Your False Prophet

It is my opinion that many mega churches aren’t mega because the Holy Spirit is at work, but rather because they have become a “safe place” from spiritual conviction. They are a place to learn how you can use the Holy Spirit to your advantage. How to call down “blessings” on your life. The pastors of some of these churches know what they are talking about too. So many of these guys are pulling down large six figure incomes! In Timothy, Paul says if a man desires to be a pastor or elder, he should not be greedy for money! Moreover, he must have a good testimony to outsiders, lest he “fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” How do these huge incomes of a “man of God” look to the world? I’m a believer and I can tell you how it looks to me: suspicious. If a preacher isn’t willing to tell the congregation, from the pulpit, how much money he makes, including his generous IRA contributions, then he’s probably making too much! And yes pastor, your income is our business.

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root to all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”

1 Timothy 6:9-10

Yet God’s warnings and words of wisdom are ignored. “Well maybe that happens to other pastors at other churches, but not with our super awesome pastor and ministry leaders.” Of course, that’s what so many were saying before their super awesome pastor fell. Money is the root of all kinds of evil! It is, along with ego, what draws many of these men to want to pastor these large churches in the first place; whether they admit it or not. I’m not throwing all of them under the bus, but I do wonder how many of these pastors who make six figure incomes, would be so anxious to be doing “God's work” if their incomes were to be dramatically cut? I say let’s see. I’m sure many may come into the ministry with all the right motivations, but over time, money corrupts. And so does pride by the way. You see it happen in politics, but you think that because it’s within God's family it can’t, or won’t, happen? Have you seen how much money the Rick Warrens of the world make? These men, that far too many in the church put on pedestals, are just that, men. They struggle with the exact same sins and temptations as we do. They too are capable of falling away from the true faith. Yet we think that they are much too strong to fall into sin. How naive. Just because they place “pastor” in front of their names doesn’t make them infallible. And just because they proclaim faith in Christ doesn’t mean they haven’t already fallen away. Many of them have slowly turned from the faith. Hence God's warnings!

It is my feeling that there are many pastors, leaders, speakers, and Christian book authors, that have just gotten to the point where they have this all dialed in. They could do what they do blindfolded. They may have strayed from any real sense of the faith a long time ago, but this is how they earn their living. Public speaking is their gift. This is their chosen profession, and the money is good! So many of these leaders have become so prideful and so powerful within their own churches, and within the church at large, that those who serve under them, who may be aware of ill goings on, are afraid to speak up for a myriad of reasons: misplaced loyalty, fear of taking on “the boss”, fear of being seen as the trouble maker, fear of not being believed, fear of his/her own job being in jeopardy, etc. When the fall of a popular pastor happens, his church is shocked! Church, what did you expect? You give him all this power, all this money, all this rock star adulation, and you expect him to remain humble and unaffected by it all? You are culpable in the fall. You helped set him up for it!

So many of these churches are run just like the big businesses that they are; with the guys at the top taking in huge salaries. Then, with a straight face, they can approach the congregation weekly asking for more volunteers and preaching about tithing?

I cannot believe this is what God had intended! Now that is something both believers and non-believers alike can be offended by. But something tells me that that’s one offence many pastors and leaders will put up with. These pastors point us to Paul as an example of how we should live our lives, yet we see through scripture that this same Paul gave up all his material possessions for the work of the ministry. Hey pastor, right back at you! Paul never charged for the gospel.

Since we're on that subject, why don’t we take a look at some other examples from scripture and see what they also might be saying to some of these church leaders. I’m pretty sure all scripture applies to them as well. Okay, I did take a few liberties with these verses, but hey, they’re not in quotes so it’s okay, right?

Blessed are the poor pastors, but woe many of you who are rich.

The love of money by pastors is the root to many evils.

A pastor must be blameless, temperate, of good behavior, not given to wine, not greedy for money, not covetous, not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he receives the same condemnation as the devil.

If anyone desires to come after me, including church leaders, let him deny himself.

For what profit is it to a preacher if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

For the pastor who is the least among you all, will be great.

Hey preacher, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head; yet, you make how much?

Give us pastors day by day our daily bread.

Woe to you church leaders! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplace.

Woe to so many of you pastors! For you load men with burdens hard to bear; and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

Beware of the leaven of the many in leadership, which is hypocrisy.

But God said, “fool! This night your souls will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” So are pastors who lay up treasure for themselves and are not rich towards God.

Hey pastor, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; not about the body, what you will put on.

Hey pastor, how much do you have? Now, go and sell it and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches or moth destroys.

