paula white

“Expose Them!”: Scripture’s Teaching on the Works of Darkness

Tom Ratkovich, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Ephesians 5:11

What constitutes the “unfruitful works of darkness?”

Adultery, perhaps? How about greed, idolatry and deceit? Hate and mercilessness must be in there as well, right? Pride? Impenitence?

I think the Apostle Paul has all of these in mind when he instructs believers NOT to participate in the sinful actions associated with spiritual darkness.

Will God’s wrath be displayed only towards those who “participate” in such behaviors…or will it be extended to those who enable, encourage and excuse them as well?

Certainly, we are ALL deserving of His ire. We all sin, selfishly and repeatedly. As Christians, however, our faith mandates that we acknowledge our sin, repent of it, and aspire not to repeat it.

The fact that our country is led by a man who revels in spiritual darkness cannot be argued. I will not judge his soul – that is the purview of the Lord alone. Similarly, I cannot pass judgment on the salvation of those who unapologetically enable, encourage and excuse his spiritual darkness. Like POTUS – and like me – they, too, will face judgment.

But scripture (Galatians 6:1) does command me to proactively and lovingly steer the brethren from the unfruitful works of darkness. Know, brothers and sisters, enabling, encouraging and excusing sin is itself sinful.

Perhaps many believe that since it is not them who seeks vengeance on adversaries or enriches themselves through political office that they are guiltless. Or that the lies they excuse and perpetuate are minor transgressions justified in the pursuit of their misguided morality. Maybe because they did not sign the executive orders cutting medical care and food assistance to the most vulnerable, they still consider themselves righteous.

But the question they must ask themselves: Will Christ judge me so when I stand before Him on the Bema Seat?

Let’s be clear: Scripture does not tell us to enable, encourage and excuse sin. IT COMMANDS US TO EXPOSE IT!

Unfortunately, many gullible Christians have been misled by the Franklin Grahams, the Paula Whites and the Robert Jeffresses of the world who seek not to shepherd their flocks to salvation, but instead mislead them in pursuit of riches and power. These are the false prophets who excuse POTUS for depicting himself as Jesus Christ, who position the administration’s political platform as a mandatory tenet of Christian theology, and applaud POTUS’ campaign of retribution.

Nary a word of exposure.

“Expose them” does not mean ignore, excuse or redefine evil. Rather, it means speaking truth, identifying sin for the evil it is, and living in obedience to God.

Jesus, of course, spent time with sinners, but He did not participate in their sin. Instead, He called them to repentance while teaching that they must leave their sin behind.

The Bible instructs Christians to neither participate in sin nor ignore it. Instead, they are to live as people of the light, allowing both their conduct and, when appropriate, their words to reveal the difference between God’s ways and the “unfruitful works of darkness.”

Blocking the Door to God’s Kingdom

Tom Ratkovich, , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” Luke 11:52

Just as the pharisees and scribes were entrusted with teaching God’s word to Israel, Christian pastors are similarly obliged to lead their flocks to knowledge of and obedience to God’s truth, opening the door to His kingdom. Yet, like the pharisees, some MAGA pastors bury that truth beneath hypocrisy, self-serving interpretations and false teaching that hide “the key to knowledge” and hinder those who seek to enter.

Jesus’ rebuke of the pharisees is equally pertinent to the false religious leaders of today, specifically those that:

  • Teach doctrines that contradict scripture – such as vengeance is often warranted, mercy is optional and love is conditional.
  • Encourage partisan loyalties over faithfulness to Christ.
  • Neglect justice, mercy, compassion and love.
  • Use spiritual authority to protect money and power rather than serve.
  • Celebrate and empower would-be kings who behave antithetically to God’s word.

Jesus accuses the pharisees of rejecting God’s conspicuous truth – blinded by their own self-absorption. They had the scriptures that pointed to the Messiah but refused to recognize Him.

Again, like the pharisees, the false religious teachers possess biblical knowledge but lack genuine faith and obedience to God. Rather, their faith and obedience are tied to the political entities that can enrich and glorify them. Consequently, these leaders fail in their obligation to open the door to the kingdom of God. They effectively block the doorway instead.

Scripture teaches us to recognize God, repent of our sins and receive His salvation through Christ. Luke 11:52 is a judgment against corrupt spiritual leadership and a reminder that genuine knowledge of God is inseparable from humility, mercy, truth and love.

False Teachings: The Hypocrisy of the Prosperity Gospel

Tom Ratkovich, , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

“To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

Titus 1:15-16 (NIV)

I have been unyielding and unwavering in my criticism of our current POTUS – and the Christian communities that support him. As a passionate and studious Born-Again Christian, that criticism has been entirely grounded in scripture.

These two verses from the Apostle Paul in his letter to Titus seemingly offer opportunity to rebut POTUS’ professed love of Christ and the misguided Christians that empower him. But to do so would be taking these verses out of their intended context.

In his letter, Paul is specifically referencing leaders within the church – particularly those teaching false doctrine. Applying it directly to a political leader outside the church stretches its context.

So let’s put the spotlight on those church leaders that endorse, enable and empower POTUS by leveraging their church leadership to deceive those whom they are to faithfully lead to Christ.

I preface these comments by acknowledging that God alone will judge the hearts of those to whom I have alluded. I cannot and will not do so. But I will judge their words and behaviors in the context of scripture. And I will pray that God sees in each a repentant, compassionate and faithful soul – just as I pray He sees that in me.

Here I will focus on the individual POTUS appointed to lead the White House Faith Office. This woman, void of formal theological training, is a zealous proponent of the prosperity gospel, asserting that faith and financial giving will lead to material wealth, physical health and personal success.

Most theologians believe this to be a distortion of biblical teachings. For instance, 1 Timothy 6:9-10 clearly warns of the evils of such material aspirations:

“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Her willingness to beguile those whom she should be leading to Christ becomes particularly evil when, instead, she leverages those relationships to enrich herself through highly questionable appeals. This past Easter season, for example, this pastor encouraged followers to give her $1,000 and receive in return “seven supernatural blessings” based on Exodus 23: God will “assign an angel to you,” “be an enemy to your enemies,” “give you prosperity,” “take sickness away from you,” “give you a long life, “bring increase and inheritance” and “give a special year of blessing.” Oh, and she’ll also send a Waterford cross.

Contrary to her implication, God is not a divine vending machine. Scripture is unambiguous that He prefers love, compassion, humility and sacrifice to cash. The Christian theology is one that worships God – not use Him.

Ironically, this pastor seems to have conveniently skipped past verse 1 of this same chapter which warns as follows…

“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.”

… while verse 2a offers wisdom to those who may be vulnerable to dubious solicitations:

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.”

In his letter to Titus, Paul is writing about false teachers and those who undermine Christian teaching through hypocrisy and moral failure. Those who claim to know God but live in disobedience to His word are the subject of his warnings, representing the greatest threat to the Christian Church in their hypocrisy.

As to why POTUS deemed this individual to be the right choice to lead the White House Faith Office, one can only speculate. I have my thoughts but leave the reader to nurture their own. However, as with many similar choices, this one was made with fealty to him in mind – not to serve the faithful in this country.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them —bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”

2 Peter 2:1-3