Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] These seven teachings, they seem unrelated on the surface. Some touch on politics, some touch on race, gender, sexuality, theology. But underneath, they all have one thing in common and that is they distract us from Jesus. Instead of pursuing Jesus and becoming like Jesus in all areas of life, they actually distract us and they justify not being like Jesus in all areas of life.
[00:00:33] Hello and welcome back to Unfeigned Christianity, where we are on a journey of becoming theologically anchored and emotionally healthy so we can love and disciple others. Well, in our last episode we looked at why I am rooting my work in those three aspects, theology, emotional health and love.
[00:00:54] And if you missed it, you can go ahead and watch it if you're on YouTube or listen to it if you're listening wherever you receive podcasts, but that will either be in a link in the description below or if you're on YouTube, it'll be linked in the video here directly. But that is the anchor from which we will be. I will be doing all of my work and we will be having conversations here on Unfeigned Christianity podcast with different guests and looking at different topics, maybe even at different times, doing deep dives in to specific aspects of theology or emotional health.
[00:01:34] It is the anchor around our membership community on Unfeigned Christianity on Patreon, where we dive deeper into understanding Scripture. How do we interpret, read and interpret scripture well, how do we sort through things like sexual addiction? And what does it look like to grow in emotional health? What does it look like to make disciples of the people in our everyday life? Those are all things we look at here on Unfeigned Christianity in one aspect or another. So thank you for joining us. Thank you for being here today.
[00:02:13] Today I want to look at seven dangerous teachings infiltrating the church. Now, the reason, the reason I start here is obviously I started by highlighting why I'm rooting my work in being theologically anchored, emotionally healthy and loving and discipling others. Well, but these seven dangerous teachings are going to agitate this problem of specifically lack of theological anchoring. Again, if you're, if you're wondering what do you, what do you mean by being theologically anchored, then I encourage you to go back and listen to my latest episode, the one previous to this one. But I'll just give you a really quick reminder overview what I mean by being theologically anchored. This is what I mean having one's beliefs and actions firmly rooted in a consistent and well defined understanding of Jesus as revealed through the Scriptures. So this does not mean that you come out to the same interpretation and conclusion as Asher Whitmer. If you're theologically anchored, no, it means that you and I, even if we're debating or disagreeing, that we are articulating our beliefs and the way we live our life, our actions, from a consistent and well defined understanding of Jesus. I, I intentionally. Every word here is intentional. Well defined means we have the capacity, the ability to articulate this. And we're doing so by understanding Jesus as revealed through the Scriptures. So we're not just talking about how we think Jesus acts or what Jesus is like, but we're, we're actually studying the Scriptures well and through the flow of the narrative and through the Old and New Testaments, we can point to and say, this is the character and nature of Jesus. That's why I believe this or I'm doing this, whatever.
[00:04:05] And so it doesn't solve the issue of different perspectives. It does solve or clarify what we're looking to, to see if we're aiming at the right thing, if we're trying to go. If, quite frankly, if I'm in a conversation with someone and they're not wanting to be more like Jesus, then.
[00:04:24] And if their way of understanding Jesus isn't through the Scriptures. So if their way of understanding Jesus is just like, well, I feel or I sense that this is how Jesus would be or whatever, and it ends up looking different than the Jesus revealed to the Scriptures, then I don't have a common ground with them on which to have a conversation. Because we're pursuing two different things. I want to become like Jesus has revealed through the Scriptures. And from what I know of the unfeigned Christianity audience, I think all of us want to become like Jesus as revealed through the Scriptures. So that's why we're pursuing being theologically anchored. But there are some teachings that drift into our lives. But I'm going to look at seven today that are in the church right now that are not accurately reflecting Jesus is revealed through the Scriptures.
[00:05:18] And we need to be aware of them. We need to be aware of their dangers. So I'm going to go over those seven teachings in a moment. Before I do that, though, I want to make two critical clarifications. First of all, these are teachings that I have personally encountered. So there we could look at more dangerous teachings. Right.
[00:05:44] To be honest with you, I chose seven that, yes, I've personally encountered. But there are also seven that I think are a little more urgent. Like there might be some. There are some dangerous teachings we could look at, but they were really more relevant in the early 2000s or late 90s.
[00:06:01] And obviously, there are some dangerous teachings in the future that we'll have to look at that I don't necessarily know about right now, but we could look at dangerous teachings from the past, and some of these will be influenced from past narratives or ways of looking at things. But I'm specifically looking at seven dangerous teachings that are here right now that I think are particularly crucial for us to be aware of in our moment right now. So they're teachings I've personally encountered. They're teachings that I've seen increasingly prevalent within the churches of the people I seek to serve through unfeigned Christianity. So obviously, I've got one little corner of the global Christian community that I know and that I'm serving, and so somebody else in another part of the Christian community around the world would recognize something else as being dangerous. I'm specifically addressing ones that I think are relevant and crucial for the ones I interact with. And then the third aspect is that these are issues that I feel I can address in one article. So, yes, there's more we could talk about, but I specifically want to look at ones that I can address in one article or one podcast episode. So, as I allude to, this is a written article on my blog@asher whitmer.com if you want to see it expanded upon. Further, the second clarification I want to make is that I don't do this so that you can become a watchdog within your local community. The purpose isn't so that now, all of a sudden you're holding your pastor under a microscope or anybody who preaches that now you're a microscope or magnifying glass. Oh, you don't have. Oh, you said this. And this is close to what Asher said in his seven Dangerous Teachings article or episode. And that's not. That's not why I'm doing this. If. If you are doing this, then, quite frankly, I think you're actually someone who's susceptible to dangerous teachings, because that. That means that you're kind of just absorbing what I'm talking about here and not thinking critically through this. Rather, the. The purpose why I'm doing this is so that we can anchor ourselves theologically and process through these seven dangerous teachings and just reflect on our own lives and see even the patterns of how people get to where they are and recognize. Is that happening in my own life?
[00:08:32] And you would better be able to navigate conversations with others as you bump into these issues. So it's not about. Because you, ah, that's a dangerous teaching. That's heresy. I am most certainly not using the word heresy here. I'm using dangerous teaching. That's intentional. I'm not calling these heretical teachings. I think we throw heresy around way too flippantly. And heresy is, first of all, it has a historical context. There are certain teachings that have been condemned within church history as heretical. And so I think we ought to honor teachings what has been condemned as heretical. Let's call that heresy. But let's not. Just because I don't like or don't agree with a certain teaching, I'm not going to call that heresy. So these, these are not necessarily heretical teachings. I just think they're dangerous. And the reason I think they're dangerous is because on their face they sound biblical. But when you dig deeper, you realize actually they, they don't have any scriptural grounding, scriptural rooting. So this is about you being able to process for your own self and think through how you're processing the teachings that you hear and bump into. And it's also when you're in conversation with people about these and you bump into these teachings, you can know how to navigate it and know what kind of questions to ask and to explore or whatever. So that's the purpose of doing a piece that looks specifically at these seven teachings. So here's what the seven teachings are. First of all, that the United States is a Christian nation. Secondly, that the head covering is a sign of submission. Third, the curse of Ham myth. We'll dig into that. Fourth is the Jezebel spirit. Fifth, that there's such a thing as same sex marriage. Sixth, that habitual sins are dealt with primarily through prayer. And then last but not least is Zionism. So you ready for this? Shall we dive into this? I don't know, maybe, maybe already there's some, some interest piqued or hair bristled on the back of your neck. I don't know. Let's, let's look at this a little bit further. Let's start with number one. The United States is a Christian nation. Now, I, I don't remember when I first heard this idea or this concept, but I, I was, we were homeschooled growing up and I was taught ABEKA curriculum. ABEKA Christian Academy from Pensacola, Florida.
