The School of False Prophets
Our opinions were not honestly come by. We simply found ourselves in contact with a certain current of ideas and plunged into it because it seemed modern and successful. At College, you know, we just started automatically writing the kind of essays that got good marks and saying the kind of things that won applause. When, in our whole lives, did we honestly face, in solitude, the one question on which all turned: whether after all the Supernatural might not in fact occur? When did we put up one moment’s real resistance to the loss of our faith?
C.S. Lewis The Great Divorce page 31 Kindle
What drives the utopians? I think they think it is equity. Equality has been upgraded to equity. Equality is a level playing field for opportunity, equity is equality of result. Forced equity always ends badly, it requires taking from the best in order to grant the average the same rewards as the best. This runs contrary to human nature. It kills incentive to be creative and work hard and requires law enforcement by the state to maintain. But then the state becomes corrupt because power is a narcotic—an aphrodisiac for leaders. What makes the utopians dangerous is that they have kicked God to the curb. They are very much against the family and the church because they seem them as threats. Oh, they like the benefits of both, but they don’t want either to be taken seriously. They want what only God can give them, but without God. When you replace God, you become evil and the power you seek will destroy you. In order to understand what a biblical world view is up against, it is important to understand what drives those who would seek to weaken the family, dilute the church, and propagandize our children through public education with brazen and immoral sexual ideas and behaviors. And to convince them that the country in which they live is not fundamentally good and not worth fighting for.
They seek to make an unjust world a just world.
According to the left, the conventional Christian God did a lousy job, and very few in the radical woke tribe find him/her/it acceptable. Life is not fair, there is much injustice, it must be changed. They believe that it is now up to them to take charge and make this veil of tears a more just and compassionate society. They are smart and clever, therefore, they have become adept at marshalling the tools of culture to transform it. This is not unique in history, most recently this position has been held by Karl Marx, the Frankfurt School,[1] led by Hebert Marcuse [1898-1979] and Theodor Adorno. (1903-1969). Politically, this utopian ideal has been forwarded by the Aryan super race ideology and the thousand year Reich, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and now in China. In the United States this philosophy is held by cultural elites such as the academic left, Big Tech, Big Media, the entertainment industry, especially in the artistic community, the theater, film, literature and surprisingly, Wall Street. And of no small consequence, the majority of the Democratic Party leadership. These views are not held by the majority of the public or members of any political party. They are dangerous because they are believed by those who hold the levers of power to our major institutions and they also control the flow of information in our society. The irony is that authoritarians always need free societies from which to develop and teach their beliefs. Leftist members of Congress can only exist under the freedoms of a constitution they deplore. They treat the U.S. Constitution like an old out of date Bible, they take their scissors and cut out the parts they don’t agree with. A truly just world is the one where everyone is equal except them, the Lords of the realm.
This crusade has religious fervor. Their beliefs are held uncritically as matters of faith. They use the critical theory to deconstruct what they don’t like, but they never use it on themselves. For example, they say, “follow the science” but they only follow the science when it enhances their power, but ignore it when it weakens their argument. They have no mirror—it doesn’t occur to them that they could be wrong. They form what I would call a school of false prophets. I don’t plan to argue each issue that could be considered. What I do want to argue is what they are doing to the church and how the church is reacting.
Jeremiah: A faithful prophet among false prophets
Jeremiah was chosen for a lousy assignment. He was called the “Weeping prophet.” This is because he lived and prophesied during a time when he stood alone as the bearer of bad news. He was surrounded by many rival prophets whose words were positive and healing. He was born in 639 BC and reached maturity during a time of turmoil in Jerusalem. The Babylonians had defeated the Assyrians. Nebuchadnezzar ruled the region and even took the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, as a puppet and prisoner. Zedekiah was forced to watch the execution of his sons and died a blind and defeated man. Jeremiah was the chosen instrument to continually warn Israel’s leaders of such punishment. Jeremiah likened Israel’s sin to adultery. He used vivid means of telling the story. He broke clay pots and called them Israel, he wore a wooden yoke around his neck to predict their defeat. God speaks through Jeremiah about the false prophets and nowhere more clearly than in Chapter 23. This is quite instructive for the contemporary church. Could we be entering into our own captivity and exile from God’s blessings?
“My heart is broken because of the false prophets” 23:9 NLT
1. The false prophets abused their power and spoke lies
Among the false prophets were some priests who worked in the temple. Something like the religious leaders of our time who hold authority in congregations.
