what makes a prophet false?

This week the focus of First Born Son is both Holy Week and the 5 Year Anniversary of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq.

In early 2001, I was in what can be called a “restoration of my faith.” I had been through some dark years, and a pastor named Bud had taken me under his wing and was shepherding me back home.

One of the tools Bud used was a book he gave me by Henry Blackaby entitled The Man God Uses. At the time Blackaby was a giant in the evangelical Christian sub-culture. He had co-authored a book called Experiencing God that almost everyone in our church, and a majority of Christians I knew, had worked through at one time or another. I read that book from cover to cover, highlighting passages and making notes in the margins. One of the reasons I answered the “call to ministry” is because I read that book.

Disappointment is hard to deal with.

Before the invasion of Iraq, Blackaby told the Agape Press, “...those who oppose the war to liberate Iraq need to read God’s Word.” He actually went on to say that anyone who opposed the President on the invasion of Iraq were subject to God’s judgement.

But he was not the only “hero of the faith” to make such a claim. The late Bill Bright, founder of (the poorly named) Campus Crusade for Christ - an organization that many of my friends from college went to work for - signed the famous “Land Letter” to President Bush stating that war with Iraq was both Biblical and godly.

And there was also Charles Stanley, a stalwart whom many I trusted in the faith have read, quoted and followed. He also went on to say in a sermon given right before the invasion that the President had been given the authority by God to wage war on Iraq, and we were foolish to question or doubt.

Of course I could go on. To this day there are many major evangelical pastors and teachers who constantly call for war with the Middle East, declaring it is God’s will and mandate. Some seem like they are decently solid in their theology until it comes to Arabs, the Middle East and the End Times.

Others are just downright crazy. The latest example in this camp is John Hagee. But the most outrageous line comes from a Hagee lieutenant named Rod Parlsey (who consequently has worked closely with Texas Governor Rick Perry and has become snug with Senator John McCain). He recently wrote in his book Silent No More: “...I will tell you this: I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed...”

He goes on to say that Christopher Columbus intentionally set out on his journey because he believed that the wealth of the New World would help finance the war against Islam.

I’m not making this up.

So what is my point? Well, first of all there are thousands of pastors who stand on the teachings of Blackaby, Bright and Stanley more than they stand on the Gospel (though they would never admit it). So then what is being taughtthousands of our churches? Clearly nothing that would lead to peace in the Middle East and the true Kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven.

But here is the kicker: These Christian men of God have publicly declared that any Christian in the U.S. who did not support the war in Iraq were subject to the judgement of God. Well, it turns out that last month the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - the supreme leader of Iran - said publicly that God would punish any Iranian who did not support Iran’s nuclear weapon program.

So who’s side is God on? I’m going to go with neither. For in the end, I don’t see much difference between Rev. Stanley and Ayatollah Khamenei. They both use nationalism, fear and violence to drive home their agenda... an agenda that has nothing to do with the Gospel of Peace. And most tragically, their followers on both sides will faithfully yet blindly follow their messages into a senseless war against each other... a war that has nothing to do with God and the fact that he created us all in his image.

Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.