[00:10:53] I had a wonderful experience with the curriculum. It was organized, it forced me, it challenged me as a homeschooler. So sometimes people view homeschool as kind of like less structured and less robust of, of a schooling. And I Would say I actually when I started going to college and so forth, I discovered I was better prepped for college level courses than most of the friends of mine who had even gone to school. So I, I have a lot of appreciation for Abeka curriculum, definitely tremendous appreciation for my mom who poured into my life through homeschooling all 12 grades. But this concept that America is a Christian nation came through quite strong in Abeka curriculum.
[00:11:41] And I, I can remember as a youth kind of puzzling over that, like what do we mean by the United States being a Christian nation? It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned that the whole idea of the United States being a Christian nation is something that was developed in the mid-1900s. Like it wasn't even something that our founding fathers talked about being a Christian nation. In fact, we, the founding fathers were divided on their religion and on the role of religion in the formation of the country. Yes, 100% there were seeming apparent Christian people involved in the founding of the United States, involved in politics. Christianity was a huge, highly influential piece. But I mean Benjamin Franklin was an agnostic. He valued religion because he saw it as adding certain ethics that kind of balanced out, kept people in check. But he did not really want anything to do with Christianity when it came to his own personal life. He was a highly immoral man. And yet he was a key figurehead of the founding movement and there are others like him.
[00:12:56] And furthermore, when you study, if you study scripture, you don't inherently come to the U.S. constitution. In fact, there are some pieces of the U.S. constitution that if you studied scripture well, you would for sure not come to that conclusion.
[00:13:14] The idea that a black man is three worth three fifths of a vote of a white person, like for, I mean that's kind of the low hanging fruit. For instance, there's other things in the Constitution as well that just clearly contradict Scripture and contradict the vision of humanity and God's design and so forth. So when you study the Roman Republic, then you realize, oh, Scripture was one of many documents that the founding fathers engaged with. And I actually Remember, I remember Mr. McBride talking about this in my Abeka schooling. He emphasized that Scripture was one of many documents. He very much believed the United States as a Christian nation. He was very patriotic, very wanted Christianity to remain highly influential in American government and saw he would have argued that Christianity was a key forming piece to the American government system. But he was the first one to emphasize that the Bible was one of many documents.
[00:14:22] And in college I studied other aspects of the founding, and not only of the founding of America, but then also the philosophical development behind the Greco Roman world, which highly influenced the, the origins of the United States. And so I would, I would argue that it could be as accurately stated that America was founded on the Roman Republic as, as it is that America was founded on the Bible. I don't think either one are very fair, but they both had high influence on the US and yeah, it's one thing to take scripture and be like, hey, this is a human idea, human thought, and here's Scripture and it seems to connect, right? I think that's okay as we're navigating life and like, hey, I think there's wisdom here. But I would never say that that means this concept is founded upon the Bible. Rather I would say they, they connect, they correlate. We see, like, hey, there's, there might be wisdom here. That's how I would process through human theories and philosophies in general. It's like people might tap into truth. That doesn't mean they're inherently founding it upon the Word of God. But it also, we also got to dig a little bit deeper. What is the Word of God? The Word of God is not just a specific spelling of a word. You know, like you might spell out Israel. Well, that's a word. It's also a name.
[00:15:56] Christianity. That's a word like that. That's obvious. I think we all know that that's not the word of God. The Word of God also isn't simply the Bible, as we read and see in English. The Word of God is a message. It is a message that is perfectly and wholly revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. And so the purpose of the Bible is to share the message with us. And so we have to take, we can't just splice out certain pieces of the Bible, certain pieces of Scripture and think we're founding it on the Bible or on scriptural principles or on the Word of God. We actually could use certain passages of scripture to create a dogma that is actually contradicting the Word of God if we take the whole of Scripture and the whole of the message together.
[00:16:43] So I think we, I think we need to be very careful when we use these kinds of concepts, like a biblical worldview or founding on, you know, on the Bible or Christian nation. It's like, well, what are we meaning by that? Because usually we end up Christianizing our particular preferences and way of looking at life. And it's not necessarily that, like, if I studied the Word of God, I would inherently come to this conclusion. So that's kind of the preliminary. But there's. There's also the question of what. What are we? What is Christian? What is particularly Christian about the US the reason the idea of the US being a Christian nation is dangerous is because it distorts what Christian actually means. Christians were called Christian, which literally means little Christ.
[00:17:36] They're acting like little Christ. It was a derogatory term. People saw them, the way they related, the way they engaged with society and they lived out their lives. And they're like, oh, they're trying to be like Christ. They're trying to be like Jesus. And so the question we need to ask ourselves is, does the United States as a nation resemble Jesus? Throughout Scripture, nations and rulers become beast, like when they seek power through violence. We see this in Psalm 2:1,3, exalt themselves as divine. Isaiah 14, 13, 14, referring to Babylon, when nations oppress the weak and DISREGARD Justice. Amos 1 and 2, that is resembling the beast. It is not resembling Yahweh. It is not resembling God. And when they persecute God's people, Exodus 1, Pharaoh as a dragon, serpent figure, isn't that actually what we see America doing? Let's. Let's look throughout the past history and see what the pattern has been. The US Was established through violent revolution, not peace. Power through violence.
[00:18:38] American Christians have built a national mythology that treats America like a city on a hill. God's chosen nation bordering on self. Deification, exalting self is divine. In fact, one of the great travesties in Western Christianity is that we kind of usurp America as Israel. In the biblical narrative, that is a gross misreading misunderstanding of Scripture. When we think of America as receiving the promises that were promised to Israel, that. That is not how we should understand the biblical narrative. Americans, including many Christians, enslaved African men and women. They drove indigenous peoples from their land. And even today, systemic injustice persists against the vulnerable, oppressing the weak. I think of what is happening regarding immigrants today and the way ICE is forcefully removing people, even at the expense of killing and detaining citizens of the United States. There's a lot of violence and oppression of the weak, oppression of racially prejudiced, for one thing, but then removing them rather than doing due process, which was outlined by the American Constitution. Instead, it's just all by force and getting the people we don't want in here, getting them out. When Christians have resisted these systems in the name of Jesus, whether it was abolitionists during the civil rights movement and the antebellum self or even peacemakers today, they have often been marginalized or labeled as un American.