“Even the priests and prophets are ungodly, wicked men. I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple” says the Lord. 23:11,12 NLT
“…they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people of Israel into sin. But now I see the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil so that no one turns away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were…For it is because of Jerusalem’s prophets that wickedness has filled the land.” 23: 13-15 NLT.
These are harsh words with wilting condemnation of leaders. Who are these people in our society? The identity of today’s false prophets isn’t a simple project. They are leaders in society, politics, media, entertainment and the church. Their primary characteristics are the same that Jeremiah identified nearly 600 years before Christ. There are some obvious culprits in that they abuse and corrupt the major beliefs of their religion. This is seen most often in clergy who steal money, scholars who deny the authority of scripture, and pastors who abandon sexual restraints and cast aside their families. The reference in 23:15 to Sodom and Gomorrah speak for themselves.
There are once revered advocates preaching evil doctrines in today’s culture. Leaders of teachers’ unions come to mind along with misguided school board members who prioritize the sexualization of young children under their care. Add to that woke politicians who do the teachers’ union’s bidding because the unions fund their campaigns. This was true under Jim Crow and around the school integration debates of earlier generations. It is now just as true with the proposal of gender neutral dressing rooms in High Schools. It would be less dangerous for Kindergartens to have gender natural dressing rooms, at least the kids wouldn’t “get it.” Sorry about that, probably gave some school board member an idea.
2. False Prophets Invent Deceptive ideas and Claim They Came From God
Jeremiah records God’s view on this matter:
“I have heard these prophets say, ‘Listen to the dream I had from God last night.’ And then they proceed to tell lies in my name. How long with this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say. By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal.” 23:25-27 NLT.
Contemporary false prophets teach that we forget devotion to God, to lay conventional practices aside, in order to bring justice to the earth. This pursuit of justice, peace and tranquility is to understand that it is up to “us.” to insure equity. This is very similar to what Jeremiah was up against. He was telling people to repent of their sins, to throw themselves upon the mercy of God. To worship God and God alone, to return to their devotion to God through the serious worship in the Temple and in their everyday lives centered on the synagogue, work, and family. They were to tear down the alters to Baal, and to other gods, to cease the child sacrifices, and return to the Lord. These false teachers were telling the citizens of Jerusalem that peace was at hand. They were telling them that Babylon would release the exiles, that important religious symbols and items of worship would be returned to the Temple. None of it was true. The false prophets made it up and told people that God had revealed it in a dream. We should know by now that if someone tells you God revealed something in a dream you should be suspect—change the channel. False prophets tell people what will enhance their power and what they think people will want to hear and be willing to pay for. People didn’t want to hear that they needed to forsake their sinful lifestyles. And if they didn’t, they would be driven from their homes, their land, and very likely enslaved or killed.
3. The false prophets in the church are the most dangerous
The false prophets in the church are the leaders who tout progressive or permissive ideas. Paul spoke to this problem in the first century:
“But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted , just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these super apostles who teach such things.” 2 Corinthians 11:3-5 NLT.
Paul was willing to fight the “super apostles” that challenged his authority and the gospel he preached along with its related standards of behavior. Some of those battle grounds right now are as follows.
4. The primary false idea being marketed to the young is that desire is the primary driver in life’s choices. Those choices have to do with career or even sexual identity. You may recall when people asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, they meant your career choices. Now it often is a discussion about sexual identity. An article from the New York Times comparing a miscarriage and an abortion is evidence of this change. The article by Greer Donley and Jill Wieber-Lens asks the question, “Why Do We Talk About Miscarriage Differently from Abortion?” Apart from the obvious answer, a miscarriage is considered a sad loss and not a choice. Whereas, an abortion, is a choice, and has a desired result. Abortion is primarily motivated by personal ambition or career advancement. Rape, incest and health are still in the single digits as to rationale. Aborted fetuses or as I would name them, babies, are not given names, funerals, memorial services, and gravestones with flowers. The reason for the difference in unnamed fetuses, that are forgotten and not discussed or celebrated by families and miscarriages is that generally the miscarriage babies were considered persons. Persons that you would meet and know in the next life.
In Donley’s and Wieber-Lens’ article they conclude that the argument regarding fetus personhood is solved by a certain trigger. That trigger is the decision made by the mother that she desires the child. Then “life” and personhood are conferred upon the fetus. The desire of the mother, her dreams, her vision for her future, these are the determining factors in a fetuses’ personhood. The idea of a fixed morality that is an objective moral platform from which to live life, is not part of the equation.
