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Theology or Me-Ology?
January 22, 2006
Greetings in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Christianity has been plagued throughout its history with being led astray (re: sheep). So-called theology springs up periodically that sounds wonderful on its surface, but devilish sharks lurk below. This particular article offers a sure test of theological veracity: what is the center of the theology being taught? Is the central focus Jesus Christ or the Christian? If the latter, it’s me-ology NOT theology.

Some of you may be asking, “Brother Mike, would you please be more specific?” Glad to oblige. Here are four historical examples:



Child of the King Theology
I remember my parents taking me to a Jimmy Swaggart concert when I was about 15 or 16 years old. While he played the piano beautifully and sang to match, he said something that bothered me even then. Jimmy said to his largely Christian audience, “You know, I’m a child of the King. That means I don’t have to go around in rags and drive an old VW Beetle. Since my God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the gold underneath those hills, that means I can wear the best clothes and drive a Cadillac.” You should have heard all those Christians say “Amen!”

The center of focus on this theology is that the Christian, by virtue of being a “child of the King,” can have all the best possessions that life can offer. The implication is that if you are poor, then something is wrong with you. MAYBE you’re not a child of the King!

There is no sin in what God Himself places under your stewardship. He did say that He would bless those that obey Him. See the blessings verses for obedient Israelites in Deuteronomy. It could be nice clothes and it could be a Cadillac.

The sin comes when we decide we like Christianity because of we get out of it. Folks, God did not make us to hear us constantly whining, “Gimme, gimme, gimme!” like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum in the toy store. He made us so that we could have the opportunity to choose to love Him with all that we are.

We see what happened to Jimmy Swaggart. He committed adultery with a whore and disgraced himself, his family, his ministry and the Assemblies of God.



Christians Can Have Fun Theology
I remember hearing about the great Christian entertainment and amusement park built up and promoted by Jim and Tammy Baker. And of course, there was the PTL Network television program. So many Christians couldn’t wait to spend their hard-earned dollars to go have “Christian entertainment” at a morally sound venue. Jim Baker used to remind us regularly that Christians can have fun too. The implication was that only non-Christian amusement parks used to have fun. This argument is very similar to the one used by “Christian rock and roll” musicians who frequently say, “We don’t want to let the Devil have all the good music.” Huh? Since when did the father of lies have anything good?

The center of focus is once again the Christian. Since God is a loving God, He would surely want His children to have fun. So we will!

There’s no sin in good wholesome entertainment (although “wholesome” and “entertainment” rarely go together in the same sentence these days). The sin is thinking that because we are Christians we are entitled to entertainment. The sin is needing entertainment to be happy inside.

God did not make us to spend all our money on movies and rock concerts and roller coasters. I wonder how many missionaries do without food, vehicles and extra Bibles to hand out because Christians are so busy entertaining themselves.

We see what happened to Jim and Tammy Baker. Jim went to prison and they got divorced.



Name it Claim it Theology
I believe one of the most commonly known proponents of this theology was a man named Kenneth Hagan. His disciples included Robert Tilton and Kenneth Copeland out of Oklahoma’s Rama School of Faith. Both were available on television. While exact phraseology may change, their fundamental tenet is the same: if you have enough faith, all you have to do is quote God’s Scripture, and He is obligated to do the thing you want by virtue of the authority of His Word.

Again, the Christian usurps God as the center of the Universe here. With ultra faith, we can make God our personal genie. The negative implication is that if you get sick, die, are poor, or don’t have huge numbers of people in your church, then you don’t have enough faith. Further, this lack of faith is a sin.

The sin is not faith. If Christians will make a habit of reading Hebrews Chapter 11, the famous but neglected “faith chapter,” they’ll see that biblical faith and the faith that Hagan, Tilton and Copeland speak of are two different things.

The sin is having our faith centered on improving our own worldly condition rather than trusting in the character of God for our spiritual destination. By the way, I heard with my own ears Kenneth Copeland say, “God told me that since I was twice born, I could forgive sins just like Jesus.” By making himself God, Kenneth Copeland demonstrated that he has yielded to the same temptation as the Devil when Lucifer thought that He could take God’s place on His throne.

