This might seem a little strange, but hang in there ‘til the end because I think this has a powerful punch line.
Proof-texting is one of the main reasons false teachers can find a home inside of evangelicalism. The false teacher can take a verse out of context and apply it to a teaching that the verse was never intended to support.Prosperity teachers love to do this with the Old Testament, especially the Proverbs. How do they get away with this?Most pew-warmers don’t understand what the Proverbs are.
Proverbs are written in a catchy way (the shorter they are, the less likely they are to contain a thorough theology on an issue) that help us remember GENERAL truths that if applied faithfully will TYPICALLY (but not always) make life better.There is a heavy emphasis on physical well being and wealth in the Proverbs and we have to be careful to not pull out these individual guiding PRINCIPLES and turn them into a GUARANTEE.
We must balance the promises of prosperity in the Proverbs with other Proverbs and with the rest of the Bible’s teachings on blessings.Let me give you an example and then I will show you how easily this can be done…and why we must be good Bereans.
Proverbs 10:3 says, “The Lord will not let the Godly starve to death, but He refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked.”The smiling prosperity preacher will announce, “If you are a Christian, you have God’s favor and He won’t let you starve to death.”
Wrong.
That is not the PRINCIPLE of the verse.The principle is: God is on the side of His children and He stands opposed to the wicked.How do we know that?
The Proverbs are designed to be general principles that typically make life better.
Proverbs are not individual promises that guarantee you will always succeed.
From a practical standpoint, many Godly Christians have starved to death, or worse.
When I read this verse with the rest of the Bible in view, I know that this single verse cannot be a guarantee I will never starve and the wicked will go hungry.
Let’s just take a look at the life of Job.Didn’t he understand this Proverb?What about Psalm 73?Asaph laments that the wicked seem to prosper while he, a Godly man, seems to struggle.That appears to be in direct conflict with this verse IF you teach that the Proverbs are individual guarantees of success.
So what does this have to do with the price of corn in Oklahoma on a Tuesday?It means that we must always, always, always read every verse in the Bible in its immediate context and in context of the whole Bible.If you fail to keep the rest of Scripture in view, you can twist Scripture and the next thing you know, you will have a mega church.
Do you remember the movie The Shining?It was the creepiest, scariest horror movie of the ‘70’s (and yes, I saw it before God saved me).It was dark, bloody and downright evil.I would like you to watch the attached re-made movie trailer for The Shining.(There is nothing offensive about what you are going to watch and this is NOT an endorsement of the movie.)
What you are about to witness is movie proof-texting.A clever individual pulled out little snippets of this gruesome movie to make it look downright charming.As you view this, keep the context of the whole movie in view.And keep this in mind, if you do not keep the entire context of the Bible in mind when you read Scripture, you might not end up twisting Scripture yourself, but you may be duped by someone who does.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfout_rgPSA&search=shining%20trailer
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What a fabulous and funny example of how if you take small snippets you can make something seem to be entirely different than it actually is! This preview makes the The Shining seem like a charming romantic comedy, when it is actually one of the darkest most frightening movies I have ever seen. (And yes, like Todd I saw it prior to finding Christ.)
It is a very good example of why all of us need to be in the word on a daily basis. There is certainly a lot of inaccurate teaching out there, not to mention outright deception. Click here to reply to this post
Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 11:00:39 AM
Age 52, FL
This article was great, but so are almost all of them. Thanks for gathering some of the best columnist in the country. Keep up the good work. I really appreciate my subscription to Worldview Weekend! Click here to reply to this post
Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 09:55:57 AM
Age 41, KS
Todd,
Do you believe it is possible for someone to have a Mega-Church that is a legitimate Preacher and not a prosperity preacher? Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 03:18:51 PM
Age 38, FL
Yes, there are godly, Christ-centered pastors who have very large churches, but they are definitely exceptions to the rule. A few that come to mind are Dr. John MacArthur, RC Sproul, and John Piper. Unfortunately, the average "evangelical" no longer wants solid teaching, so the men who are standing firmly on Scripture are leading small flocks. Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/24/06 05:44:39 AM
Age 52, VA
I recently read an interview with John MacArthur. He was asked about the plan that he used to grow his church. His answer was that he didn't have a plan and that size was never an issue. He only wanted to teach/preach the Biblical Gospel. Most Mega-Churches "plan" on being large as if size=truth. In 1 Chron. 21 David made the mistake of thinking that his strength and success was due to the size of his army rather than from God. Yes there are a few large faithful churches, but the Bible says that God uses the weak things of the world (small churches) to shame the strong (large churches). Click here to reply to this post
Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 09:22:35 AM
Age 52, PA
I think the article is very good. However, I think it is mistitled. I almost didn't read it because I go to a large church & I thought you were going to attack them.
