What's On TV? Sex, Violence or Bad Theology?
What's worse, worldly filth or false teachings about Christ? At least if you tune into most TV shows, you know that what you're going to see is not coming from a Christian worldview. The morals are bad, the language is bad, but at least you know what you're getting. But the trouble with so-called Christian TV is that a lot of people really don't know what they're getting. They see a preacher, maybe even holding a Bible, maybe standing in front of a cross, and they think they've found something that's safe to watch. But most of the time they're getting something that's absolute spiritual poison, and they have no idea what they're consuming.
Just for an example, I just went to the website of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and pulled up their program schedule, arbitrarily starting at 3:00 AM. So, who's on first? None other than Word of Faith uber-star Joyce Meyer. First of all, I always feel compelled to explain Word of Faith, as many people who watch Joyce don't even know the term. To be extremely brief, Word of Faith is a belief system that promotes a whole host of unbiblical doctrines, like that we are little gods, that we can speak our desires into existence, that the hand of God is moved by our spoken words, (something like a genie in a bottle) and then the worst of it is their notion that Jesus had to go to hell and be born again, the first human to do so. I'm not going to go into much more detail, as I did that in depth in my blog, Learn To Discern. You can read a much more detailed discussion on Word of Faith doctrines here:
Then of course, she's known for promoting the unbiblical fantasy that God wants us all perfectly healthy and wealthy, and if we're not, it's because we must have said negative things and brought it upon ourselves. None of this is biblically true, so let's see who's on next...
3:30 AM; Andrew Wommack. Oh no. Everything I said about Joyce Meyer can be said of Wommack. More Word of Faith nonsense, and if he's got a specialty, it's his insistence that God is not sovereign; we are by the words we speak. You see, in Wommack's world, God is ready and willing to do great things for us, but his hands are tied until we say the magic words and permit Him to act. Totally unbiblical, so let's move on and see if it gets any better..
4:00 AM; Joel Osteen. Great. More health and wealth nonsense, no better or worse than the previous two. More insistence that our words will become our destiny and we can have whatever destiny we speak out. It's also worth noting that Joel never does the main thing a preacher is supposed to do; preach the gospel. Biblically illiterate folks will leave his broadcasts happy that God's not mad at them and wants them to have a great destiny. The sad part is that a lot of folks will go on believing all that, as well as believing they're saved while skipping right down that broad road to hell. Next.
4:30 AM; Joseph Prince. Ugh. More health and wealth, more prosperity along with Prince's specialty - hyper-grace. In his world, we get a Holy Spirit that never wants to be bothered with unpleasant things like convicting us of sin. Apparently, Prince uses a Bible that omits some well known verses the rest of us have. Next.
5:30 AM. Joyce Meyer again. Lord help us...
6:00 AM. Creflo Dollar. More Word of Faith with a special emphasis that relates to Creflo's name - Dollars! Creflo's all about the money; send him your tithes and offerings and God will make you rich. Not biblical, not the gospel; this is getting painful.
6:30 AM. John Hagee. At first glance, Hagee might sound like a breath of fresh air. He often comes across as an old-fashioned fundamentalist, properly exalting our Lord. But pay close attention and you'll discover he's also neck deep in Word of Faith heresies, health and wealth, name it and claim it, God wants you rich, etc. And most disturbing is when you discover his belief that Jesus never claimed to be the Jewish Messiah and that the Hebrew people will be saved by the law, so don't waste time witnessing to them. No thanks, John, I'll stick with preachers who teach what scripture actually says rather than butcher it like you are doing. Is there any chance of finding a solid Bible teacher on TBN? Who's next...
7:00 AM. Joel Osteen. Again? This is just getting too painful. We need to stop.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. Besides, I don't know if I could stomach discussing any more uber-heretics like Benny Hinn, Mike Murdock, Rod Parsley, etc. Networks like TBN are usually a hotbed of heresy, with no redeeming spiritual value. Yes, you might hear some encouraging words that lift you up, but often times those words are based on, and laced with lies. Yes, God wants to save your eternal soul and offer you an eternity of blessings, but there's no guarantee of rainbows and unicorns all throughout this life. If you really scout around Christian TV, you may find an occasional preacher who offers the true gospel. Most likely, such folks will be given the least desirable time slots, where few people will see them. For the most part, I'd say that Christian TV is a vast spiritual wasteland that one should generally stay away from....as far as possible.
Once again, you can read up on a much more detailed discussion on such issues here...
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