6 Really BAD CHARISMATIC DOCTRINES We SHOULD RETIRE -by
J. Lee Grady
I will never apologize for being a charismatic Christian.
I had a dramatic experience with the Holy Spirit many years ago, and nobody can
talk me out of it. I love the Holy Spirit´s abiding presence in my life and His
supernatural gifts. I love to prophesy, speak in tongues, pray for the sick and
see people changed by the Spirit´s power.
At the same time, I´m aware that since the charismatic
movement began in the 1960s, people have misused the gifts of the Spirit and
twisted God´s Word to promote strange doctrines or practices.
Seeing these errors never caused me to question the
authenticity of what the Holy Spirit had done in my life. But I knew I had to
stay true to God´s Word and reject any false teachings I encountered.
My simple rule is based on 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22:
"But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;
abstain from every form of evil" (NASB). In other words: Eat the meat and
spit out the bones.
As I have traveled throughout the body of Christ in
recent years, I´ve experienced the good, the bad and the ugly. I love God´s
people, and I know there is a healthy remnant of Spirit-filled churches that
are striving to stay grounded in biblical truth. But I also know we have
reached a crossroads. We must clean up our act. We must jettison any weird
doctrines we might have believed or practiced that are hindering our growth
today.
Here are a few of the worst errors that have circulated
in our movement in the past season. You may have others that need to be added
to this list. I believe we are grieving the Holy Spirit if we continue to
practice these things:
1. "Touch not My anointed." Chances are you´ve
heard this weird doctrine based on 1 Chronicles 16:22. In an attempt to
discourage any form of disagreement in the
church, insecure leaders tell their members that if they ever question church
authority, they are "touching the Lord´s anointed" and in danger of
God´s judgment.
Let´s call this what it is: spiritual manipulation. It
creates worse problems by ruling out healthy discussion and mutual respect.
Church members end up being abused or controlled - or
even blacklisted because they dare to ask a question.
2. Dual covenant. We charismatics love and respect
Israel. Some of us even incorporate Jewish practices in our worship - such as
wearing prayer shawls, blowing shofars or celebrating Hebraic feasts. These
things can enrich our Christian experience-but some leaders go too far when
they begin to teach that Jews don´t need to believe in Jesus Christ to
experience salvation. They imply that Jews have special access into heaven
simply because of their ethnic heritage. This is a flagrant contradiction of
everything the New Testament teaches.
3. Inaccessible leadership. In the 1980s, some
charismatic ministries began to teach pastors and traveling ministers that in
order to "protect the anointing," they must stay aloof from people.
Ministers were warned to never make friends in their
congregations.
Preachers began the strange practice of skipping worship
on Sunday mornings - and then appearing on the stage only when it was time for
the sermon in order to make a dramatic entrance. Shame on these people for
attempting to justify arrogance. Jesus loved people, and He made Himself
available to them. So should we.
4. Armor-bearers. The same guys who developed item No. 3
started this strange fad. Preachers began the practice of surrounding themselves
with an entourage: one person to carry the briefcase, another person to carry
the Bible, another to carry the handkerchief. Some preachers hired bodyguards
... and even food-tasters! The armor-bearers were promised special blessings if
they served preachers who acted like slave-owners. Reminder:
True leaders are servants, not egomaniacs.
5. The hundredfold return. Before his death in 2003,
Kenneth Hagin Sr., the father of the faith movement, rebuked his own followers
for taking prosperity teaching to a silly extreme. In his book The Midas Touch,
he begged preachers to stop misusing Mark 10:28-30 to suggest that God promises
a hundredfold return on every offering we give. Hagin wrote, "If the
hundredfold return worked literally and mathematically for everyone who gave in
an offering, we would have Christians walking around with not billions or
trillions of dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!" Hagin taught that the
hundredfold blessing refers to the rewards
that come to those who leave all they have to serve God in ministry.
6. Money cometh. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for giving
money publicly to be seen by others. Yet in the 1990s, some charismatics got
the wild idea that God would release a magical blessing if we would drop wads
of dollar bills at the preacher´s feet while he was in the middle of his
sermon. Leroy Thompson of Louisiana popularized this flamboyant practice with
his infamous 1996 sermon, in which he
encouraged people to shout in King James English, "Money! Cometh to me
now!" Then the people would run to the front of the auditorium to pour
cash into his coffers. The money came, for sure, and more cash-hungry preachers
jumped on the bandwagon. Taking an
offering became a form of exhibitionism, and Christians began viewing their
offerings like lottery scratch-offs.
God requires holiness not just in our behavior but also
in our doctrine. Let´s discard these and any other foolish teachings that have
brought confusion and dishonor to the body of Christ.
-Source-
From Brenda:
I would like to add two more doctrines to this list:
The Commissioning of Angels
The Toronto Blessing
The Commissioning of Angels is wrong on so many levels
because it was never given to Man to have authority over God's heavenly host.
This teaching from 1980 tells Christians they have 64,000 angels at their
disposal to run errands, find parking, find jobs, bring sinners to church,
bring in tithes, heal the sick, fight wars, kill demons.
It started in Rhema when the late Kenneth Hagin had a
visit from Jesus who told him to send out angels. He then asked Charles Capps
to write a book about it and this has brought serious problems with it.
Because we don't have authority over God's angels, Satan
sent his fallen angels to fill the gap. These angel of satan sometimes do what
is commanded just to keep testimonies coming to keep this blasphemy alive.
So we have Christians commanding angels and these are
actually demons causing grievous problems in the church universal.
Repent of this error and call back every angel you have
commissioned and cancel those commands. Send these fallen angels to Jesus to
dispose of. Some of the signs of false angel activity are finances in jeopardy;
relationships in crisis; spiritual backsliding; health problems.
The Toronto Blessing - read "What God Hates"
and "Quench Not the Holy Spirit" on Prophetic Fire blog on http://www.propheticfire.co.za.
If the clean up can start now on all 8 of these doctrines
it will start to bring the church back into unity. All the above points cause
massive division in the Body of Christ.
Prayer: Father God it is time for us to make straight the
paths of the Lord. Help us to begin to rectify these errors for apostasy has
come into the Body of Christ. It is a sign of the end and we need to get
serious with You. In Jesus' name. Amen.