I almost didn't continue reading it because at the beginning it seemed you were saying that all large churches preach the prosperity gospel. I hope you do not mean either one, and that's not what I got from reading the whole thing. I'm glad I read to the end, but I think it should be titled "Shining Example for Biblical Context" or something like that. Click here to reply to this post
I have been a lay worker in ministry since I accepted the Lord 30 years ago. I appreciate your clear perspective on an area of much debate, confusion and controversy. It took me years to understand the point of what you are saying perhaps if someone had done a better job of this, many Christians would still be in church today!
May God bless you, Mrs. Millie Natal. Click here to reply to this post
Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 07:30:03 AM
Age 31, AL
Awesome article, and the Shining Video really does ad drives the lunacy of proof-texting home. Great Job Todd, I thank God for your obedience.
Pastor Arnold, Madison Alabama Click here to reply to this post
Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 07:29:42 AM
Age 31, AL
Awesome article, and the Shining Video really does ad drives the lunacy of proof-texting home. Great Job Todd, I thank God for your obedience.
Pastor Arnold, Madison Alabama Click here to reply to this post
Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 06:45:25 AM
Age 57, VA
I totally agree. Many, many times I have watched the Christian suffer and wonder why all those promises of God that were made by the 'feel good churches', didn't apply to them. And this includes myself. They are smiling all the way to the bank. And one more day you have no lunch money, or rent money, or medicine money.
Thank you, for a job well done. More preachers need to stand up and say it.
God bless you. Click here to reply to this post
Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/22/06 02:39:46 PM
Age 26, MN
Todd, thank you for your great article! Your point was made exceptionally well. I especially enjoyed the movie clip at the end. What a terrific way to show exactly what many "teachers" of the word do. Thanks, Jared Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 08:05:11 AM
Age 34, MN
Mr. Fiel,
I think it is wise to be very careful at the things you say about the Word of God. The fact of the matter is that all is God's and He can choose to give money to anyone He wants; however, He is no respector of person's. There are laws throughout the Bible of "sowing and reaping", as real as the law of gravity. If you are obedient and faithful - if a Believer is sowing into the kingdom of God not just monetarily but with his/her life, God WILL bless. That is not opinion - that is fact THROUGHOUT the Bible. It interests me to know why people always want to mention Job, and yes Job suffered. But don't leave out the last few chapters. Did you know that God restored ALL that was taken from Job (his HEALTH and WEALTH) - in fact it was restored double (Job 42:10), Read it!
Be very, very careful that YOU divide the Word correctly! You will be held accountable for what you teach people too!
Sincerely,
MJibben Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/24/06 05:23:24 AM
Age 52, VA
The Prosperity Gospel is the the Gospel of Satan. Satan offered Jesus the world if he would bow down to him. The Prosperity Gospel says that just like God you can bring things into existence by the spoken word. Only God has the power to speak things into existence. Satan told Eve that if she listened to him she would be like God. Listening to a Prosperity Preacher is listening to Satan himself. He makes the same offers that Satan makes. -Luke Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: Re: How to Start a Mega-Church
Posted On: 05/23/06 01:58:17 PM
Age 36, OR
First of all to the critics of the article. I think you need to know what the meaning of "Mega-Church" is. I've been to a very small mega church before. Its the mentality. I believe the last poster actually pointed out the fact that those who disprove and see through the so-called "prosperity" teachings like to point to the book of Job as a reference, and rightly so. The fact that Job ended up being replenished 10 fold does not take away from the fact that a just and Godly man went through the extreme trials that he did. By the way, his children were not raised from the dead. Anyways, try telling the good Christians in Asia and the middle east (who risk being killed from religious fascists and/or are starving to death because they live in such poor countries) that God wants them to have a few nice cars and the biggest, nicest house on the block with all the goodies. Heck, try telling them that they will have three daily squaeres and a cot. We are blessed in America because the poorest of us live like kings compared to our brothers and sisters abroad.
I loved the article and the trailer was an excellent example of proof texting. It also made me laugh because I know the movie very well. Click here to reply to this post