[00:20:17] Even when those people are standing against injustice, puzzles of what the word of God says, they're labeled as un American. And so I challenge all of us to reflect honestly.
[00:20:31] Is, does America actually value as a nation? Does it value Jesus, the way of God? Spoiler alert. I don't think an earthly empire will ever be a Christian nation unless Jesus is king. You cannot have a Christian nation. And what does it mean to have Jesus as king? Well, it means that Jesus becomes lord of your life and he is the ultimate authority that you submit to. And it would cause an earthly kingdom to end up looking at very weak.
[00:21:05] And it would not be, it would not go well in human way of handling things. Just as Israel once begged for a king so they could be like other nations, too often today the American church wants a king like the other nations instead of Jesus as their king. And I realize this, this is kind of harsh, but I, I am inviting us to honest reflection. Is Jesus king of my life, where any benefit that a nation gives me, I hold with an open hand. And Jesus is the one I submit to, even when it means I may take fire from the empire I'm living in? Or do I actually want a king? Kind of like earthly kingdoms, kind of a fighter and a rah rah. That's what's so dangerous about the myth of America as a Christian nation. It doesn't pull us closer to Christ. It seduces us away from Christ and into the way of the beast. The second dangerous teaching that is infiltrating our church is the idea that the head covering is a sign of submission. So I don't know how many of you watching or listening to this are a part of churches or have come from churches where it was taught that women should cover their heads, particularly when praying or prophesying. We find this in 1 Corinthians 11, if you're not familiar with it. But the idea often comes along something like this. Men should not cover their heads when praying or prophesying as a sign of submission to Christ. Women should cover their heads as a sign of submission to men, especially their husbands. And you get there because Paul rehearses headship. Christ is the head of man, man is the head of woman, God is head over all. And so we kind of assume out of that that that means the, the head covering is being submission submissive to men. Because Paul talks about COVID your head so as not to dishonor your head. And there's Some. Yeah. Complexity of what all does that mean? What is head? What does it mean that man is head of woman? We could talk about that. But on its face, the most obvious thing is when you read through 1 Corinthians 11, 1 16, that's the whole passage that talks about head covering. Not once is the word submission mentioned. Word submission is not found even the Greek origin or the Greek root, excuse me, as I take a sip of water. In fact, the word authority is only mentioned once and it's mentioned of women. When a woman covers her head, she has authority on her head. Paul wrote in verse 10 for this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head. Some translations just say should have authority on her head because of the angels. So it's not a symbol of submission, it's a symbol of authority. Well, what is because of the angels mean? I think I've, I've been in many conversations where people center around that because of the angels, which is actually somewhat of a mystical hidden. Like what exactly are we talking about? And you can't really know just from that text. I personally lean towards the understanding. Paul throughout this passage uses Genesis language. So he talks about man coming from woman and yet woman came from man. And you know, all, all of that which on one hand is talking about biology. Right? Man comes from woman. Everybody when they're born, they're coming from a woman. But what's this idea of a woman coming from man? Well, that's harking back to Genesis.
[00:24:40] He, he references that. He, he talks about a number of different places where it's language that reminds us of Genesis. Genesis 1:2.
[00:24:53] In Genesis 6 you have these divine like beings who come down and apparently it's not said explicitly in the text, but apparently they have sex with the daughters of man, with human women, because then they give birth. These daughters give birth. And it's a unique being. Like we don't really know. In Genesis 6 when you read it, it's so kind of mystical, it almost goes over your head. Because of the angels. I think there is a connection. I'm not just getting this. Believe it was Dr. Michael Heiser. Who I first heard this connection from the late Dr. Heiser. Am I, do I have his name correct? I think it's Michael Heiser. Yeah. Yep. Dr. Michael Heiser. He has since passed on. But he, he talked about this connection and I, I would lean that direction because of the angels. Well, what, what are we talking about? Well, this is a sign of authority for the angels to understand these women are in Christ. And so it's a, it's a sign of authority and the position that a woman has. And notice if, if you study 1 Corinthians 11, you see that a woman is given the opportunity to participate in the service and the function of the church when they are praying and prophesying with their head covered.
[00:26:13] And so in a lot of these churches where head covering is taught, in a lot of our churches, my church teaches head covering. If we're not careful, we can. We actually limit the ways in which the women in our communities can serve and participate in the ministry and function of the church. But this very passage is actually empowering women to serve and function. Yes, there is a reminder of headship, and that's a conversation we can have. That's not the purpose of this article or this episode. I'm not trying to talk about what does man being the head of woman mean? Obviously, I am picking at the point that I don't think it means an inherent hierarchical, hierarchical order that women need to obey men. Because I could, if you saw First Corinthians 11, that way I could see how you kind of map on head covering as a sign of submission. But in its context of the passage, quite simply, the head covering is a sign of authority, not submission. So why is it a big deal that we properly understand what the head covering is doing? Well, first of all, to say that the head covering is a sign of submission redefines the symbol. Paul is not trying to put women beneath men. He's affirming their spiritual agency. The head covering is a sign that women have the authority to speak, to, pray, and prophesy as full participants in the body of Christ. Secondly, it shifts the focus from Christ to control. The broader section of 1 Corinthians, chapters 9 through 14 is about unity, not hierarchy. Paul's concern is honor within the community, not enforcing social rank. Teaching submission here replaces mutual respect with a power dynamic Paul wasn't trying to create. And then, thirdly, it ignores Paul's emphasis on interdependence. And I alluded to this earlier, some of the the language that resembles Genesis. But in verses 11 through 12 of 1st of 1 Corinthians 11, they make it clear that man is not independent of woman and woman is not independent of man. Both come from God. If submission were the point, suggesting that women were accountable to men, I think Paul would have had suggested that they have their head uncovered to mirror the instruction for men in relation to Christ. Are you tracking with me? Men are to submit to Christ that's why they have their head uncovered, because they give account to Christ. And so if women were supposed to give account to men, then I think Paul would have said, have their head uncovered. But the fact that he tells them to have their head covered, a sign of authority, is a sign that when I look at my wife, I remember she gives account to Christ, not to me. We both, at the end of the day, stand naked, as it were, before Christ, and I will give account for how I led. And if you think of Ephesians 5, did I wash her in the Word? How did. How did I lead her? Did I lead her like Christ, as Christ loves the Church? But ultimately we both stand and give account to Christ. The third dangerous teaching that is infiltrating the Church. Again, I am this. These are articles that. I mean, this is an article, the last one, the last episode, as well as this one is an article where if you go to my blog, I expound on things further. If you're wanting more clarity and more like, hey, you know, you said that, but I need to hear more on that, go ahead and look it up. The article as a whole, I will have that in the description as well. But the third myth, or the third dangerous teaching is the curse of Ham myth. Now, this one has lived for quite some time within Western Christianity. Western Christianity, within Western Christianity.
