In all of our discussions, we might forget that the theology we’re
debating has a human face. On the other end of our words, our blogs,
and our preaching are people. Listening people. People who believe and
trust us. People who–tremble at this–take our teaching seriously and
act on it. There may be only a few people in our homes that listen to
us, or there may be several dozen in our churches, or there may be an
untold number across the globe tuning in through some electronic media.
But make no mistake about it, if a tree falls in the woods it does make a sound even if you don’t immediately see anyone around to hear it. They’re there and they’re listening.
A couple of days ago my wife posed a question to me. Standing over
the kitchen counter she asked, “Do you think anyone has really
illustrated what the problem is with Jakes’ teaching?” She explained
that she was quite aware of the many theological discussions at work.
But she was looking for someone to actually illustrate the problems
stemming from the teaching of Jakes and others like him. I pondered
that for a moment and realized she was correct. We didn’t have a
picture of Jakes’ effect on real lives. That’s why I call her “Kristie
the Wise.”
So, perhaps it would be wise for us to stop for a moment to remember
the very real people who sit under the false teaching of people like
T.D. Jakes. We need to put a face on the destruction caused by
heterodoxy (“prosperity gospel”) and heresy (modalism). To that end, I
want to share with you an email I received from a brother after ER2. He
wrote with a concern very similar to my wife’s. He wanted to share his
story as an illustration. I offered to share it anonymously, but he
wanted to leave his name in it–Sean. In his words, he wanted to “put a
face to it.”
Here’s Sean’s brief account: Read it all at Thabiti Anyabwile
