Greetings!

So far in this thread, many folks have offered substantial Biblical reasons for why most of the teachers on TBN, especially the health-and-wealth preachers, ought to be condemned as false teachers. Anyone who properly studies the Scriptures cannot help but come to this conclusion.

So how do so many people become convinced that these teachers somehow speak for God? As a former fan of at least one health-and-wealth preacher of earlier years, here's a few reasons that come to mind:

1. Such preachers often quote large chunks of Scripture that seemingly backs up their claims. However, much of this quoting takes the form of prooftexting: "See, the same thing happened here in the Gospels or Acts that I say takes place today in our services." Obviously, proper Biblical interpretation needs to go way beyond "it happened once before, and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so it must be so." Peter walked on the water at Jesus' encouragement, but I doubt that any charismatic teachers encourage their followers to emulate his example lest they get their pants sued off them.

2. Oftentimes, people who take an interest in TBN-style teaching have dramatic personal experiences that seem to back up what Brother So-and-So is teaching. "Wow, Brother X said this, and it's happened to me just as he said, so he must be speaking for God!" Sadly, charismatic history is littered with souls who, having had one or two wonderful experiences, came up empty and discouraged in the end with nothing to show for the dream, vision, or prophecy that promised such great things. To be sure, such experiences can be extremely compelling to the novice who doesn't realize that they are nothing better than the bait on a hook that Satan intends to use to draw them away from Christ. Remember two things: (1) psychics, mediums, etc., are as often involved in "true" experiences or predictions as are charismatic Christians, and (2) when Scripture tells us that Satan can appear as an angel of light, it's saying that he can often come across in a way that seems just like a visitation from God...except that the experience he provides leads us away from Christ and the Scriptures in the long run.

3. Charismatic teaching can, in the short run, produce a sense of peace, joy, and excitement. It seems to work...for a while. Charismatics fail to realize, though, that everything--various religions, meditation, exercise, drugs, alcohol, etc.--produces short-term results. No one would fall for that stuff if they didn't! This is one reason why it's dangerous to conclude that this or that teaching must be good on account of its producing results. True, the "good" results may last quite some time--perhaps years--but in the end any way save that of Scripture will disappoint and destroy.

So, my charismatic friend, I urge you to think twice about charting your life course on account of supposed supernatural experiences. Although some such experiences seem very real and good and seem to produce good results, experience must never take the driver's seat! Instead, only Scripture ought to direct us as to how to run the Christian race. Rather than using Scripture merely as a source of prooftexts to validate your special experiences, allow Scripture to test your experiences to see whether they are as good as they may appear. Especially if you're a young believer and new to charismaticism, you may think that all of your experiences are leading you in a good direction and never realize that they are in fact taking you further away from the basic truths we find in Scripture. Take care lest experience rather than Scripture teaches you how to live and what to believe!

A former charismatic,
Dave