Strive to enter through the narrow gate in a Ford, not a Mercedes.

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Yes, this goes for ministers as well.

Hey, pastor, cut the salary of yours in half and give the rest back to the church, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

And whoever church leader that does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Listen, awesome big-time worship leaders, who week after week lead the church in songs touting the virtues of being sold out for Christ, so likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple either.

Therefore pastor, if you have not been faithful with the money My people have tithed to Me, who will commit to your trust in the true riches?

No preacher, elder, deacon, or ministry leader can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.

You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven.

How hard it is for church leaders who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich pastor to enter the kingdom of God.

The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you; on the contrary, the pastor, who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who leads as he who serves!

As the church body, we should take care of our pastors' needs so he can concentrate all his efforts on guiding his flock. I don’t want him to have to have a full-time job and lead a sizable church. God says a worker is worth his wages. The pastor's work is to teach, lead, and watch over us. He, hopefully, was called to that work, but he also had a choice to accept that calling or not. It’s not a high paying gig, or it isn’t supposed to be, or at least I believe it shouldn’t be, but that is a far cry from where we’ve come today. Materialism is alive and well in many corners of the church.

Yes, of course there are many pastors and leaders who are great men of God. Their desires are to walk humbly with their God, and they are doing a great job leading the flock. However, as a follower of Christ, I am embarrassed at the lifestyles of many of our famous “Christian” leaders who are, in many cases, the face of the church to a skeptical world. These Christian leaders, be they pastors or speakers, have a responsibility to present the church in a modest and humble light. And not just to the world, but to their brothers and sisters in Christ as well! Many look to them for leadership and guidance, and whether they like it or not, they are our examples!

I love how some churches have a modest home connected to, or maybe right across the street from the church, for the pastor and his family. As long as he is pastor he will have a place to live, courtesy of the church body. How many of our “top” pastors would humbly take that small home? My guess is not many. They have become accustomed to the lifestyle of the rich and famous. This has to stop! Reform and revival in the church has to start at the top, with our leaders! We, as the church body, must demand it! Let’s take back our churches! And if we lose some of our “great” and charismatic leaders then our eyes will have been opened, and we will see them for their true colors. Let’s put our leaders to the test. As far as I can tell, there is nothing unbiblical about doing just that.

Is God really looking down on His church in the west, and saying, “Well done, good and faithful servants”? Because from my vantage point many of these mega-churches are conveying an image of mega-materialism no different from the world at large!

Here’s a suggestion. How about we base a pastors salary on the average household income of those in his congregation.? How would that be Mr. Megachurch pastor? Here’s my feeling, not all, but many of these high paid “leaders'' would never go for it (not that they should have a say), because their incomes would drop dramatically. The average annual per person income in the US is 28K! The average household income is 53K. Yet, we are paying some of these pastors like CEOs of large companies! In my opinion, it’s immoral for the leaders to take that money from their hardworking brothers and sisters in Christ and take it for themselves. Isn’t this what we criticize politicians for doing? Pastors should live better than most in their congregation? Where is the modesty? Where’s the humility? It’s shameful! If you, an individual church goer, think your pastor should be making 200K, 300K, 400K then go ahead and send him a check directly to his home address every month, but do not pay him out of the weekly collections any more than the average household attending your local church makes!

It just doesn’t seem righteous to demand that those who earn so much less, pay him so much more! They give, first and foremost, thinking they are giving in obedience to God, to the poor and needy in their own church body. Secondly, they give for outreach in their local communities, and thirdly, for ministries abroad. I assume that most are not giving with the hope that, because of their financial sacrifice, their pastors and elders can take two-week vacations in the Hampton's and eight weeks off in the summer! If our Christian leaders want, or think they are deserving of that kind of life, let them go earn a job in the world, and stop selling Jesus! But Jesus is good money! So many look at these pastors and speakers and authors act as if God is blessing their ministries. I can’t imagine for a second that the God of the bible is a big fan of Ken Copeland, and Jaunita Bynum, and the like, yet they are making tens of millions of dollars professing to be speaking for God. When did financial success become a measurement of God's approval?

