These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." {Matthew 15:8,9} The other night as I flipped through the channels, looking for a good western, I heard a television evangelist preaching on TBN. This particular televangelist wanted to send each of his listeners a DVD, for only $19.95, plus shipping and handling, that showed them God's plan for living debt-free. I thought showing people how to get out of debt by selling them something that puts them deeper into debt seemed a bit comical. Sadly, many who consider themselves God's messengers have forgotten the purpose of preaching-to save souls, not to show folks how to live debt-free!
Spiritual focus. First and foremost, evangelists need to focus on the two things toward which God directed His word-men's hearts and their salvation. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" {Romans 1:16,17} Adopting some of the godly principles revealed in the Scriptures can help us live better lives here on earth, but that is not the main focus of God's book? The book contains, and gospel preachers should dwell on preaching, the gospel to the lost.
Just stop and listen sometime to the messages men like Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley, Paul Krause, Kenneth Copeland, Reverend Dollar, T.J. Jakes, and a host of others preach on television. They all center on improving man's HUMAN side. According to these preachers, God wants to make us all rich and prosperous. One of them recently said he was living on top of the mountain, and he was tired of being alone. Doesn't such teaching turn your stomach?
God's word is designed to convict men of sin and convince them they need to have Christ in their lives. Following is a sample of related passages for your consideration: John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8; Luke 19:10; John 16:8-11; Hebrews 5:8,9;John 14:6; Hebrews 2:14,15.
These men have exchanged God's truth for lies. This is not new. "Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever." {Romans 1:25} They preach a religion of self, instead of the gospel of Christ. It's all about us instead of Him! When will the public stop listening and sending money to these false teachers and begin studying God's word for themselves to check what they are being fed! Televangelists hope NEVER!