Bible Twisting

 April 25, 2024

Thursday

How do you know when a politician is lying? Easy. His lips are moving. How do you know when a preacher is lying. Also easy. What he says doesn't agree with the Word of God.

Bible twisting ought to be an Olympic sport. Some preachers are so good at it that their skill could be awarded. The key to their Bible twisting is not ignoring the scriptures but in making the scriptures say what they want to say. They are looking for what people want to hear. Thus, they are not about to read much of the scripture. Scripture twisting requires taking scripture out of context. 

Their delivery is all them. They have the ability to whip up the crowd into believing what they want people to believe. Of course, they are already starting in the direction the people want to go. It is harder to change direction on anything if it is going the opposite way. It is also hard to get something moving that is at rest. Going with the flow makes is much easier to deliver dynamic messages.

So, how do they know what to preach? They preach the things of the world.

1 John 2:15–16 (NASB 2020) ¹⁵ Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

People are incredibly influenced by the things in the world because they are living in the world. They seek physical pleasures, money and influence. So, preach that all sickness can be healed merely by doing what the preacher says is a very welcome message to those who are sick or have a loved one who is sick. Riches always hit the spot because the world never really teaches that riches are intended for generosity. Pride and power are the gods of this world. Social media platforms prove how many people want to be known. 

Isn't it interesting that these are the offerings of Satan to Jesus too? He was to relieve His hunger by turning the stones into bread. He was to be rich if He would just worship Satan. He would prove who He is if He just had the angels catch Him from the pinnacle of the temple. Jesus rejected all of these because they were not of God.

So, be careful when you listen to preachers who twist the Bible. They center in on a verse or even a word in a verse. They do not give any explanation of what else the Bible has to say about that word. They do not explain that word in context. They do not explain that word in the culture of the day. They do not relate the practice of those who wrote this word with their own explanation. Their only explanation is allegory. This plays on the felt needs of the congregation. 

Then, they rush in for the money. Somehow, you must give them money for this to work. It is like fast food for them. Come by, speak what you want, pay and receive your order all in a little over thirty minutes. And people do just that.

Typically, these preachers will produce people with testimonies of healing, getting rich and getting promoted or starting their own businesses. This makes people hang on in hope that their day is coming as soon as they have enough faith. They don't realize that true faith is a gift of God. God will not give them faith for something that isn't in His will. All these deluded people can produce is their own hope.

Some are rescued from these preachers. They read their Bibles in places these preachers don't read. They question the amount of money they have given with no results. They notice that these preachers do not care one bit about them. There are others lining up, writing checks and giving money, why do they need them?

Beware of someone who uses the Bible rather than lets the Bible speak. Preachers of God's Word have many characteristics. That will be tomorrow's topic.