5. False Shepherds pursue their own career advancement rather than prioritize their work of discipleship
Clinical psychologist and world renown writer Jordan Peterson, recently surprised the church world with his Message to Christian Churches.[2] Peterson’s history has been as an ardent follower of Carl Jung and at best has been agnostic and often identified himself as an atheist. He says he is no longer an atheist and is moving in a very sympathetic way toward the Christian faith. I have always thought he was not far from the Kingdom of God.[3] His message is straight forward and no nonsense. He chides the church for trying to reform the world, to be relevant, trying to appease or influence political actions. He calls the church to discipleship, particularly discipleship of young men. He would put out a sign in front of church that called all young men to something greater than themselves. Something that is beyond their now dull and unworthy aspirations. He would challenge these young men to seek God, to take him seriously and first to become the kind of men who could make a difference in the world. There is not much daylight between what Peterson has said and the teaching of the New Testament.
Another way to state it is for Pastors to do their work. The fountainhead of every good disciple produced by the church is that disciple loving the world as Jesus loved it. The greatest and most transformative action a church and its leaders can take is the daily glory and grind of helping all members learn to be faithful disciples of Christ. This begins with teaching them the bible in the context of a community of fellow disciples. Together they go forward in learning how to live their lives as though Jesus were living them. Teach the fundamentals, then the special skills, gifts and calling will emerge. Presently, because this basic work is rarely done, that members are like unopened gifts. But remember, disciples are not for the church, they are for the world. A disciple is God’s way of loving the world. And when the church fails in their duty, the world doesn’t get the message. Reflecting back to Jeremiah’s words,
“Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between straw and grain! Does not my word burn like fire? Says the Lord. Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?” Jeremiah 23:28,29
That Hallmark of Faithfulness
Bad shepherds form followers to be dependent on extra-biblical revelations that most often are designed to enhance the career and kingdom of the leader. They rarely have bad news, news of discipline, news of defeat, news of suffering, -it’s all “good” in that it doesn’t require anything of you except a bit more of your money.
The other more benign neglect approach are fearful or lazy leaders who don’t want to do the work they do not know. It is easier to be banal, to not really think or attempt to figure out the task or how to unlock the parishioner’s soul. The essential work is to be a skilled user of the scriptures and to deliver it in a way that allows it to do its work-work it alone can do via the Holy Spirit. Take these three passages and add it to the Jeremiah idea that the word of God is like fire, a hammer, et al.
Prepare yourself
“Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 NLT.
We can’t be transformed without it
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong with our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16,17 NLT
Nothing is hidden
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper that the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes all our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” Hebrews 4:12,13 NLT.
Pastors must step up. We are encouraged to do so by our departed brother, the reluctant prophet, the late Dallas Willard:
“How can I justify not leading my people into the practice of disciplines for the spiritual life that would enable them to reign in their lives by Christ Jesus? How can I fail to give them this opportunity? How can I justify not giving myself to those practices until I am a spiritual powerhouse, the angels of God evidently ascending and descending upon me in my place? Ministers pay far too much attention to people who do not come to services. Those people should, generally be given exactly that disregard by the pastor that they give to Christ. The Christian leader has something much more important to do than pursue the godless. The leader’s task is to equip saints until they are like Christ [Ephesians 4:12], and history and the God of history waits for him to do this job. It is so easy for the leader today to get caught up in illusory goals, pursuing the marks of success which come from our training as Christian leaders or which are simply imposed by the world. It is big, Big, always BIG, and BIGGER STILL! That is the contemporary imperative. Thus we fail to take seriously the nurture and training of those, however few, who stand constantly by us.”[4]
Bill Hull
August 2022
[1] The Frankfurt School was a school of thought. It was a group of radical philosophers who gathered in Frankfurt Germany who fled Germany before World War II and found a new home at Columbia University in New York City. They were advocates of both the Critical Theory and were Marxist regarding vision and economics. The critical theory was and is a reductionist philosophy that has rejected divine revelation as a valid form of knowledge. It assumed that matters of faith, perception, anything metaphysical should be eliminated from any serious consideration. They were Marxist in that they believed that revolution would create a new and better world for everyone. This would take place through Hegel’s famous dialectic, Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis.
[3] Mark 12:34
[4] Dallas Willard, Spirit of the Disciplines, Harper and Row, 1988, Page 246