[00:29:58] And it goes something like this. Black people are descendants of Ham, which was Noah's cursed son. Therefore, God destined them for servitude. I don't know if you've heard that. I have seen some fairly highly influential Anabaptist preachers. I guess I should be careful. I'm not sure if they've ever said it over the pulpit, but I've seen them say it on social media. This notion or something that resembles very closely this idea. So a couple things we need to clarify. First of all, Ham was not the cursed son. The curse was on Canaan, one of his, One of Ham's sons. The Bible never says Ham's descendants became Africans. That's a fabricated link created centuries later to rationalize slavery. So one of the things I would encourage people to do is go study the origins of the curse of Ham myth. When throughout Christian history did this idea that the ham that landed. What did I just say? The ham that landed, the curse that landed on Ham's son, Canaan, somehow linking that to African people, When did that start showing up? It started showing up in antebellum South. It was a way for Southern Baptists to justify slavery. So that, like there's no scriptural link to Ham's people becoming Africans. There's even, I remember watching something, I believe it was from Kent Hoven back in the day that tried to string together the connection between African American people and Ham. And there's just really isn't historical or scriptural data that would indicate this if, if anything, every one of of Noah's sons were dark skinned and so they like, yeah, the tracing of one of these sons into different parts of the world and so forth, like that's, that's conjecture at best. Could it possibly be? Maybe, but we don't, we just don't have data to prove that. And that sort of link was created during the antebellum south to justify slavery. So those are a couple things. But I, I think I'd like us to ask the question, why did the curse of Ham myth catch on? Because even if you and I don't embrace the curse of Ham myth, whether we realize it or not, the way we think about people has been shaped by the curse of Ham myth. The curse of Ham myth conveniently supported slave trade. It allowed Christians to baptize injustice and silence their conscience. It allowed Christian people to justify having servants that were indebted to them and that they owned. The slavery in the antebellum cells was a whole new kind of slavery. Some people look at scripture and it's like, well see, Christianity has always supported slavery. No, like the, the slavery see evident in Chris in the Scriptures was quite different than the slavery that we see in saw in the antebellum South. For one thing, Scriptures command slave owners to treat their slaves in a certain way. So Paul says of, in, in the book of Jude, it says to treat him, his slave Odysseus as a brother in Christ. That's radically different than any of the ways that the Americans treated their slaves in the antebellum cells. But also just historically, slavery was a way of paying off debt. So someone could be freed once they paid the debt off, once they completed the process. If they didn't have the money, well then you, you had indentured servitude where you had to work it off for that person and then they were freed. And in the Torah in the Old Testament, we see the year of jubilee, where even if someone hadn't completed their, their payment, they're supposed to be forgiven and set free. Now, side note, there is no evidence that Israel ever practiced the year of jubilee. But that is within God's design. That is a command that was given in the Torah. So Slavery of the antebellum self is not the same as slavery that we see in Scripture.
[00:34:08] However, Christians found ways to justify their owning people and having people work for, from one generation to another, work for their family.
[00:34:20] And where they were not treated like part of the household, they were a completely separate household. They were undignified. They were shamed in how they were treated.
[00:34:31] And the curse of Ham myth helped to justify that sort of prejudice and that sort of bias. So what's at stake if we let this myth fester? First of all, we raise kids in churches that never confront the roots of racial prejudice. I think it's important to identify how some of these flawed ways of thinking got into Christian history. And just, just because, oh, we, we don't. Nobody promotes the curse of ham today, that doesn't mean we shouldn't open it up, look at it, acknowledge it as a real part of Christian history here in America, and then be able to condemn it and say, hey, that's a myth, and here's why it's a myth, right? It flattens every human. The gospel flattens every human made hierarchy. The curse of ham myth creates hierarchy. In Christ. There is no Jew or Greek slave or free. Galatians 3. 28. No one is born into a spiritual caste system. We all bear the image of Jesus. And so even though we may not promote the curse of ham myth today, having thinking that actually think there is actually something different from me than you or whatever, that still festers. And how did that gain ground among us? Well, this is one way. And so to name it and condemn it is a part of raising kids in churches that do confront the roots of racial prejudice. Another reason, another thing that's at stake if we let this myth continue, is that we disciple people who confuse power with righteousness. They confuse power with righteousness. Just because someone has power does not mean they're acting righteously. Just because someone has a level of worldly success, does that mean. Does not mean they acted righteously in order to get that. And so it confuses power with righteousness. And then the third thing that's at stake is we proclaim a gospel of freedom while protecting systems of bondage. A gospel of freedom while protecting systems of bondage. Anytime we preach a gospel that favors one group over another, or let me rephrase this, anytime we preach a message that favors one group over another, as Christians, as disciples of Jesus, then we've stopped preaching good news and we're no longer preaching the message of Jesus. So the fourth dangerous teaching, infiltrating the church is the Jezebel Spirit.
[00:36:53] So the biggest on its face problem with this is that there's never a spirit in Scripture named Jezebel. Just doesn't exist. You can look for it, you can dig it up. There was a queen in the Old Testament named Jezebel. She was a wicked queen, an immoral queen, mocked God, mocked God's prophets. And then there's this woman in Revelation who the is doing something very similar to the queen Jezebel in the Old Testament. So there is debate and quite frankly we cannot know for sure is the woman in Revelation is John speaking metaphorically.
[00:37:35] There's this woman who's acting a lot like Jezebel in the Old Testament.
[00:37:40] Or it's also very, quite likely that her name was actually Jezebel and that she was doing these things that John the Revelator rebukes. And so yes, it's very clear there's a Jezebel. And it's very clear Jezebel is wicked. It is never referred to as a Jezebel spirit. Revelation never says that this woman was possessed by a unique demonic entity named Jezebel. The text uses her name perhaps symbolically, like I suggested.
[00:38:10] Maybe it's warning about toxic patterns, or it could be her actual name in Thyatira. Scholars find both plausible.
[00:38:19] I lean toward Revelation speaking symbolically of Jezebel.
[00:38:24] So this woman speaking, acting, and it's symbolically representing the Jezebel that we would know from the Old Testament, manipulates leadership, controls people behind the scenes, seduces a spirit or spiritually deceives, targets men in power. I lean toward the Jezebel in Revelation speaking symbolically of Jezebel.
[00:38:49] So I don't know what that lady's name was, but John is referring to her as Jezebel. You have tolerated this woman Jezebel, and he's using symbolically because she's acting similarly. However, unfortunately, modern teaching has taken that symbolic reference and turned it into a full blown doctrine. The Jezebel spirit is now talked about like it's a specific demon with a personality profile. Someone who manipulates leadership, controls people behind the scenes, seduces or spiritually deceives, targets men in power. That's the key one, right? You never, you never hear the concept of a Jezebel spirit pop up unless a certain man in power feels like he's being targeted. That's when the Jezebel spirit teaching pops up. There are several reasons why I think this is dangerous. First of all, it disembodies the sin that we all face because of Adam and Eve from ourselves. Right.
