Many false prophets will arise and will deceive many. – Matthew 24:11
In Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25), He reveals much regarding the end times, including the statement above.
I’m not certain that we are in “end times” but I am certain the world is heading that direction, and the closer we get, the more discerning we will have to be as to false teaching. To that end, let’s take a look at a few very popular teachers/events who should give us pause.
All of these individuals speak truth… sometimes. And that’s the worst kind of deceiver – the one who cloaks their bad teaching (or downright heresy) in biblical sounding language.
Steven Furtick/Elevation Church
Simply put, Furtick is not a good teacher of the Scriptures because he often reads his own ideas into the text rather than working to draw out the text’s actual meaning (a process known as exegesis). This is not unusual, sadly – pastors who teach without understanding the meaning of the original language, or the audience and culture to whom the text was originally addressed. These are critical elements of good Bible exegesis.
But Furtick is not so much an exegete but an eisegete – meaning he’s known to twist Scripture to serve what he wants to preach, rather than dig into the true meaning. An obvious example comes from the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. Honestly, Furtick is hardly the only bad teacher who’s preached this scripture as a lesson in how to defeat your “personal giants” – which is nowhere near the contextual true meaning – but of all the people who’ve mangled this passage, he’s probably one of the best known.
With a lack of teaching on core doctrine (like repentance), Furtick spends a lot of time teaching on personal breakthrough and success. Which he himself takes pretty seriously, having been known to preach wearing $2000 designer sweaters, $1300 designer jackets and $1000 designer sneakers. (Furtick has been oft-featured on the popular Instagram account “Preachers in Sneakers” which chronicles the excessive spending habits of well-known “preachers.”)
So it’s not surprising that he’s flirted with, platformed, or downright veered into unsound ideas like the prosperity gospel, Word of Faith movement, and New Apostolic Reformation teachings.
This article provides an in-depth look at why Furtick is so unqualified to teach.
John Mark Comer
John Mark Comer has gained a fair amount of attention from Protestant evangelicals who’ve read his book, Practicing the Way. Which is ironic, since much of what he is teaching is recycled Catholicism and ancient mysticism.
Comer’s target is Christians who long for some sort of extra-biblical spiritual experience, something more substantial than what they’re getting in their evangelical or Reformed churches, and his formula to meet that perceived need is ancient mystical practices, a heavy dose of Roman Catholicism, and questionable charismatic practices like speaking in tongues, deliverance from demons, healing ministry, and “word of prophecy.”
I’m going to jump in right here and agree that many churches are not facilitating an environment where believers are encouraged and empowered to be on mission for Jesus in their day-to-day lives, focusing on loving one another and loving their neighbor. The churches that do this right, however, largely fill the void Comer is trying to fill, so they don’t have so many members sitting around wishing for some mystical experience to make them feel closer to Jesus.
Comer does call himself a mystic, which generally means people who expect to receive new and direct revelation from God. A practice Comer regards as essential to this is contemplative prayer, which sounds super-cool but is in fact unbiblical, and not at all the way the Bible teaches us to pray, which is mindfully and meaningfully.
He’s transparent about his spiritual mentors, and they’re all associated with mysticism (Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen to name a few). Most importantly he reports his “spiritual director” is a Jesuit priest. As theologian Tim Challies points out in a review of Comer’s book, “the Jesuit order was founded specifically to counter the teachings of the Reformation and, therefore, to combat the Protestant faith – and purpose it has never revoked.”
Comer’s definition of the gospel is not really about repentance, and he doesn’t seem to be a fan of actually telling people they need to repent, but rather espouses a “be like Jesus so others will want to be like Jesus” approach – which is not bad, it’s just not complete. We really have to open our mouths and speak truth, too.
But Comer instead emphasizes practices like meditation and “stillness” as being essential, while virtually ignoring practices like proclaiming gospel truth, or studying the Word to grow in understanding of Christian doctrine. Writer and theologian Jeff Medders, responding to Comer’s book, points out that growing closer to Jesus – or as Comer puts it, spiritual formation – need not involve anything particularly mystical:
Here's what I want to clearly say about spiritual formation: Read the Bible, pray the Bible, meditate on the Bible, believe Jesus, depend on the Spirit, fellowship with other believers, serve your church, pursue holiness, and live for the glory of God.
YES. This is how you fill any void in your spiritual life. So is Comer to be avoided like Furtick?
Depends on who you ask. Writer Wyatt Graham gives Practicing the Way a thumbs down due to Comer’s view of God (as detailed in Comer’s previous books). Challies is also not a big fan:
There is much in his book that is true and useful. Yet there is much that is false and unhelpful and therefore much to be concerned about. I am especially concerned that people who feel that longing for more—that sense that there must be more to the Christian life than this—will allow their disquiet to draw them into his teachings, into his practices, and ultimately, perhaps, right out of recognizable Christianity. What he offers is not merely a different perspective on the Christian life or an alternate set of practices, but a different gospel and ultimately a different faith.
This recent article on Comer clearly sums up the problems with his teaching. And if you disagree with everything I’ve said about Comer, I urge you to consider this very thoughtful take on Practicing the Way.
Gather25
Speaking of John Mark Comer, he was part of the recent Gather25 televised global Christian conference. Many churches participated in this event, inviting members to come watch together.
But this is where discernment should come in, no?
The event featured a plethora of questionable folks, theology-wise. Rick Warren, who was recently called out for a particularly bad theological take. Jenn Johnson, a worship leader from the theological dumpster fire known as Bethel Church. A fleet of girlboss Bible teachers from Lifeway Women, purveyor of countless women’s Bible studies. Quite a few of the Lifeway women are weak theologically. And some are teaching – dare I say it – heresy?
Priscilla Shirer, for example, espouses contemplative prayer like Comer does, and like Furtick, uses Scripture to illustrate her teaching points rather than the other way around. Christine Caine embraces prosperity gospel/Word of Faith teachings, and is a pastor/teacher at her church. In fact, a number of the Lifeway women have a history of preaching in churches, including Kristi McLelland (whose studies I have done and enjoyed, full disclosure), who has preached from the pulpit along with other women at her church. Spot the theological problem there?
Back to Gather25. Conferences that platform questionable teachers – especially conferences that platform many of them – are a problem. They’re a problem because there are often solid teachers on the docket as well – who sometimes aren’t told who else will be in the rotation before they agree to participate. It’s kind of a hot mess.
How confusing is this? Especially for newer Christians?
I don’t know the right answer to this problem. Maybe fewer conferences and more just getting your teaching from your local church. But our local church needs to be discerning too. We don’t need to start burning old women’s Bible studies, but we do need to more thoughtfully vet the materials and speakers and conferences (and probably, music) that we offer church members.
Somehow, we all need to grow in discernment, because according to Jesus (in Matthew 24), it’s only going to get worse.