“There is a vanity which occurs on the earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked: again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous.” Ecclesiastes 8:14

“All things come alike to all: one event happens to the righteous and the wicked; to the good, the clean, and the unclean; to him who sacrifices and to him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.” Ecclesiastes 9:2

Many of us know people who are not believers, and, in fact, may even be unethical in their business practices, yet are financially successful. Do we believe God is a part of that business as well? If a Christian robs a bank and comes home with 10K in cash and begins to throw his money in the air and say, “Thank you God, for you have indeed blessed me!” Do we agree? Of course not! The “Christian” has blessed himself! So many of these multi-millionaires who sell Jesus are doing the same thing. They are false teachers! They proclaim the name of Jesus in their talks, they place a picture of “Jesus” on their book cover or stamp it with a cross and the church literally buys it. Good grief. Christian brothers and sisters, can we please see most of these millionaires for who they are? They are peddling Jesus for profit, and claiming they are so “blessed” because they are expanding the Kingdom of God and He is so obviously well pleased. When I hear of some boy band being worth 25 million dollars, I’m impressed. When I hear of some “Christian” speakers/ministry leaders making that much I’m ashamed. Yet some even have a reported net worth of $25 million, $50 million, and more. The late Ken Copeland had an estimated net worth of $300 million! GLUTTONY!

Christians, how much are your favorite Christian “leaders” worth? Look it up! So many are in the same business. “I’m going to tell you how you can be closer to God than you ever thought possible. I’m going to unlock bible truths that have been hidden for 1000’s of years, and I’m going to share them all with you, my wonderful brothers and sisters, because I care so deeply about you, and because I want you to live life to the fullest! And I’m going to do all this, this weekend, at Great Big Stadium, for only $95 per person. Your welcome!”

Church of Christ, wake up! Jesus, John the Baptist, Paul, Peter, and the like, didn’t charge to teach the “mysteries of God”. In fact, Paul takes these people to task who are selling the gospel message for profit! It’s still going on today, only on a much grander scale. Compare today's leaders to Christ and the apostles! They look nothing like them. Nor do they want to. Don’t you see that? They have no interest in the life Christ has called us to. They are not living for Christ, but rather living to profit off of His name.

Until the church starts to see these people for who they are, stop flocking to their seminars, buying every book, and sending money that could otherwise go to the needy, who could really use it, but instead start diving into the only source needed to learn the mysteries of God... His Holy Word...then the church is going to continue to fall deeper and deeper into a backsliding faith, and these shysters and false teachers/prophets will continue to expand their own kingdoms! God will hold them to account. And also those who listen and follow their teachings.

The Word of God speaks to me Tom. Yes, Christ speaks to me! In Ezekiel...and in many other places... He tells me to teach against the teachers. To speak out against the speakers. To say to those who teach from their own imagination: Woe to you foolish teachers who follow your own spirit. Your teachings are not of Christ. They are lies, and Christ has not sent you. You claim to have seen visions, but your visions are false and not from God. Your life and your teachings will be counted against you, for you tell God’s sheep that they are fine when they are not fine. You say they are free when they are not free. And you say they have life when they are dead. And woe to you women who sew your magic charms! You ensnare other women. You profane the name of Christ for profit, by lying to God’s daughters, who listen to lies. (see Ezekiel 13)

The bible is replete with false prophets and teachers, and with warnings to stay away from them. But it also teaches in many, many places that God’s warnings will go ignored by most of God’s children. Did you get that? Most of God’s own people ignore His warnings! Do you choose to be part of the “most” or of the few? No, you choose to associate with the many. The “many” like what they are hearing from these false teachers. You search for teachers who will tell you of pleasant things that tickle your itching ears. This is an all too common occurrence with God’s people. Why do you ignore all the warnings from God? Why do you believe that these warnings do not pertain to you? God’s Word is alive. It teaches the same to us today as it did when it was written. The nature of mankind remains the same. It will never change. Nor does God. Most of the church throughout church history either followed the wrong Christ or did not follow the right Christ. Hence - “Narrow is the road and few will find it.” Salvation is for the few, not the many. If your life looks like most of your “Christian” friends and family then, by definition, you are part of the many. Don’t be! We are called to a very special group of people. We are called into the life of the “few.” Many are called (Christians), but few are chosen. Don’t make the mistake of thinking the “few” is referring to people in the Christian church. No. The “called” are the Christians in the Christian church.. The “few” are those singled out and chosen from among those called. All are called. Few Christians are chosen. That is the distinction. And that is a life or death distinction. So what’s it going to be; the many or the few? Don’t look at your friends or family. God’s not talking to them. He’s talking to you.

Don’t live any longer in willful ignorance, as I did. It’s not too late. Don’t wait for God to pull the rug out from under you, as He did me. Get away from these Jesus sellers. Open your bible and read it. All of it. Over and over again. Only Christ, the Word, can change you. Only Christ, the Word, can save you. If you don’t, then you have made your choice. You are putting your very salvation, your eternity in the hands of the creation rather than the Creator. You will have only yourself to blame.

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