[00:39:50] So if you are a woman who struggles to honor your husband or authority figures in life. Right. Like now, all of a sudden, I have something else to blame as opposed to just taking responsibility for my drive for control. Oh, I've given myself to a matriarchal spirit or the Jezebel spirit. Right. Well, there's lots of us men who have an obsession with control as well. And I think naming and pegging people as Jezebels is a part of that drive for control. Behind everyone who uses this teaching is someone who's desperate for control. And so it offloads. Again, I don't have to give account because I'm, you know, I'm a man or something, or I'm someone in power. It insulates me from needing to face the fact that I too, am plagued with the sin of Adam and Eve.
[00:40:39] I desire power. I desire control. And we all, as disciples of Jesus, have to daily confront that.
[00:40:48] And sin lives within us, and we have to daily confront that. John says, if you say you have no sin, you're lying. You're straight up lying. We all struggle with control and manipulation. Those are human struggles. So that's one reason why this is dangerous. But here's some. Some fruit of this teaching, some other fruit of this teaching. I also find it ironic.
[00:41:11] Robert Morris was a common one, often linked to the Jezebel spirit. He popularized it in the modern age. There are other, other folks. But Robert Morris has shown that he sexually abused a young girl years ago. Like, he is someone who is himself sexually immoral. And not only that, but he's a predator.
[00:41:33] And the more, the longer time goes, the more people come out who have, you know, Mark Driscoll was someone who frequently still pushes that concept of a Jezebel spirit.
[00:41:47] More recently, we have guys like Todd White, Sean Bowles, who emphasize this concept of a Jezebel. Jezebel spirit. All of these men are being exposed as abusive, controlling, manipulative, even sexually abusive at times.
[00:42:03] And I don't, I'm. I'm not really surprised by that. We have a, A doctrine that we're, we're making. Is, Is there this. Like, when we say Jezebel spirit, are we trying to mean some. Something like the temperament? You know, John, I myself said, John is speaking symbolically of Jezebel of the Old Testament. He's referring to a specific lady in Thyatira and speaking symbolically of Jezebel in the Old Testament. So what if he's like, her temperament was like Jezebel of the Old Testament. What's wrong with using Jezebel spirit in that way? Well, I, I guess I would say let's like, why do you have to add spirit? Why do you have to add Jezebel spirit? John didn't see fit to do that, so why do you have to make that addition?
[00:42:50] Sure, let's use it symbolically. You're being like Jezebel in the Queen, Jezebel in your immoral. You're leading, you're mocking God's prophet. You're trying to bring harm to God's prophets. Like, sure, we can talk about all that. Why do you have to add on having a Jezebel spirit? Because when we claim there's a spirit, I sense a Jezebel spirit. We're clinging to a certain spiritual authority that feels. All of a sudden I feel like I can flex a power over somebody. And I guess if you've ever had that happen to you or if you've observed that to happen, I would just say just rest in peace and know that that is not, that is not of God. You don't have to panic, be like, oh, I don't know how to explain this. I don't know how to just articulate this in the way. We do not see God's apostles functioning in this way. Even when Ananias and Sapphira, those are the two that were killed because they lied about, just went and blanked there. All of a sudden I was like getting Priscilla and Aquila mixed up. Two radically different couples. In the Book of Acts, Ananias and Sapphira, they this, they lie against the Holy Spirit. And there is a spirit of deceit perhaps. Right. We could see that. And we, we see a spirit of fear even is talked about, but it's, it's descriptions. We don't ever see names of spirit in the Old, in the New Testament or the Old Testament, someone might say, well, what about Legion? Legion? When Jesus said, what is your name? And it's respond, legion, because we are many. There's several things going on there. First of all, they don't give a name. They say legion because we are many. But we're assuming that Jesus was asking the spirits what their name were. But notice Jesus what their names were. Notice how Jesus responds. They respond, legion because we are many. He cast them out. And then he comes back to asking someone what their name is is a way of, of saying, is this person with me? I think Jesus was asking the man what his name was. He wasn't asking the demon what his name was. Jesus was asking the man, what is his name? The demons respond. He realizes this man is not in his right mind. He casts the demon out, and then he comes back. When the man is in his right mind, he clothes him and he talks to him. And so there is virtually no evidence in scripture that I'm aware of where a spirit is named. That is not a descriptor of what's going on. So we have not been given a spirit of fear or there is a spirit of deceit, or, you know, those are descriptors of what's going on is, are there evil spirits? Yes, 100%. One of the first times I brought this up and talked about this, people thought I, I thought, there's no such thing as, as demonic spirits. As though somehow I'm like anti the spiritual realm. And so, no, I think this is a very serious issue. There are 100% evil spirits. The spirit realm is very real. I'm not downplaying the spirit realm. I'm trying to talk about the spirit realm in the way that scripture talks about the spirit realm. I don't know if we're aware of it or not, but a lot of conversation around spiritual realities is human philosophy. It's extra biblical. When you go to the Bible and it's like, well, where do. How do we know that spiritual dynamics are like this? It's like sometimes you sit in teaching and they, they use a lot of proof texts. Like, they grab verses out of context and so forth, like, see how this is happening? And it makes sense. But then when you go to study those scriptures yourself, you're like, wait, what did he say this was again? And how does this work? And that's something. It's okay to have reservation about that and to be like, why?
[00:46:34] Yeah, why, why doesn't this quite make sense?
[00:46:37] But the, the. Yeah, be very careful about naming sin as specific spirits. I am not saying sin doesn't happen in the church. Quite the opposite, actually. I think that the fruit of this teaching, the Jezebel spirit, is that it shifts focus away from actual sin. And all of a sudden now we have a spirit to pray against. And rather we ought to be reflecting on ourselves and naming sin inside ourselves. So if, if we, if we have pride, if we desire control of others, that's, that's being unloving. So lack of love, we don't have patience. The other thing is, it silences hard questions. It creates a culture where accountability is, Is framed as rebellion. So if someone who does not have a position of authority is Trying to hold someone in authority accountable, then it's easy to frame them as being rebellious. It protects unchecked authority, the teaching of a Jezebel spirit. It short circuits true accountability. It replaces discernment with suspicion. So now, instead of discerning, truly discerning, whether there are spiritual dynamics or what spiritual dynamics are at play, we're now suspicious of, you know, you're trying to control me or you're trying to manipulate me. It cultivates fear, especially in churches where disagreement is seen as rebellion. We need to create space for disagreements to happen and for people to bring their hard questions to spiritual leaders. Spiritual authority, that ought to be the safest place to bring questions. And yes, sometimes we have rebellion in our hearts, and those are things that we need to confront.
