Take a good hard look at these verses and realize what they are saying. Anyone who wanders from the Gospel has no relationship with God! None! While we are on the subject, you cannot claim divine impartation to teach things different from the Gospel. That is the schtick from people like Joseph Prince who claims God gave him the revelation of the gospel of grace even though the Bible teaches any other gospel is anathema! He has wandered from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as such has no relationship with God. Joel Osteen preaches word faith heresy, positive confession heresy, and false prosperity heresy. He has wandered from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as such, has no relationship with God. You can line them all up after them. The entire false preacher brigade that abuses tithing, cheapens grace, or promises earthly prosperity - they have no relationship with God. Now I know what some people think. They look at the size of these ministries and their relative success and think how can so many people be wrong?
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. - Matthew 7: 13-14 (NIV)
The road that leads to hell is broad for a reason - there are a lot of people on it. Do not confuse carnal success with spiritual affirmation. The reason why the Joel Osteen's of the world see 45,000 people on a weekly basis is he is telling them exactly what they want to hear. That there are seven steps to a better you and God wants you to be rich. The Joseph Prince's of the world garner such a great following because everyone wants to hear that they do not have to concern themselves with the law and their own sin. The ears are itching and these preachers are more than willing to scratch. There is however no truth in it. There is no love in it. They have no relationship with God.
Isn't that who this whole thing is supposed to be about? I know that flies in the face of a lot of modern preaching that seeks to make this about us but it really is supposed to be about God. No greater love than God who sacrificed His only Son to die in our place for our sins. That is truth but you will not hear it preached from seeker friendly pulpits anymore. You will hear plenty of pop psychology, self help, motivational speaking and hipster pastors but precious little truth. The problem of course is without the truth, there is no love. There is no love in holding your hand as you are driven off a cliff while crying unity. The reason why there is no love in that is there is no truth in it. They are inseparable. The Apostle John however was not quite done yet. God saw what was going to be happening today and He addressed it in this letter:
If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don't invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work. - 2John 10-11 (NLT)
Whoa. Read that again. I have been writing for awhile about the dangers of what I refer to as "Kumbya Christianity." That is where everyone who can spell the name Jesus correctly is referred to as a brother or sister in Christ and thus free from criticism. There is truth and there is untruth. There is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and there is the spirit of antichrist. There is pure doctrine and there is the doctrine of demons. There is no middle ground. There are no shades of gray. When we look around the landscape of Christendom we see it littered with false teachers, false prophets, and false healers. Millions of people follow them and there is plenty of room on the broad path. It is hard enough to take a proper stand against this without what is true propping up what is false. I know that someone like Francis Chan thought he was doing the right thing when he appeared at the IHOP conference in December and publicly gushed over the known false prophet Mike Bickle. Despite publicly declaring that he loved Bickle's heart, after meeting him one time, he also claimed that God wants them to see each other as brothers and love each other.
Not without the truth Pastor Chan. Not without the truth.
The falseness of Mike Bickle is well documented. From his belief that the second apostolic age began in 2001 to his claiming to be taken to heaven in a golden chariot, the jury is in. His movement at IHOP is largely built upon false worship that is erotic and mind numbing in nature to a clear dominionist theology that teaches they are equipping an actual end times army to take over the world for the second coming of Christ. What Chan did is take his own personal credibility, of which he had garnered a lot, and gave it to someone who did not deserve it or earn it. Bickle immediately created self promotional videos of Chan endorsing him.
