Interpreting the diagram
The arrows and question marks indicate which direction they may drift towards. The arrow pointing to the left means that the CBUs are humble enough to repent and be corrected and therefore move towards becoming sound teachers and prophets and leaders. The right-pointing arrow signifies that they may go in the opposite direction. They may be considered false by reasonable leaders in the Renewal Movements who still believe the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7-11 and Rom. 12:6-8) and ministry gifts (Eph. 4:11) are operational today.
(The people really don’t listen to cessationists, and I don’t blame them because cessationism itself is an error.)
1. Gifts of the Spirit in Early Church Fathers
2. Healings and Deliverances in Early Church Fathers
3. Prophecies, Visions, and Hearing from God in Early Church Fathers
In any case, the outcome is an open question, depending on God’s grace and their repentance and humility to receive instruction and correction. Would they be willing to change their ministry style?
Would they even be willing to shut down their ministry, until they learn basic theology and the Bible? The spotlight will also have to shift from them and to the Lord and to a prayer team. No more platform superstars.
Again, open questions.
D. Hyper-misinterpretations
The real problem with these leaders is that they take one theme of Scripture and exalt and obsess over it too much. Hyper-prosperity, hyper-faith, hyper-grace, hyper-anointing, and hyper-sovereignty.
Solution: Everyone needs to proclaim the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).
V. Application
A. No more confusion over strong personalities
I hope that the body of Christ will stop confusing a strong personality with the anointing of God. The two things are not the same.
Strong personality ≠ Anointing
B. Disciples, please watch for arrogance
Mega-ministers today are arrogant; they don’t seem to need or even want correction. But here’s what God does to arrogant and humble people:
5 […] All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.” [Prov. 3:34]
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (1 Peter 5:5b-6)
The American church, particularly the charismatic variety, sits under God’s judgment due to arrogance. Yes, individual churches may be doing things right and are not arrogant, but generally the American church is not doing things right and is arrogant.
American arrogance has crept into the American church.
Arrogance opens the door to God’s judgment, and his judgment opens the door to lying spirits.
Let’s hope the above-named leaders will not abandon their faith completely and drift rightward on the CBU spectrum and thus fulfill the sad truth of this verse:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (1 Tim. 4:1, emphasis added)
D. Watch for mixture of truth and error
Numerous leaders mix much error with the truth. When they say “Jesus is Lord”: truth. When they exhibit strange displays and practices and bad doctrines: error. It gets exhausting sorting out the errors from the truth.
Is there still hope for them if they repent, immediately? Or have they moved irredeemably to the right side of the CBU spectrum? I hope they can repent and have not moved to the right beyond recovery. But I cannot know, in the final analysis, because their stories have not yet been completed. (Nor can the “heresy hunters” know this.)
E. Pray for them
Pray for these at-risk leaders. Even though they come across as unteachable and defiant and arrogant, pray that God will change their hearts to become correctable and gentle and humble and teachable.
F. Stop sending them money
In the meantime, please stop sending them money and viewing them on social media and TV. Dry up or diminish their influence, in that way.
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