[00:48:20] And as someone who's served in leadership, that's a tough dance to do sometimes. Right? Even any of us who are parents face that. On one hand, we. We are authority, and you cannot just let a rebellious child run rampant. Right. On the other hand, I can't just control rebellion out of my child. And so how do you disciple? And I actually think it's dangerous to equate parenting to church authority and leadership. So pardon me for making that. I'm kind of processing in real time here the. The unique challenge of what if I am in leadership? And it sure seems like this person is just being rebellious. Well, one of the places that I would start is you cannot confront or control someone into honor and spiritual discipleship. And then secondly, rebellion comes from someplace. If it is true rebellion. Time. Time under tension.
[00:49:15] This is coming to me on the fly for any of our physical fitness gurus out there, like, time under tension is key. It's not just about the amount of reps, but how much time under tension. That. That's how you build muscle. Well, time under tension will expose if something's legit or not. Right? So give it some time. Give it. Allow the tension to be there. Whether someone's actually being rebellious will expose. And sometimes I've heard leaders talk about it this way. We have to squelch this because it's going to affect other people. And something I have observed and I realize I'm relatively young. I'm in my mid-30s, I'm not even 40 yet. So I'm open to being shown that this is not always the case. But something I've noticed is when someone, let's say person A, is acting rebellious and I'm serving on a team of leaders and people are concerned, like, we have to address this because it's going to affect person B and C. My observation would be that when, if that person truly is rebellious, yes, it might temporarily affect person B and C, but in the long term they actually usually kind of see through that eventually this notion that somehow rebellion spreads, discord can spread. But our role, our goal is to disciple people in the way of Jesus. And if we're discipling people in the way of Jesus, people will be able to start spotting on their, on their own, like, hey, that, that's actually not healthy, that's not right.
[00:50:46] But when we then zero in and focus in on the negative thing and we're trying to stop that, you know, stop this rebellion, put out all these little fires, we actually tend to play right into the hand of the rebellion per rebellious person. Now all of a sudden we'll likely do something that, you know, now that's evidence. See this is they, are these controlling people or whatever, is there a place to step in and name something? Actually that's not true. That's not how it happened. Whatever. Yes. And I've, I've been a part of things like that. But I, I would be cautious, I think of the incident in the Book of Acts. I believe it was where the high priest, you know, the, the, the religious leaders were talking like we should squelch this. And the, and the one high priest was like, you know, maybe not. Because if this actually is of God, then it's, it's only going to further amplify the, the rebellion against the religious leaders. If it's not legit, it'll, it'll fizzle out on their own. And I've seen that to be true more often than not. And so I think, I think we in leadership, we should be careful that, you know, we don't have to just stomp on this. Will it make things hard for us for a moment? Yeah, it probably will. It is kind of a headache to have to deal with a rebellious person. But if it's true rebellion, that'll, that'll be made known in time.
[00:52:06] The other thing is that what feels like rebellion. So someone's questions, someone's resistance to an idea or something though that's because of their story. And so a lot of people then react to the rebellion instead of leaning in to understand their story.
[00:52:22] And I have been a part of several instances where leaning in to understand the story did way more to unravel what initially felt like rebellion. And all of a sudden I realized, ah, they're functioning from pain or fear. Like there's been A legit thing that happened. And so now they're afraid the same thing's gonna happen again or whatever. I, I do not think that we, every time somebody pops up and it feels rebellious, that we should just be, oh, they have pain or they have unresolved wounds or, no, that. That's the exact opposite. You're not leaning in to understand their story. You're drawing conclusions without engaging them. That's not at all what I'm suggesting we do. Instead, let's lean in to understand, hey, what was it? What in their past. And they, they might not even know. And so you don't come in, you don't come in with like, hey, what, what in your past is triggering this for you, right? That's gonna set people on edge. Rather, if they're not wanting to do the thing or whatever you guys are suggesting or whatever, you lean in and say, hey, I've sensed that you're not a fan of this. Why?
[00:53:25] What, what are you concerned about? I don't know why. Sometimes it's easy for us who are in authority or who offer leadership. It's almost like we're afraid that if we give people voice that somehow we're going to lose our place or something.
[00:53:41] And I think that one of the best ways to gain a voice with someone is to lean into their story, to let them share, to let them talk. You don't have to, you don't have to say, well, thanks for sharing. I disagree with you. No, you just thanks for sharing. Thanks for like, I imagine that was hard for you to be vulnerable in that way. And I want you to know that I honor that and I appreciate that, value that, and you can walk away from there and realize, you know what, they shared their story with me. I learned something about them, but I, I still don't come to their conclusion. And that's totally fine. But you gave them space to talk, you gave them space to err. And all of a sudden what you viewed as rebellion and control, you realize, like, is pent up story that they've needed to talk about. Or maybe you hear their story and you actually do realize, like, oh, there are some things we need to change. Okay, Dangerous teaching number five. We've gone through four of them. The United States is a Christian nation. The head covering is a sign of submission. The curse of ham myth and the Jezebel spirit. Now we're gonna begin to land the plane. As we look at the final three, the, the number five dangerous teaching is that there's such a thing as same Sex marriage, maybe that's kind of a confusing way to word it, but the very idea that within the church, within the Christian church there is becoming embraced a notion that there's such a thing as same sex marriage is a dangerous teaching because it redefines what marriage is. So unfortunately in a lot of these conversations, the, the place that people start at is like whether marriage, you know, is it okay for mutually consenting people to be married together? Is marriage about entering a mutually consenting, loving relationship and all of that? And we look at the right or wrongness of same sex sexual intimacy. But that's not the place where we should be starting the conversation. We should first look at what is marriage in scripture? Where does marriage get its definition in Scripture? Marriage is not just about love. It's not about, just about mutual consent.
[00:55:58] Just to be clear, I, I think there should be mutual consent in marriage, but it's not enough to just have two mutually consenting individuals. Genesis doesn't give.
[00:56:10] Genesis doesn't just give the first marriage, it gives the very definition of marriage. When God creates Eve, he says she will be a helper suitable for Adam. The Hebrew phrase is ezer k negdo and it's not as soft as we sometimes make it sound. Preston Sprinkle actually dives into this in a very thorough way. If you read his book People to be Loved, it talks about that. But then he also has a shorter book, Grace, Grace and Truth, which specifically is designed for church leaders who are engaging in the people who are dealing with same sex attraction. How do you disciple them? But he talks about how the word ezer is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to describe God himself as our helper, strong, capable, life sustaining. So this isn't about Eve being a silent assistant. It's about her being equal in value and essential in purpose. The second part, kinegdo, is even more fascinating. It means corresponding to or like opposite him. In other words, Eve is like Adam in that she is human, made in God's image, but she is also different sexually, physically and functionally distinct. So in other words, marriage within Genesis and the first marriage that we see between Adam and Eve, it's not just because they're consenting humans who love each other. She is a helper suitable specifically because, yes, she's like him in that she's human, but she's also genuine different in that she's female. She's same in worth, dignity, image bearing, but different in form, function and design. The Bible doesn't reduce marriage to emotion, even though emotion is very Much a part of marriage, it roots it in embodiment, in male and female coming together to become one flesh. A reality that can't be replicated in same sex relationships, no matter how deep the affection for each other.
