Satire is based upon this dated post by Tullian Tchividjian.
The Bible makes it clear that God’s people face three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil. This means that T.D. Jakes is NOT our enemy. For those of you who proudly bash Jakes, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I used to take pride in my critique of T.D. Jakes. His books, Woman, Thou Art Loosed and Why? Because You are Anointed have some glaring weaknesses. But they have some strengths too; they are not wholly devoid of truth. Let me be very clear: It is NOT Reformed (much less Christian) to glean truth, beauty, and goodness only from Christians who are Reformed. In fact, because of the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc) firm belief that “all truth is God’s truth” we should glory in truth wherever it is found–yes even when it is found in books written by T.D. Jakes
But it’s not T.D. Jakes' books or T.D. Jakes’ church that impress me. It’s T.D. Jakes. I’ve met him and he is a genuinely humble guy (it’s easy to critique a person that you’ve never spent time with). In an Evangelical world where financial and moral integrity are becoming increasingly hard to find amongst its leaders, T.D. Jakes is above reproach. He doesn’t take himself too seriously (we could all learn from him on this point) and he’s actually getting his hands dirty serving the common good of humanity. I’m not bad at theologizing about cultural transformation. But I have a long way to go to catch Jakes when it comes to actually transforming this present world into the world to come. T.D. Jakes is doing more to bring God’s Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” than most of us. He may not be a Calvinist theologically, but he certainly puts many of us Calvinists to shame when it comes to being a Calvinist practically: caring for widows and orphans, helping the poor and sick, and humbly serving those in need. He’s doing more good than harm for the Kingdom and if you love the King, that should make you happy.
I hope that you will be more inclined to pray for Jakes than you are to critique him. Critiquing him (or anybody else, for that matter) is beneficial where and when he misses the mark (either personally or theologically). But if you find more joy and satisfaction in critiquing him where he is wrong than you do in praising God where he is right, than you need to repent. I know, because I had to. Enjoy this helpful article.
Just a small comment: I have no idea that being a Calvinist practically means "caring for widows and orphans, helping the poor and sick, and humbly serving those in need." All the while, I thought being a Calvinist practically means believing in the Gospel of free grace and trusting Christ alone for salvation, and desiring to serve Christ in this world through good works.
Just FYI, T.D. Jakes is a Sabellian Modalist who denies the Trinity
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