False Prophets and what they Look Like

Jesus warned that “many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” (Mat. 24:11). Paul reaffirmed this warning:

• In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Tim. 3:12-13)

Neither exempted pastors and scholars from the company of “false prophets” and “imposters.” In Integral Christianity: The Spirit's Call to Evolve, former pastor Paul R. Smith is a good example of a false prophet:

• Jesus not only taught a radically new stage of unconditional love toward one another, he based it on a new perspective about God. He rejected the previous perception of God as violent and vengeful to the wicked which runs throughout the Old Testament. The new perspective is that God is kind and merciful to the wicked. Jesus modeled this and taught this. He stood in direct opposition to the divine violence of the Old Testament and, later on, parts of the New Testament. “Kind and merciful” was Jesus’ attitude toward the “sinners” of his day. The essence of his own relationship to his Abba God was that God was compassionate—not vengeful. Jesus practiced and preached this. If God practiced what Jesus preached, then God is not vengeful as the Old Testament vividly and repeatedly portrays. According to the new developmental stage introduced by Jesus, God is only compassion.

According to Smith, the Old Testament got God wrong, but Jesus has set the record straight with His presentation of a kinder more merciful God – “only compassion” - than the ruthless one of the Israelites. However, is this what Jesus actually taught?

Although Jesus taught that He was the bearer of a New Covenant, in no way did he ever claim that the Hebrew Scriptures had been mistaken, as Smith claims. Instead, He systematically affirmed the teachings of these Scriptures. In many respects, His teachings on God’s judgment are even more stringent! Here are just a few examples:

• Mat. 5:22 And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

• Mat. 5:28-30 Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

• Mat. 5:32 Anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

• Mat. 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

• Mat. 13:49-50 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

• Mat. 18:9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

• Mat. 25:51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

• Mat. 25:46 Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

• John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

• John 5:29 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

How would Smith respond when confronted with such verses? He would deny that they were really the words of Jesus! However, with the absolute freedom he has granted himself to re-invent the teachings of Jesus, he can justify absolutely anything! And this is just what he does. He is now able to trot out on his Hollywood stage a postmodern, integral Jesus who affirms just about any religion and any pathway to God – just the type of god that our educated elites are seeking after.

Smith is like the false prophets of the Old Testament, telling the Israelites exactly what they wanted to hear – “peace, peace” as destruction was about to consume them.

There are many Smiths out there to choose from. They all have a comfortable message that will fit right in with your lifestyle. No need to make any sacrifice! Jesus warned that the false prophets will deceive many:

• Mat. 24:24-25 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.

He warned us. We have to take Him seriously!

Humility and how to Get It

Whatever our religious tradition, we tend to value humility and value its fruits. We observe that the truly humble are able to laugh at themselves, accept criticism, learn from their mistakes, and to respond compassionately to others and their needs. Besides, we feel comfortable in their presence. They are not trying to prove anything about themselves, and this allows us to let our guard down.

In contrast, the proud and arrogant are difficult to relate to. They are entrenched in a rut of trying to look good. Therefore, they tend to be in denial about their faults and unteachable. In order to promote themselves, they often are over-critical, uncompassionate, and tend to look down on others.

Nevertheless, we all have a self-promotional tendency, against which we try to guard, especially in the way we speak and conduct ourselves. The human potential movement seems to be very aware of this danger. For instance, integrationist Dustin DiPerna understands the dangers of their concept of the stages of human maturity/development. This concept might give rise to pride, which comes from seeing ourselves on a high level than others:

•  It is not our intention for the stages of religious orientation to be used to pigeonhole an individual to a particular altitude. Nor should lower altitudes be looked down upon, in any sort of condescending fashion. As Wilber emphasizes, it is the right of every individual to stop at any level of development he chooses. Outlining each rung on the ladder can help individuals become as healthy as possible at whatever stage they might currently rest. It is not our job to point out where other individuals fall short… Most importantly, these distinctions are made in order to provide space and clarity so that a clearer picture of our world can be perceived. (Paul R. Smith, Integral Christianity: The Spirit’s Call to Evolve)

Clearly, DiPerna understands the danger inherent in a system of spiritual steps. It is hard to resist the temptation to think, “I’m further along than you!” And so he understandably warns that “It is not our job to point out where other individuals fall short.”

However, is such a warning enough to tame that almost irresistible drive to impress and look good? I don’t think so. Meanwhile the Bible similarly warns:

• ·       For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment. (Romans 12:3)

However, it’s just too tempting to believe more highly of ourselves that we ought, and when we do, to convince ourselves than our inflated self-estimation is really accurate. This is because our drive for significance, okay-ness, and self-righteousness is a consuming fire, which is hard to extinguish.

Consequently, the Bible directs many of its teachings to remedy this ungodly impulse. It teaches that our mad dash towards self-righteousness is opposed to the gift of God-righteousness (Phil. 3:2-9), that our lives are no longer ours but God’s (Gal. 2:20), that we belong to Him (1 Cor. 6:19-20), that He will take care of us and so we no longer need to be concerned about such things (Mat. 6:19-33), and that it is liberating to not have to prove ourselves to others.

However, self-righteousness is our default setting. We have become so intimate with it that it is as if it was built into our software. It’s more than an addiction; rather, it is us! It had been me – the most powerful, life-controlling addiction I could ever imagine. It had to be blasted away. Mere words couldn’t penetrate its defenses. It wasn’t a matter of going cold-turkey. The addiction had taken control of all of my command centers. It had to be surgically eliminated.

This could only be achieved by the Spirit, who brought all of my attempts to prove myself to naught, leaving me in a state of utter paralysis and shame. Eventually, I was forced to surrender all my feeble attempts to redeem myself. I was clearly shown that I was unable, but I was also shown that there was Another who was more than willing to redeem me from myself and to lift me out of my mess.

It was a long and painful process, but He showed me that it doesn’t matter who I am, because if God is for me, then there is nothing that can be successfully come against me (Rom. 8:31-32), and that all good things come from Him (James 1:17; Eph. 2:10). This meant that I couldn’t take credit for anything (1 Cor. 15:10). I now know that without Him, I can do nothing of any real value (John 15:4-5; 2 Cor. 3:5).

This doesn’t mean that I no longer have a tendency to proudly boast and to show myself off. It’s still very tempting. However, my Lord has given me a close-up, intimate picture of what it is, and it’s ugly, smelly, and detestable. It’s no better than junk food – something that tastes good for the moment but then leaves you with the feeling that you’ve just been raped.