[00:58:10] So sexual difference isn't random. It is an essential part of marriage. Jesus affirms this design in Matthew 19. When asked about divorce. He doesn't throw out a vague ethic of love. He points back to Genesis, back to male and female. Theologians like Sprinkles say we need to start with what marriage is because once you redefine marriage, everything else shifts. Sexual ethics, discipleship, even what it means to be human.
[00:58:39] Now there are theologians out there like Matthew Vines who wrote, I think I have the oh God and the gay Christian.
[00:58:50] And his, one of his primary arguments is that a helper suitable means that if Adam would have been same sex attracted, then God would have provided for him a, you know, a man as a helper suitable. And he really entirely overlooks the, the meaning of connecto and the inherent sex difference that is embedded within the word connecto. So I think that is a, we might think that. I think there's a lot of people who would agree, hey, same sex marriage is not biblical. But they, they don't, aren't really able to explain why it's not biblical.
[00:59:32] And a lot of the conversation centers around same sex attraction. You have Rosario Butterfield and Christopher Yuan out there, you know, really condemning anybody who even feels same sex attracted to, to acknowledge that someone is same sex attracted or to acknowledge as someone being gay, meaning their sexual orientation is towards that of someone of the same gender. Like that is somehow accommodating sin. And we don't even interact with the question of what is marriage. And so we, we develop a, a theologically sh.
[01:00:07] Who are dogmatic against same sex marriage, but they don't actually know why Scripture teaches against same sex marriage. And yes, we, we, we can look at Romans 1 and, and there's some complications that, that we could dive into a variety of different passages. Romans 1 is probably one of the clearest accounts that show how this is against nature. Right. But as far as, as far as the argument of why should there not be same sex marriage? Well, because there is no thing as marriage of people between the same gender. So marriage biblically defined is inherently people of different genders. So I think that's the piece that we need to stay fixed on and remember that that's what marriage is. So that the question isn't are we okay with same sex marriage? The question Is what is marriage? Because we'll realize if we're gonna follow scripture that there is no marriage between people of the same gender. Now, something I want to make very clear is this does not give us the right or grounds to dehumanize people who are dealing with same sex attraction. It certainly doesn't give us the right to dehumanize folks who are trying to follow Jesus while facing same sex attraction. But it doesn't even give us the right to dehumanize people who, who don't really care about Jesus. They're living, you know, living with their same sex partner or whatever.
[01:01:39] Those are still people made in the image of God. And one of the greatest weaknesses within the church is compassion for people and to walk with each other in their journeys and in their stories. And it seems like it's easy to be kind of dogmatic. Either you're dogmatically dogmatically against same people who are same sex attracted, or you're someone who's same sex attracted and same affirming of same sex marriage. And even within that crowd, I've noticed sort of a dogma against folks who are saying, no, that's actually not how the Bible describes marriage. And so I think this whole conversation just brings this iceberg to the surface of the fact that we really struggle to love each other well. And part of what I think can help us love each other well is recognizing that where this conversation needs to be grounded in, and that is what how does God define marriage within Scripture? And we can see by grounding it in Genesis that marriage is between a man and a woman. But we can know through our own stories that we are complex human beings and we face a variety of struggles and we want to work with each other, walk with each other in compassion as we seek to sort through those struggles and walk faithfully with Jesus in light of these struggles, in spite of these struggles, Dangerous teaching number six is that habitual sexual sins are dealt with primarily through prayer. Now, I'm specific to habitual sexual sins.
[01:03:17] I think we could just say that habitual sins are dealt with primarily through prayer, but something that can often happen in at least the churches that I circle in. Again, I'm primarily speaking to that crowd or from that crowd. There's other dangerous teachings we could look at, but I'm specifically looking at the ones that I see prevalent in the churches where I worship, the churches I minister to, the people I communicate with. And there's this notion that when you're bumping into habitual sin, we need to Pray for deliverance. And I'm not sure how to have this. I feel like this has been an area where I've often been misunderstood. Because when you say, actually that's not all there is, then some people think you're against prayer or you're against deliverance, the need for deliverance. Rather, I think of, you know, for instance, if someone is majorly overweight and they're struggling with energy, they're struggling with other health issues, we would no doubt pray for that person. But there's also a lot of information that we know from doctors. I was going to say dietricians. That's not the word.
[01:04:34] Nutritionists, people who are educated and trained in how the body works and how different foods interact with each other and so forth. And we'd begin to develop a plan like, hey, you need to change your diet and you'll notice certain energy coming back. Yeah, I'm not even majorly overweight. I just have. I was pre diabetic and sort of, it was just like, oh, I'm pre diabetic. And then about six, seven months ago, I started getting symptoms of like, ooh, this is something I need to start taking more seriously. And so I've been watching my carb intake and shifting from trying to lower my carb to raising protein, and I've noticed a difference in my energy level, I've noticed in how I feel and so forth. So there's things about our body that we learn. You're not going to see anything in scripture that I'm aware of that specifically highlights the importance of lowering your carb intake and raising your protein intake and so forth.
[01:05:36] But even with that, we certainly embed even our medical pursuits. And as people are making medical decisions and so forth, we're.
[01:05:44] We're seeking God through prayer. We're asking God for healing, maybe even. And it's not that prayer is totally removed from the situation, but we understand there are very real dynamics at play.
[01:05:58] And I have witnessed, even just recently within our own community, we have witnessed a healing, physical healing and miracle. I've. I've witnessed other miracles, healing. I. I believe I've been healed.
[01:06:14] A couple years ago in the health stuff that I went through, we didn't know what I was dealing with. And yet it could have been quite significant, quite dangerous, perhaps even lethal. And I was anointed during that time. And as I reflect on that year, I'm like, I don't have any other explanation for why I was healed other than God and the prayer that was prayed. So 100% embed all of our work as disciples of Jesus in prayer, but understanding when it comes to habitual sins like sexual sins, that there's deeper things at Play. Yes, we 100% need to be praying. We need to be confessing our sins one to another. But there's reason we're struggling with these habits, these habitual sins. Paul says in Romans 12 that we are transformed by the renewing of our mind. It doesn't say we're transformed by a prayer of deliverance. Again, not denying the incredible importance of prayer when it comes to being formed in Christ. But the renewing of our minds is something that takes process, takes taking captive every thought, understanding. Wait, where is that thought coming from? What is actually the way I should think about and respond to this issue according to.
