Flirting with Faith

I never fully subscribed to Word-Faith, but there was a time when the Prosperity movement and I flirted. I'll share here an excerpt from the story of my journey through the charismatic movement. This section is rather unimaginatively titled "The Prosperity Preachers":

I was genuinely surprised by the message of the prosperity preachers when I heard for the first time that God wanted us to be rich. Europe’s first ever Christian TV channel had recently started broadcasting, and I was ripe for its teachings. A lady from church kindly kept my mother and I up-to-date with videotaped recordings of the daily programmes. The exciting preaching I was hearing was like nothing I had been exposed to before: Kenneth Copeland and Fred Price would encourage believers to "name it and claim it" with infectious enthusiasm; John Avanzini would open up the teachings of Jesus and provide keys to getting rich; Rodney Howard-Browne’s powerful anointing would cause an entire theatre-full of believers to erupt into hysterical laughter, while causing others to freeze like statues in the middle of giving their testimonies. I soon learned to sincere amazement that God wanted us to be wealthy and that sickness came directly from the Devil himself. The new preachers I listened to would talk straight to Satan saying things like, "Get your hands off my property in the name of Jesus!" Whenever financial trouble reared its head, they would simply "stand on the Word", confessing boldly that Jesus died to make them rich, and claiming by faith the results there and then. If signs of sickness appeared, they would proclaim aloud on the spot, "By his stripes I am healed. Hallelujah!" and Satan would be obliged to get out of the way, and God to step in. Christianity was one long line of victories, all available by quoting the promises of Scripture back to God, to oneself or even to Satan. I liked it.

I remember hearing John Avanzini speak one time. He began by saying something like, "Now this is one of Jesus’ greatest parables on the subject of money and how to become wealthy" (put almost as crudely as that). He then took his viewers through the parable of the sower (Mark 3:4-8), explaining that Jesus was teaching his followers that if they sowed their money in fertile soil, they would reap a hundredfold in kind. He also added that one of Satan’s greatest schemes had been to keep the church ignorant of the important meaning of this parable for centuries. I was bowled over, although not because Avanzini had twisted and contorted the text to suit his own ends, but because Satan had apparently been able for so long to blind the minds of believers to Jesus’ greatest parable on the subject of how to get money!

Unfortunately, I did not have the wisdom to check things for myself and see if what he was saying was true. It was quite some time later that I was combing through the gospels trying to find the parable to which John had referred, and was puzzled to discover that nothing he said even remotely matched anything I found on the lips of Jesus. Eventually I concluded the reference could only be Mark 4, and I was finally awakened to the fact that Avanzini had in fact grossly misled his viewers. No one approaching the parable for the first time could possibly have construed its meaning in the blatantly deceptive way he had. Mark even tells us in the following passage (4:13-20) that Jesus was talking about the word of God, a far cry from what I had been led to believe. Avanzini had of course conveniently forgotten to mention this part of the text. How many other Christians, I wondered, had taken John and his fellow charismatic preachers at their word and not had the wherewithal to compare it with the words of Jesus for themselves?

Welcome, to the desert of the real!

Another set of destructive teachings made popular by the Word Of Faith movement is the idea that we can confess our problems away or do 'carpet time' to change situations in our lives. Many people deal with critical issues in their lives using these methodologies when ultimately, in most cases, they do not see any changes in their situations.

I believe that we should be able to be REAL, deal with issues, and discuss our struggles without the condemnation of the confession police. The typical "Give it to God, brother" responses need to cease. There are so many times I've heard the answer "You need a touch" given to real people dealing with real issues. As a result of these cliche answers, many of the Word Of Faith followers believe that their problems will go away when they attend to the next meeting with the evangelist who will make them laugh, fall , shake and get "drunk."

The reality is you cannot confess away temptations. You cannot confess away financial struggles. You cannot confess away sickness. All these issues need to be addressed; and, in most cases, lifestyle changes need to be made.

You're not going to get the wealth of your neighbor because he is a "sinner." You cannot confess your way into his house which was paid for by his hard work. You cannot tithe or "give" your way out of financial difficulties when you were irresponsible with your finances. You're not going to be healthy if you don't take care of your body.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to be real.

Armor Bearers - RUN!!!!

One of my former pastors gave me a book "God's Armor Bearer" by Terry Nance, a Rhema grad. In it, Mr. Nance gives us the pretty standard definition of an Armor Bearer. Here's a few quotes (Not full lists from the book but a good sample).

Duties of a Armorbearer

- Must provide strength for his leader.
- Must have a deep down sense of respect for his leader, and acceptance for, and tolerance of, his leader's personality and his way of doing things.
- Must instinctively understand his leader's thoughts
- Must walk in agreement with and submission to his leader.
- Must make the advancement of his leader his most important goal.
- Must follow order immediately and correctly.
- Must support his leader
- Resists seeking to know his leader after the flesh

Functions of an Armorbearer

- Surrenders completely to his leader, trusting him implicitly and obeying without hesitation his every command.
- Carries out every plan of his leader successfully
- Completes his leaders command perfectly
- Prepares and cares for his leaders belongings
- Anticipates his leader's needs and demands so as to properly furnish and supply what is needed.
- Exalts, respects, and uplifts his leader at all times
- Works tirelessly and diligently on behalf of his leader, seek ways to advance his welfare and situation
- Fulfills his leader in every way, getting along with him, and making him feel comfortable in giving orders
- Sacrifices his own life and well-being for the betterment of his leader
- Demonstrates total intolerance of any false charge made against his leader
- Forgives his leader for any offense immediately and without harboring resentment or anger
- Demonstrates extreme loyalty to his leader, even unto death
- Esteems his leader as more important than himself

I believe this teaching is one of the most dangerous teaching of the Word Of Faith Movement. It fosters spiritually abusive environments where people are controlled and manipulated. I remember sitting in Keith Moore's "Submission and Authority" classes at Rhema and thinking, "Are we joining the mafia here?"

If you're in an environment where any of the above is practiced, my advise to you is to get out. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. The longer you wait, the harder it will become to break free.

The Appeal of the Word Of Faith

I have often wondered why the Word Of Faith movement (or Word-Faith movement) is such a popular flavor of modern Christianity. With the exception of Billy Graham and Luis Palau, it seems as if the only ministers who could fill a stadium are Word Of Faith ministers or those closely associated with the movement (Meyer, Copeland, Hinn, Hickey, Jakes, etc.)

It is said that the top 4 things and we seek in life are:

1) Wealth
2) Health
3) Power
4) Entertainment

The Word Of Faith provides answers to these quests:

1) Prosperity on DEMAND.
2) Promise of a life free from sickness and disease or what's called divine health.
3) The teaching that we have authority over about anything that can come our way.
4) A life filled with glorious experiences with "the anointing."

However, most of us who were once Word Of Faith come out of the movement very disillusioned and with the feeling that we've been used, abused, manipulated, and lied to.

This blog will share the stories of many of us who have come out of the Word Of Faith movement in the hopes that we can help those who are on their way out and are currently experiences some of the things we did many years ago.

Paul