Galatians 6
Nothing but the Cross
1-3 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. [The Message]
I have waited until now to wade into this charismaniac nightmare called the Bentley Debacle in a growing circle of conservative charismatic Christians. "Debacle" is a noun, that is defined as "a sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco". This whole debacle has revealed the ongoing erosion of biblical evangelical conservative theology, morality and ethics in the Western church, and the false heretical teachings which have become more and more normative within charismatic circles over the last decade. There are no more variant deviant theologies than those of Rick Joyner and Bill Johnson. To even consider these men as being able to bring Todd Bentley into accountability, discipline, correction and restoration, is the most deceptive ludicrous collusion that could take place within charismatic Christianity. It is in fact the pot calling the kettle black. Both Joyner and Johnson have aberrant theologies that mirror the same heretical teachings of Bentley. It is a frightening development that will further divide and marginalize the body of Christ. Were it not for such men as J. Lee Grady and such publications as Charisma magazine, the wider charismatic stream would not be aware of ongoing developments.
So here I am today, a former ordained minister, who left the institutional church a decade ago, but still very much in the stream of evangelicalism as a charismatic Reformed Anabaptist believer in the growing house church movement, still affected by the excesses and extremes of a charismatic renewal movement that has gone off the rails. Much of this derailment can be traced to the Toronto Blessing and its subsequent off shoots, who more and more emphasized experience over godly character development, and weird manifestations attributed to the Spirit, but very much filled with flesh and the demonic such as an obsession with the angelic, unbiblical signs and wonders.I know, for I was on the inside, and was very much engaged with the Toronto Blessing, even after the Vineyard split from it. I was hoodwinked by the likes of John Arnott and TACF, Rick Joyner, Bill Johnson, as well as Todd Bentley, Joshua Mills, and Patricia King. I was an active financial supporter of Bentley, Mills and King. I was so hungry for God, that I parked by theological training aside, and just swallowed hook line and sinker so much "crap" from these people, that it took God to bring me to a place of repentance for having embraced false teachers, and a false revival movement. The most frightening aspect of their teaching was its mixture of partial truth with grievous error, and its seducing power over your heart and mind.
My withdrawal from the wacky charismatic side began three years ago. I came across many who were deeply disturbed by the extremes dominating the charismatic branch of the church, and many who chose to withdraw and join other more conservative and less controversial expressions of the body of Christ. The writings online of such bloggers as RobbyMac and his subsequent book "Post-Charismatic?" expressed much of the angst and much of the heart of those who withdrew, hoping for a return to biblical orthodoxy by these false teachers and their followers.
There was no need for "I told you sos" when the supposed revival in Florida in 2008 was exposed as being as fraudulent as its leader. Bentley and his cohorts were being exposed for some time, and the Florida "revival" proved to be stage for his undoing and full exposure as a heretic, false teacher, and false healer. When the gang of "apostles" took centre stage with Peter C. Wagner, the deception was complete, and yet, God in His sovereignty and mercy brought the whole enterprise crashing down.Bentley was proven to be a fraud, and yet now, more than ever we have the likes of Johnson and Joyner bullying and pimping their product (the power ministry of Bentley) upon the still conservative charismatic branch of the body of Christ. They misuse and misinterpret passages of Scripture at will, trying to convince and re-establish Bentley in ministry.
I find it disturbing that these men get away with such misrepresentations of scripture. Restoration in the New Testament has nothing to do with ministry. All the passages conscerning restoration have to do with restoration to God and to other believers. The passage that Joyner has brow beaten many with, including J. Lee Grady, is Galatians 6:1 "Brothers, if a person is trapped in some sin, you who are spiritual help make him right again. You should do this in a gentle way. But be careful! You might be tempted to sin too." This only has to do with restoration to God, through repentance, and forgiveness, and restoring such a one to God and to the local body of Christ. How Joyner and others use this for restoration to ministry defies the laws of hermeneutics and twists the principles of interpretation and application.It is not rocket science. Take the time to read Paul's writings concerning bishops, elders and deacons and you will find very strong language about conduct and behavior and the character of those who are called to servant leadership. Marriage is a huge issue in the texts found in the epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus) and here we have one area where "restoration" should have been attempted secondly, only after Todd had been restored to God. As for the latter, we have not really discovered if Todd has trully repented. For such a public personality, you would think that he would express repentance to God and the body of Christ publicly, and not go through self-justification exercises on YouTube with Joyner. Todd should have demonstrated humility and done all that he could, and more, as well as call on the body of Christ to pray for him and Shonnah, for their healing and restoration to their marriage. But no, Todd has no such faith. So what kind of "great faith gift" does Todd actually have? Does he not believe that God can and does heal and restore broken marriages? All this is a cop-out and the shaming of the institution of marriage and a dishonoring of the scriptures and the truths they reveal about God and His holiness.
