God, telling Moses what to say to Pharaoh in Exodus 9:14 I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. There is no one like you, Lord, and there is no God but you. Scripture clearly teaches, again and again, that we are not like God: Furtick follows in the footsteps of false teachers like Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, and Joyce Meyer by claiming that we are just like God, or just like Jesus. Word of Faith teachers regularly demote God and promote man. Teaching that reading about Jesus is anything like reading about ourselves goes too far. Also: teaching that Moses is “I Am” goes far too far. Quite obviously, God was NOT telling Moses that he was ‘as God is.’ Instead, God gave Moses a message for the Israelites: he was being sent by “I Am.” Not only does Furtick’s teaching not match this passage of Scripture, he contradicts it directly. God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:13-14 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” “When God said “I Am” to Moses, you know, “my name is I Am,” He was trying to get him to see you are as I am.” Here’s Furtick, talking about God’s encounter with Moses in the wilderness: To animals? To trees? This makes no sense, of course… but it does help Furtick set up more on the little gods doctrine. However: if Furtick is right, who are we showing God’s nature to? To God? No… to angels and demons? One would think they know God better than we do. While this, by itself, is not necessary heretical, it’s silly. He needed someone to show His nature through, so He made me and you.” So He made man, and wo-man, to reflect who He was. “Remember ‘let us make man in our image?’ God needed someone to show the world what He looks like, or else He would have just been a concept. This includes everything from healing diseases to creating universes. The implication, as taught over and over by these false teachers, is that we share God’s nature, and we can do the things He can do. This unbiblical idea is that humans are not only somewhat like God, but that we are duplicates or copies of Him. Little GodsĪ defining feature of most Word of Faith teachers is known as the ‘little gods’ doctrine. Look at James 3:1: Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We who teach – and I include myself – are not in the same group as those who listen. While the statement of faith on Elevation’s website is entirely orthodox, what gets taught from the pulpit is not. This is an arm-in-arm kind of association, where they’re working toward the same goals in the same ways. Let’s be clear: this isn’t the same as a Christian going on a non-Christian’s show, or the same as an orthodox Christian going on TBN and challenging their false beliefs. He called Word of Faith teacher Joyce Meyer “the greatest Bible teacher alive today.” Jakes, who teaches the heresy of modalism (see below). He publicly approves of false teachers like T.D. He holds conferences with Word of Faith teachers and New Apostolic Reformation teachers. Steven Furtick associates himself and his church with other false teachers. The first indication of a false teacher, and the easiest to spot, is with whom the teacher associates. The question is whether Steven Furtick can be trusted to teach and preach what God has said… and, while most teachers say a lot of things that are true, the measure of a false teacher is that they too often say things that are untrue. I have nothing personal against him, and I don’t know whether he’s saved. Unfortunately, based on his own words, he’s not like that. I’d rather say that he’s a fantastic teacher, that he carefully studies Scripture and clearly communicates God’s Word to his audience. Of course, those have nothing to do with whether he’s a false teacher. As the founder and pastor of Elevation Church – home of the popular Christian music group Elevation Worship – he has a great amount of influence and a worldwide audience. He’s clearly a gifted communicator, and – based on the growth of his congregations – likely a gifted leader as well. Steven Furtick is a very popular speaker. You may also want to check out a list of Bible Teachers I Can Recommend. Before reading this page, or any of the pages about specific people, I recommend that you read What is a False Teacher?, which explains what the Bible says about false teachers, and why I would bother to research who they are and what they say. I do not do this lightly, but it is necessary. I’m often asked to assess what others teach. Home › False Teachings › The False Teaching of Steven Furtick
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