We see what happened to Robert Tilton. Is he still in prison?



Purpose Theology
This is the latest and most popular deceit yet! And it all sounds so good too. Gerald G. Jampolsky begat Robert Schuler who begat Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and Bruce Wilkinson. Jerry Jampolsky is a New Age psychiatrist whose work Robert Schuller openly adores. New Age thinking goes something like this: if we empty our brain, we can allow an energy to come in that will connect us with a unifying force. The closer we come to the center of that unifying force, the more we become one with God and even become a god ourselves! Doesn’t that sound a lot like the Tower of Babel story? Humans unified themselves and decided to build a tower to heaven. Christian book distributors now sell books on emptying your brain. When I was a kid the church knew this as Transcendental Meditation and recognized it as being from the pit of Hell. But now, Christian book distributors sell these books under titles such as “Contemplative Prayer.” There’s even an edition called “Contemplative Prayer for Youth Pastors.” Isn’t that scary? Without the senior pastor even knowing, a youth pastor can learn how to lead his young charges in emptying their brains until Satan comes in to fill the vacuum.

A common mantra of New Agers is that “God is in everything.” Oh? Was He in Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein and Charles Manson? Is He in the rapist, pedophile, homosexual, serial killer and retirement fund embezzler? Since this is a satanically inspired lie, why do “Christian” ministers like Schuller and Warren say the same thing? See page 88 of Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life.” I have a copy of Warren’s book and have seen this misquote of Scripture myself. If you don’t know where to get a copy, just go to any Christian book store or come to my church. We have copies we give to all “pre-Christians.” Is it a coincidence that on page 88 of “Messages from Maitreya the Christ” that Maitreya says, “My friends, God is nearer to you than you can imagine. God is yourself. God is within you and all around you.” And is it a further coincidence, that on page 88 of Benjamin Crème’s book, “The Reappearance of Christ and the Masters of Wisdom” that this New Ager explains how Maitreya will appear as Christ and will show the world a “new world religion.” Another big mantra of New Agers now is the “Big Dream.” It all has to do with achieving world peace by getting rid of those who want to be exclusive to other people (ref: Christians who believe their faith is the only way to get to Heaven). If this is another satanically inspired tool to achieve global unity (ref: the anti-Christ), then why do Schuller, Warren and Wilkinson all talk about the “Big Dream” they have from God? And why do both Schuller and Warren call their big dream a P.E.A.C.E plan? Thanks to author Warren Smith (“Deceived on Purpose”, Mountain Stream Press, 2nd edition, 2004), a former New Age prisoner, for the above insights.

And once again, the center of this theology is us—the Christian—we have a purpose! Nothing in any of the Schuller/Warren/Wilkinson writings emphasizes obedience regarding the Two Great Commandments. These commandments have to do with BEING rightly related to God. They do not have anything to do with DOING STUFF for God! If one reads the entire Bible regularly, one quickly discovers that God is about BEING and not DOING. If we obey the First Great Commandment, God becomes the focus of our attention. We are loving Him with all that we are. And of course, there is no focus on Jesus’s redemptive death on the Cross, or how repugnant our sins are to a righteous God. No, the Schuller/Warren/Wilkinson trio want everyone to know that regardless of their relationship status (there is no relationship with God without forgiveness of sins), church attenders can DO something for God. If one drills deeper, one finds out that the “something” is the Big Dream. And the Big Dream is world peace. Do I sense the anti-Christ even now at work?

Paul said in II Thessalonians 2:3-4, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son perdition. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

Where are the watchman who will warn the people of God that Satan and his lies are now in the church on our bookshelves, in our songs, in our sermons, and our Sunday school curriculum? Are you falling away dear shepherds? Are you allowing your sheep to fall away?

The sin is not doing things for God. Just like the fruit tree, which God created, fruit comes naturally from being a fruit tree. First, a tree must be a fruit tree. Then, it will bear fruit. First, we must be rightly related to God. Then, we will naturally do the thing God has called us to do (bear fruit).

No, the sin is thinking that our doing is the priority thing with God; that maybe we will earn righteousness points and our way into Heaven by doing things.

We will see what happens to us!

For the Gospel’s Sake,

Brother Mike

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