Over at Call It Grace, Soon Beng has posted an excellent missive on the practical effect of a false doctrine of healing in the life of someone he knows.
Someone I know recently died from lung cancer. She was 50 years old. Apparently, her brother, who is from NCC [New Creation Church], was fervently praying for her to be healed right up to the moment she drew her last gasp of air, refusing to let go of the hope that she would be miraculously healed after two years of fighting the disease. Her 15 year old daughter is now very angry with God for not answering their prayers. Her husband, who is a new Christian, is very confused. Her brother feels very guilty that he did not have "enough faith" to save her.
That's the problem with wrong theology. Theology is not just about dry doctrinal disputes - it makes a huge difference in how you live your life, how you die (me? I would like to have it said - God willing - that I died with a smile on my face), and how you relate to God.
Doctrine has implications, and false doctrines has consequences, some serious. We get angry with false doctrines and false teachers not because we love to argue and be right, but because false doctrines have consequences in real life. In this case, the false doctrine promoted by NCC could very well lead to people apostatizing from the faith. These people are taught that God will always heal, and when the inevitable comes when God does not heal as they have been taught he would always do so, their faith is shaken and may be shattered beyond repair. If they apostatized from the faith, they would be hardened against the Gospel message because they have "Been there, Done that". They would have "tried" the faith, but reality in their experience has shown "Christianity" to be false, or at least their version of Christianity which the false teacher has taught them, and who is there to tell them the difference?
The role of a watchman is a thankless task. The haters (AODMers) continue in their mocking, yet they show their hatred by preferring souls to be led astray instead of false teachers to be named and marked. They love the wolves and not the sheep. In this case, they would rather people lose their faith and be hardened against the Gospel rather than Joseph Prince to be called a false prophet and teacher. Of course, seeing their hatred for the flock, they would probably be wolves themselves who love nothing than for the flock to follow and adore them instead of Christ.
So what should we do with those who follow these false prophets? We should warn them. They may very well hate us (since men love darkness rather than light), but we may impress the truth upon them so that when such a crisis come, they would hopefully come to see the light as God may use the situation to bring them to Himself. When the "theology" taught by the false teachers do not work (which they will not), we hope that they would recall their anger at our warnings and in desperation seriously think through the issue according to Scripture. For who knows whether God will use such a situation to bring them to their senses?
4 comments:
What a great post! So "hard hitting" and much needed today, and for all times for that matter. False doctrine is not without its victims. ..believers and unbelievers are hurt by it. As a Christian the constant admonitions to "do more" and "try harder" are case in point. I set out to do more and try harder and ended up getting really discouraged and bitter and angry because I could not pull it off. I thought I had to "do great things for God". But I do not remember the gospel being the focal point...churches need to constantly preach both law and gospel. To not do so is quite harmful for believers and unbelievers alike...There I let it all out!
@Committed Christian:
agreed. The issue of Law and Gospel is another important issue which churches should be getting right and preaching alright.
NCC and Joseph Prince's erroneous teachings on healing are firmly rooted in false teachers like Kenneth Copeland and Kenneth Hagin. A visit to NCC's The Rock book room will show books of these named false teachers are openly promoted to be sold for their congregation's consumption.
What does these false teachers teach about healing ?
"Sickness is of the devil ... God has never used sickness to discipline His children ... I don’t care how old we are, it’s His will to take us home healed, well, whole, and delivered” (Kenneth Copeland, quoted in Calvary Contender, Sept. 15, 1989).
“Like salvation, healing is a gift, already paid for at Calvary. All we need to do is accept it. All we need to do is possess the promise that is ours. As children of God, we need to realize that healing belongs to us” (Hagin, Healing Belongs to Us, p. 32).
“God is glorified through healing and deliverance, not sickness and suffering” (Hagin, The Key to Scriptural Healing, p. 17).
If you were a follower of Joseph Prince's teachings and member of NCC, when you have prayed earnestly for a loved one and in the end the healing did not come as you expect it, you are likely to be disappointed and angry at a sovereign God who appears to be have reneged on His promises to heal.
Shalom
@godword:
agreed.
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