There is no doubt that there are people who divorce, but I find that there is no argument for remarriage within the texts of the New Testament. Divorce was granted for the hardness of our hearts. Remarriage is not an option, for marriage is a picture of the relationship the Bride of Christ has with Christ. If anything the Old Testament and the New Testament call upon believers to forgive and restore those who have injured their marriages through unfaithfulness, and adultry. Why would Bentley not desire what God says plainly that He desires?
I have gone from one position to a more liberal position in regards to remarriage, and back again to a conservative reading and application of these same texts. Ironically all the marriages I officiated as an ordained minister were for divorced people, other than one marriage, which was for a widow and widower. I regret that I ever performed these divorced peoples' marriages, but I cannot undo them. So, now I no longer support such a view as I do not believe it to be biblical.
Likewise, I believe that unfaithfulness in marriage, compounded by erroneous theology, and aberrant false teachings, leads to the disqualifications of such persons from opportunities at servant leadership. Persons such as Todd Bentley should not be restored to any kind of public ministry, ever. Disqualification in ministry is taught and clearly revealed in 1 Corinthians 9 (especially when contrasted to the standards in the pastoral epistles, 1 & 2 Timothy, and Titus). In 1 Corinthians 9 we read:23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Paul postulates about apostleship and character and commitment to holiness and integrity, and shows that "disqualification" is a possibility. Todd Bentley disqualified himself. Plain and simple.
I pray and hope for a full restoration of Todd Bentley to God and to the Body of Christ, but that by no means includes a restoration to public ministry. There certainly are a host of others in the charismatic stream who have divorced and remarried and carried on with "successful ministries" since their second marriages. That says more about the followers than it does of the divorced and remarried. Charismatics crave public personalities and heroes, and unfortunately, through the ongoing machinations of the likes of Joyner and Johnson and their respective propaganda campaign through seducing videos on YouTube, they will wear down many, and draw many others to support the public ministry of Todd Bentley, regardless of the sins committed and the disqualification from public ministry standard found in scripture.Joyner and Johnson have argued without a thorough study and exegesis of the biblical passages, and have dodged all attempts at true scriptural standards. They have stood on an easy theology of greasy grace, where they have neutered the biblical call to discernment and judgment. They have accused those in the Body of Christ of judgmentalism, when in fact, those who have been committed to truth and holiness, are only calling people like Bentley to a right relationship, through repentance, forgiveness and restoration to God honoring relationships. This is biblical accountability, nothing more and nothing less. Joyner avoids these things, and counter attacks with smoke and mirrors. Joyner made it abundantly clear that he only wants Todd's ministry restored, as he has this great "gift" that must be used. If Joyner truly knew the scriptures, he would know that God cares more about character than gifts. This is the whole point of the qualifications of eldership found in 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus.
The unfortunate thing is that eventually Bentley will be "restored" by a perversion of the biblical texts, by false teachers such as Joyner and Johnson, and Bentley will again have a following. The degree of that following will depend on the people doing the following. Those who continue to seek after weird experiences and aberrant non-biblical teachings will continue to follow the tune of Bentley the pied piper, to their own demise and destruction. The only thing we in the wider Body of Christ can do, is to continue to pray and intercede with God for the preservation of those who belong to Him, that they will not be seduced by false teachers and their aberrant teachings. May God have mercy on us and may He rescue those who are sincerely seeking after Christ and His Kingdom.
Soli Deo Gloria
Sam in Waterloo, ON, Canada
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