[01:07:51] According to God's design. Sometimes the work of renewing our minds happens best in the office of a wise, trauma informed counselor who helps us untangle baggage in life, who helps us understand our stories better and understand why we respond habitually to certain triggering events in a way. And it's not just enough to, like, gain understanding, but then to have a counselor that can help us. Okay, here. Here's what to do instead when you're starting to feel this. Here's where to go with your mind. Here's what to lean into. Obviously, there's plenty of different types of counseling out there, and I highly encourage us to pursue counselors who work from a biblical world. You understanding the nature of sin, understanding that ultimately we need Jesus to transform our minds and our hearts. And prayer is very much a part of that whole process. But I have walked with a lot of young men especially, but even, I mean, my wife and I have talked with women as well, who have had this incredible prayer time, even discovered a level of healing and freedom only to then later, after the event, begin to struggle again. And here's why I think this is dangerous, why it's important is it can. It can end up shaming people into secrecy instead of helping them process their stories. It can spiritualize psychological wounds that need informed care instead of condemnation. It neglects embodied discipleship walking with one another through the muddy mess of life. And it blames the struggler for lacking enough faith or not rendered enough when what they really lack is safe community or help from trained counselors. So if you continue to struggle, then often you'll hear the language of they're living out of their past or they're just. And so there's. There's a lot of this focus on just let go of the past, press, press on for what lies ahead.
[01:09:53] Kind of not only yanking that passage out of context, realizing that that is instead of, of fixating on my past sin, I'm supposed to walk in newness of life. Right? Right. That doesn't have to do with letting go of, you know, don't, don't try to understand why that wound hurt you or, you know, don't bring that bitterness or pain to Jesus. That is exactly the kind of thing we need to come to over and over again. And wounds happen in layers. They don't necessarily come off in layer in one time events, they tend to come off in layers as well. And there's experiences that will happen that feel very reminiscent, very similar to the initial wounding experience. And your fleshly self protective way of responding or coping is going to kind of kick into gear.
[01:10:46] And even though we may have already experienced a great level of healing, we may need a new level of healing as we continue to learn what it means to renew our minds and to walk in the way of Jesus and responding to life events as Jesus would. I've met men and women who prayed for decades to stop looking at porn.
[01:11:07] What they really needed wasn't more willpower. They needed to be known to unpack their shame, to learn how their behavior was reenacting deeper pain. And that doesn't always happen in a time of prayer. It happens through patient spirit led formation. And sometimes, quite frankly, that just takes a lot of time and a lot of intentional discipleship. So are habitual sexual sins dealt with through prayer?
[01:11:34] Yeah, prayer is very much a part of it. But the idea that they're primarily dealt with through prayer, that's actually quite dangerous because there's always deeper things going on. Lastly, I'll wrap this up. The seven dangerous teachings. The last dangerous teaching is Zionism.
[01:11:51] Zionism. For many Christians, especially in the west, supporting modern day Israel has almost become a litmus test for faithfulness. Either you're for Israel or you're against God. But what if the way we've adopted Zionism into Christian theology is doing more harm than good? Zionism is not a biblical mandate. It's actually a political ideology that developed in the late 1800s. Theodore Herzl and others envisioned a homeland for the Jewish people, primarily in response to centuries of antisemitism. That movement gained momentum after the Holocaust, eventually leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
[01:12:31] Zionism is not synonymous with the gospel, yet many churches treat it like it is. Evangelical leaders will quote Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you or Psalm 122. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem as if they are policy memos from God to support any and every action the Israeli government takes. But that promise of blessing was given to Abraham and fulfilled in Jesus. The New Testament makes it clear that the people of God are no longer defined by ethnicity or geography. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, Paul says in Galatians 3. 29 Furthermore, praying in David's day, praying for the peace of Jerusalem was about the city as the spiritual and political center of Israel. Peace in Jerusalem meant stability for the whole nation. In Christian tradition, Jerusalem has symbolic meaning as a dwelling place of God, the center of worship, and eventually in Revelation, as a metaphor for the heavenly city of God. So when someone quotes pray for the peace of Jerusalem today, it's important to ask this question, which Jerusalem are we praying for? The ancient city of David's day? The modern political state? Or the peace that only Christ can bring to all nations and peoples? In light of the Gospel, the call to pray for peace extends far beyond one city. It becomes a prayer for shalom, for the shalom of God to reign in every heart and land. The problem with Zionism is that it conflates the kingdom of God with a modern nation state. It promotes a selective justice, defending Israel's right to exist while ignoring Palestinian suffering. And it confuses political loyalty with spiritual faithfulness. When Jesus came, he didn't point people to a piece of land.
[01:14:22] He pointed them to a cross, Jew and Gentile, to a new way of being human, to a kingdom that breaks down barriers, not one that reinforces national borders and ethnic hierarchies. He pointed to the church's allegiance must not be to Zionism, it must be to Christ. The minute we mix those two, we lose sight of the radical, border breaking, enemy loving way of Jesus. So there you have it. Seven teachings that are infiltrating your church today about guarantee one of these seven teachings are prevalent in your church. And again, I'm not saying this your church community. I'm not saying this to turn you into a watchdog for anybody who preaches in your church. Rather, to help you begin to be more theologically anchored yourself and being able to navigate these conversations and look deeper into the scriptures of what is actually taught. These seven teachings, they seem unrelated on the surface. They're some touch on politics, some touch on race, gender, sexuality, theology. But underneath they all have one thing in common and that is they distract us from Jesus. Instead of pursuing Jesus and becoming like Jesus in all areas of life. They actually distract us and they justify not being like Jesus in all areas of life because this one thing is a bigger thing. They twist the gospel into something more manageable and palatable, something we can fit into a little more easily. But we don't get to reshape truth. Jesus is the truth, and following him means continually unlearning false frameworks, returning to His Word, and becoming people who don't look like ourselves anymore but look like Him. My hope is that this stirs something in you. Not fear or criticism, but a hunger to be theologically anchored, emotionally and spiritually healthy, and deeply grounded in the kind of love that actually looks like Christ. I'd love to hear your feedback. Have you noticed these teachings? How have you processed them as you bump into them? Do you have any questions or even pushback that you would like to see me engage with in some way, shape or form? Thank you for listening. Again, if you want to read it, I go a little more in depth, even though this this episode has definitely gotten fairly lengthy itself. But the article and I'll link that again in the description, but the article goes a little bit more in depth as well as provides some links and citations to different, different pieces that I claim and so forth.
[01:17:00] I I yeah, just love to hear what what are your thoughts as you process this? Are there other dangerous teachings that you think were not addressed that should be taken a look at? Feel free to leave a comment below. If you found this helpful, feel free to share it. Share it with your friends and family, whether you're listening to this on a podcast platform or you're watching on YouTube. In my next episode, I'm going to be talking with my cousin who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and we're going to be looking at what is going on in Minneapolis and then what is the church doing in Minneapolis? How are Christians finding ways to serve the immigrant population in Minneapolis, Minnesota? So stay tuned for that until next time. Grace and Peace.
[01:17:55] Ra.
