27d • Theology
Core Mark of a False Prophet
A while back, I kept hearing people calling mega church pastors "false prophets" or "false teachers".
That label gets thrown around a lot in the Christian world.
It bothered me because I've attended a "mega church" over the past 15 years. And personally, I've had overwhelmingly positive experiences.
I didn't start in mega churches. I had never been a part of a mega church until my mid twenties. Up until then, I had only ever attended a smaller church. I mention that to say I've had both experiences.
Now, every church I've attended, small or large, has been imperfect from the minute I walked in the door. It probably got a lot more imperfect after I stayed for a while.
Church's definitely have a responsibility to be faithful to Scripture, and we should find one that is. Yet, I have always been more blessed by the churches I've been apart of far more than I have been harmed by them.
I also believe God is sovereign. That means if I'm not living in direct disobedience to Him, I have to believe that He placed me into my local church for a purpose and a plan. He certainly has for me. It's often been to work His will in me while also allowing me to be apart of a local body of believers and hopefully serve and contribute.
I can look back and see what God did in me in each church I've attended. I can see His hand at work in my own life and the blessings and lessons he brought from those seasons. That's not to say that there are not bad church experiences at times for some people that cause genuine pain. I've had a few of my own.
I had an extremely tough church experience in my early twenties. As I look back on it now, I could not be more thankful for that experience, even though it left me feeling very broken at the time. God used it to bring me to a better place. He used it to work His will in me.
Now, back to false prophets.
I've heard statements like "That guy is a false prophet cause he wears a Rolex".
Ok. Could be. Sure.
Or somebody just gave him one.
I think we have to take a closer look.
What really marks a false prophet? Is every blessed pastor a false prophet? Is every mega-church pastor a compromise?
I started to study it over a few months time. I kept seeing a recurring theme of every mention of a false prophet mentioned in the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament. A recurring theme surfaced over and over.
What I found is that a mark of a false prophet is not:
-A pastor who may not get as deep as we want
-A pastor who is also a millionaire because of book sales
-A pastor who has a plane
-A pastor who asked you to serve a little too much
-A pastor who drives a nice car
-A pastor who teaches topically instead of verse by verse
-A pastor who get's it wrong on a Sunday or on a text every once in a while or differs on secondary issues.
-A pastor of a small church or a large church.
-A pastor who gets it wrong on an issue by error and would be happy to correct it if they knew better.
-A pastor (or anyone) who innocently gets it wrong on a prophetic word (a subjective impression they believe is from the Holy Spirit for another person. Not in the OT sense and criteria).
-Or even a pastor who was once faithful and fell into sin.
These all could be potential concerns, but are not the key marker of a false prophet I found. They do not automatically qualify someone to be a false prophet.
The key mark of a false prophet that I found in my study that repeated itself over and over was that they affirm and lead people into sin and error with their teaching, often intentionally or willingly.
They could be rich or poor, known or unknown, drive a Bentley or an e-bike.
What actually marks them as a false prophet is they give the okay to sin.
They pat people on the back on the way to their own destruction.
They twist clear meanings of Scripture.
They twist and distort what is good and make what is evil appear good.
They're cool with you walking right off a cliff. They'll wink in approval as you go.
They won't look you in the eye and say "I love you, but that's not right for you".
They'll tell you what you want to hear.
It doesn't matter what the particular sin is. A false prophet seeks to justify and approve it. And when they're confronted, they double down. They keep twisting. They move on because they cannot back up their contradictions. They tend to attack faithful Christians.
They may be the nicest person on planet earth otherwise.
(If I was trying to trick you, I would not come in dressed like a wolf).
They look to receive praise from man more than they do from God.
They sometimes do it for money.
The truth is a false prophet could care less about the condition of your soul. Otherwise, they would tell you the truth.
The Bible says "The truth shall set you free", not the error wrapped in smooth talk and flattery.
The false prophet will convince you they love you.
Yet, Godly love "does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth".
Someone addressing sin in our lives is like a doctor addressing a disease in our bodies.
A false prophet is like a doctor saying the disease is a good thing and should be celebrated. They tell you not to worry about it while it eats you away.
A truly godly person helps you get it out of your body even though it might be temporarily painful. Ultimately it will bring healing to our soul.
The false prophet isn't your faithful pastor, large church or small, rich or poor, republican or democrat who gets it wrong every once in a while.
The false prophet is the one who can't and won't call sin, sin.
And usually, they take it a step further. They are the one's who approve and encourage sin.
Those are the truly dangerous types.
The Bible warns these kinds of teachers/prophets will increase in the times before the return of Christ. We have to remain steadfast and careful. It says that these teachers will even seek to steer way, if possible, the elect (Christians).
That implies they will sound very Christian, but deep down, they are far from it.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.
They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”
For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?”
Jeremiah 23:16-18
This passage is in direct context of God warning His people about the destruction that would come from their sin. The real prophet called them to repentance, while the false prophets said "No disaster shall come upon you".
That's the core difference.
By the way, the real prophet, in this case, was persecuted.
P.S. There are other marks of a false teacher (like not acknowledging the divinity of Christ. Most teachers who will not acknowledge sin will also not acknowledge Jesus as God and Lord), but I believe this is the main one.
Look out.
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Core Mark of a False Prophet
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