A Closed Bible

I always find it quite strange that the later it is in the evening, the more shady the preaching gets on TV.  I was flipping through the religious section of DirecTV and fell on Huie Rogers.  His sermon was so erratic, I had to turn.  He was going crazy talking about being crazy...the insanity of Christianity to be exact.  As I was flipping, I always like to stop by the Praise-A-Thon to see who TBN has summoned up from the doldrums of "Christian" hypocrisy to beg for more cash so that they can air more foolishness.  Tonight, one of their favorite sons was on there, and he was tearing it up!

Jesse Duplantis is a stalwart of TBN.  He's a major proponent of the prosperity gospel and one of the worst preachers that I've ever listened to.  As he strutted around the stage like a peacock touting the 100 fold principle- saying how he gave $100,000 and got a million back- I couldn't help but notice that he never touched his Bible to back up what he was saying.  As a matter of fact, his Bible was...closed.  It was nothing more than a prop on his plexiglass pulpit.  Isn't it odd that many preachers use the Bible simply to give the air of authority but they rarely use it to preach from?  Why is it that the Bible has become a prop and church has become theater?

Duplantis "preached" for a while and I never once saw him even look towards his Bible.  It just sat there, closed and still.  He kept telling funny stories...but he never opened his Bible.  He used his ebonics to get to the emotions of the African-American parishioners that TBN loves to fleece...but he never opened his Bible.  He talked, and talked, and talked...but he NEVER opened his Bible.  Can you say...disgraceful?

The Bible, the Word of God is living and active.  2 Tim 3:16 says that the ALL scripture is inspired by God (God breathed) and is USEFUL for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness.  Here is the practical side, verse 17 says that the Word of God is used to EQUIP the man of God for every good work.  As a pastor, what Jesse's job is along with ALL other pastors is spelled out explicitly in Ephesians 4:11-16:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the EQUIPPING of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. 

Without preaching this text, let's see what the ministry is supposed to be doing:  1. Equipping the saints for works of service 2. Building up the body of Christ (and through  equipping the saints, causing them to build up the Body of Christ).  NOW, how long is the ministry of the Church supposed to continue this work?  1. For the duration of the time here on earth (until we all attain unity of the faith- which will probably not happen until Christ returns) 2. Until we all attain unity of the knowledge of the Son of God to A MATURE MAN (i.e. until we all grow up in the Faith [Christianity]).  What is the result of this ministry that we like to refer to as the 5-fold ministry?  Christians that are mature, equipped and NOT prone to error by being blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine that blows by!

Which brings me to the question...why is any "preacher" preaching with a closed bible?  If we KNOW that the Word of God is useful for teaching, correction, reproof and training in righteousness, if we know that the Word of God convicts and is sharper than any two edged sword, if we know that the Word of God is eternal...shouldn't we be USING it to equip the saints?  Well, if your job is to deceive the saints rather than equipping them...the answer is NO.  If your job is to BE the wind of doctrine that blows the saints off course, then you would definitely not use the Bible to preach to them.  If your job is to be the teacher that tickles itching ears...then the Bible is your worst enemy!  So, a closed Bible and a sermon on absolutely nothing related to scripture must only have one intention...to deceive.

The arrogance of some that place their own words over God's word is amazing.  In the book of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8), when Ezra got up to read the Law (i.e. to preach, in modern vernacular) and he stood at a wooden podium (pulpit)- he actually read from the Law.  He didn't get up and tell funny stories and strut around like a gamecock.  He taught from God's Word and the people were convicted and confessed their sins!  When Jesus began his ministry, he did so by reading from the scroll of Isaiah in the Synagogue (Luke 4:18).  If the Word was good enough for Jesus, it should STILL be good enough.  The Bible says that heaven and earth will pass away but God's Word stands forever.  The nerve of some of these preachers.  It is borderline disgusting.  What's more disturbing is the fact that the places where these folks are "preaching" are packed out with smiling faces, black and white, that have no clue that they are being taken for a ride!

It's past time for us to wake up and think for ourselves.  If the pastor doesn't crack the bible open even once...it might be time to move on.  Technology has given us access to electronic Bibles on our tablets, etc, but I am talking about a preacher that does not even reference scripture at all.  Are there men/women that are repositories of scripture and can quote scripture verbatim?  Sure there are, but the Bible assures me that what they are saying is true because I can check it for myself.  I can't vet statements pulled out of thin air.  Especially when these "preachers" go to great lengths to sensationalize and emotionalize their audience before whacking them over the head with a brick with "Holy Bible" stamped on it in gold letters.  Take your own bible to church and don't take anyone's word for anything- read it for yourself.  You should be leaving church with, at least, some scriptures written down for further study- not an emotional message rooted in some person's imagination about what God said.  A closed bible on a pulpit is a dangerous thing.  The Bible is like a Christmas gift...you will never know what's in it unless you open it up.