In the last year or two, God has opened my eyes to a LOT of false teaching that goes on in the church today. (By “church” I mean the Christian church in whole- not a specific denomination.)
Suddenly realizing that you’re surrounded by false self-proclaimed “prophets” is not something you take lightly. And it’s not light conversation to bring up over coffee.
But like it or not, there is a rash of bad (and straight-up false) teaching being propagated all around you at this very moment. At best, it’s misguided. At worst, it’s heresy. And what’s more, these churches/teachers/pastors/celebrities/leaders are spreading their influence of bad theology everywhere they can. In fact, that’s a major part of their modus operandi.
“So what’s the big deal?” you’re probably wondering. “Why does that matter to me? I don’t watch them, so I don’t listen to their theology.”
Well, in fact you probably do, without even realizing it. I know I was.
Are you familiar with Bethel Church in Redding? Hillsong Australia? IHOP in KC? Gateway Church in Dallas and Lakewood Church in Houston? Do any of these ring a bell?? That’s right- they all have super-successful worship ministries. Albums, tours, concerts, fans, million-dollar productions. They are the modern church’s “rock stars.”
(Note: I’m using these as examples of hugely successful worship ministries- not saying all of these practice bad theology.)
Now, in and of itself, this doesn’t really bother me that much. I’ve seen plenty of Christian bands that put on great shows, and preach the gospel and have altar calls in-between sets. I’ve played on worship teams that had a bigger budget than my entire annual salary.
But what happens when the majority of the music your church listens to comes from churches with really bad theology? How do you deal with that? What do you do personally when your church switches to singing nothing but songs produced by questionable sources?
What do you do when you realize that every time you watch one of their videos, buy their album, or stream their music, you’re funding the false self-proclaimed “prophets” running some of these churches?
If you’re just looking for a simple answer, you can stop reading now… I don’t have an easy one-size-fits-all solution.
“Why does that even matter?” you might wonder. “Those songs sing about Jesus and the Holy Spirit, right?”
Well, see, that’s the thing. Those preachers with the bad theology and perverted gospel? They say they preach Jesus too. They invoke the name of the Holy Spirit constantly. And if you don’t pay close attention, everything seems good on the surface.
But some of these pastors aren’t preaching the Jesus of the Bible. What if it’s not the Spirit of God they’re channeling? And I promise you… some of them are leading people astray by the tens of thousands.
Do we shun everything even remotely associated with false teaching, including the music their churches put out? Or do we sift out the wheat from the chaff, and let God handle the outcome?
What do we do with things like Phillipians 1:18? (Paul is speaking of people spreading the gospel in order to get him in trouble):
“What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.”
To be clear, we are instructed to study scripture and (through the Spirit) discern what is right for us.
But there will always be false teachers. And there will always be people who want to tickle their itching ears with messages of dominionism, influence, prosperity, success, money, and power. You and I can’t change that. In fact, it’s God who allows them to exist, to test the believers and see who’s really paying attention. God has been known to send false prophets to His people to test them. Why would this be any different? Clue phone: it isn’t.
So what do we do? How then, must we live?
I wish I had an easy answer for this. Part of me wants to shout out doom and gloom from the rooftops. But another part of me knows that God is sovereign, and nothing catches Him by surprise. He is just, and He decides when they will be brought into the light.
But that doesn’t answer the question of whether I should be playing or listening to their music, and by proxy, supporting their unbiblical ministries.
I don’t want to be associated with false teachers in any way, shape, or form. But at the same time, I know people make mistakes. So these are the questions we must ask ourselves, as believers seeking truth:
- What amount of error do we tolerate in ourselves?
- What amount of false teaching do we tolerate?
- What differentiates “error” from “false teaching”?
- Where do we draw the line in supporting a ministry we feel is unbiblical?
I have listened and studied the teaching of the pastors over these megachurches I’ve mentioned. Some of them are mostly on track, with a few things I disagree with. Some of them are sensationalists, and are simply looking for exposure. Some of them are downright heretics. Some are just artists floating into whatever market they can sell albums in, and don’t even know what they believe.
For me, I don’t really feel comfortable supporting ANY of their ministries any more. Sure, there is the occasional song that touches my heart- and when that happens, I know it’s because the writer or singer is coming at it with pure intentions. But basically, God has urged me to not spend money on “Christian” worship music for now.
This is also where God reminds me that He put a song in my heart, and that I need to spend more time making music of my own. I need to stop relying on other people (whom I oftentimes don’t trust) to lead me into God’s presence.