Secondly, we see how poor an understanding of the Gospels that Darren Wilson has. Yes, hypocrisy infuriated Jesus and yes the most fury was reserved for the teachers of religious law. Wilson wrongly equates that however to all mainstream religious leaders of today. The specific hypocrisy was because they were false teachers. Read the 23rd chapter of Matthew's Gospel and see the pronouncements of woe, or judgment, over the Pharisees from Jesus. First they shut the kingdom of heaven in the faces of those seeking it! How? That is what false doctrine does! Secondly, they travel the world to make a single proselyte but in doing so make him twice the son of hell that they are. Why? Because their doctrine is wrong! Thirdly, they have traded in the eternal for valuing the temporal. To them the gold was more important than the temple. So it is with false teachers like Wilson today -- constantly selling the baubles of this world while ignoring the eternal principles that can truly free and save people. The fourth woe is in regard to straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel. Specifically here that they ignored the weightier matters of the law in favor of the more legalistic aspects of it. While no one can accuse Darren Wilson of being a legalist, this still applies to him. While straining out the gnats of religiosity Wilson cannot see the love camel he constantly is swallowing. The fifth woe is the woe of being a whitewashed tomb. The outward appearance is well produced. It is well directed. It appears clean and righteous but inwardly it is filled with rotting dead men's bones. That is Darren Wilson and his endeavors. His stagecraft is good and can deceive many. The final woe is related to the Pharisee's insistence that they would not have slaughtered the prophets of old. This is a practice Wilson traffics in the spiritual realm in. Steering people away from the prophets and the Word of God in favor of his experiential love.
Thirdly here we see how blind Wilson is to his own hypocrisy. The reason why the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus was not just because of the interactions between the two. The reality is the Pharisees had a good racket. They were the respected ones. They held the seats of honor and power. They devoured widows' homes for profit. Jesus came along and overturned their applecart. He was a threat to the machine so they killed Him. Likewise today, discernment ministries that try and focus the body on the Word of God instead of sloppy agape theology and experiential Christianity are upsetting the applecarts of the Purpose Driven Industrial Complex. So Wilson goes on the attack to deride and denounce those that would pull back the curtain and let everyone see who the wizard really is. Wilson continues:
"I have no patience or tolerance for "religious" people anymore. I used to be one of the highest order, so I know how they think. Religious people are non-lovers. They are concerned with appearances, rituals, and theological ruminations. Their faith is firmly rooted in their head, but hasn't yet made its way to their heart. They know the right things to say, but strap a camera onto them 24/7 and you'd be appalled at their behavior. They "have a form of godliness, but deny its power" (2 Tim. 3:5). But more than anything, they think of themselves above others. This, I am convinced, is the truest form of religion in the worst sense, because it is the exact opposite of what Christ models for us. I was this person for many, many years. I had just enough knowledge of the Bible to make me dangerous, and I had just enough transformation in my life to make me feel good about myself, but drill down to the root of my heart and it was mostly selfishness and self-focus. I would love you only if it was convenient." -- Darren Wilson
There is a lot to unpack here. First it is quite telling that in the deceitful heart of Darren Wilson theological ruminations are a bad thing. To ruminate means to give deep and considered thought to something, in this case theology. Theology is merely the study of the nature of God and faith. So why is a self-promoted Christian leader coming out against deep and considered thought regarding the nature of God and faith? In the Bible Paul considered the Bereans of more noble character for their insistence on theological rumination. Secondly we notice the dichotomy employed here by Wilson. To him faith is either firmly rooted in your head or your heart when the reality is it should be rooted in your Spirit through the confirmation of Scripture. This heart based faith is exactly the problem within the false theology of Darren Wilson. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that the heart is not only wicked but wickedly deceitful above anything else created. Ruminate on that for a moment. The very thing that Darren Wilson believes your faith should be rooted firmly in is the most deceitful thing known to man! As for strapping a camera on ourselves 24-7 I am confident that we would be appalled at any Christian because our sinful nature is what it is. Interesting and ironic that he would quote the section of 2Timothy that deals with false teachers such as him. In the last days this is what will happen within the church. Let us consider what Gill's Commentary has to say about part of this verse:
"but denying the power thereof; though in words they profess religion and godliness, the fear of God, and the pure worship of him, yet in works they deny all; and though they may have a set of notions in their heads, yet they feel nothing of the power of them on their hearts; and are strangers to experimental religion, and powerful godliness: or though they profess the Scriptures to be the word of God, yet they deny the use, the power, and efficacy of them; -- Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Though they profess the Scriptures to be the word of God they deny the use, the power, and the efficacy of them. When you strip away all the pious sounding niceties from Wilson this is what you are left with. Deny the power of Scripture. Rely upon the deceitful heart to process our personal experiences. Darren Wilson's confessions aside here, I do not know many Bible believing Christians who elevate themselves above others. True Scripture understanding promotes humility. Now are there some legalistic branches within the church? Absolutely but do you think they are growing today or dwindling? They are few and far between beloved. What Darren Wilson is actually speaking against are people who insist on biblical accuracy to guide their walk, you know, as Jesus commanded us. What is also at the heart of his deception however is a fundamentally poor understanding of love. I agree that selfishness is not love. That we must not love out of our convenience alone. That does not mean you abandon all reason however. Christian love that is not rooted in the unwavering truth of Scripture is not love at all. It is cruelty. It is cruel because it presents itself as a balm but when applied causes more pain and damage. It is cruel because it gives the appearance of life when there is none. It is like the barren fig tree that Jesus cursed. The leaves meant there should have been fruit but when He peeled the leaves aside there was none. The sloppy agape love that Darren Wilson peddles is nothing more than a barren fig tree with plenty of pious looking leaves to deceive you into thinking that it is real love. It is packaged beautifully and marketed well but when you pull the leaves aside there is nothing there. No fruit. No life. Certainly no real love. Wilson concludes:
"I don't think God wants us to beat ourselves up, and I'm certain He doesn't want us to wallow in shame and condemnation, but I do think He wants us to consistently shine the light of truth into our own hearts and expose the darkness that is there, so that He can purify it and make us new again. We are professional screw-ups--it's what we do best as humans. But thankfully we have a Father who loves us in spite of our best efforts, and who has given us the greatest example of love to guide us into all truth. His Son. The Savior of the world. He put you ahead of Himself. All he's asking is that you do the same for others." -- Darren Wilson
God only sent His Son to die for us. To die a criminal's death for us. To die a violent and painful criminal's death for us. Thorns shoved into His forehead until His own blood poured into His eyes. A spear shoved into His side. A flogging that would have killed most men. Forced to carry the instrument of His own death, to His death. Yet despite these facts, the Darren Wilson's of the world don't think that God wants us to beat ourselves up. How unbelievably arrogant. The truth is we do not beat ourselves up enough and we have an enabling church that holds our hand while we are in rebellion to God. If we refuse to correct our sin and repent then we ought to wallow in shame and condemnation! Beloved, let me make this easy for us to digest. We can trust our own deceitful hearts or we can trust the infallibility of Scripture. It is not about God not asking us to put others before ourselves. That is a works based mentality that Wilson lives under so he can convince himself that he is living a pious life when his teaching is anathema to God. The reality of Christianity is that it is because of what Christ has done that we strive to obey Him through His written Word. If we do that we will find ourselves by default putting others ahead of ourselves. That is how it is supposed to work.
