(Christianity
Today, July/August 2013.) This clip is a rip from a full-page ad in the
magazine that, unfortunately, so many people regard as the voice of Protestant
Christianity. Christianity Today is
far from a model of orthodoxy. But I was surprised to see an ad in there
promoting international charismatic mania. It’s hard, I guess, for a magazine
to resist big advertising dollars from an enthusiastic quarter when that
magazine is lax on doctrine and morals to start with.
I knew nothing of Reinhard Bonnke before reading
this ad. As soon as I saw the ad and read it, suspicion filled my heart. Why
was I suspicious? Besides the appearance of show and sham, I suspected evil
because of these words: “Over time my ministry has seen 72 million people
respond to the call of salvation.” Claims like this one are becoming the norm
today among globetrotting wonder-workers who claim to be, as this one does,
‘evangelists from the front line.’ If readers of ads like this would just
consider the number of converts that are claimed, they might soon realize that
such claims must be false. Conversions cause morality to spread. “Wherefore by
their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7.20.) Has any significant part of Africa become changed for the better on account of Mr.
Bonnke’s rip-roaring meetings? What do we hear about on a regular basis on the
news? Whole regions of Africa transformed into
communities of righteous conduct and holy behavior? No, we hear of clan
warfare, machete attacks, and the rapid spread of AIDS on account of fornication
and rape. African superstitions (like sex with a virgin as a cure for, or
preventative against, AIDS) carry on because the large scale conversions
through visiting boasters like Bonnke are not real. The man’s numbers are a
mirage. He does not instruct, the Holy Spirit cannot be with him, and sinners
are not transformed through his meetings. If you were to add up the claims of
these peripatetic showmen, would the numbers not amount to every African soul
being saved by now? People who follow and support anarchic speakers of Bonnke’s
ilk, and who marvel at his wild boasts and worthless wonders as if they were
genuine, need to be amazed at the fact that the numbers do not reflect the
morality on the ground. Such gullible believers must not be very moral themselves,
not very instructed, more subjective than reasonable, and more superstitious
than Scriptural. They would believe in the accretion of conversions even after
the accretions overtopped the population of the world. They would believe in
this even while the world all around them is on fire with sin, crime, war, and
anti-Christian religion. A loud sensationalist says that 72 million souls have
been saved. That is enough for them. He says that ‘America Orlando America
has enabled financially for the ‘harvest’ in Africa .
Let me assure you that it will enable financially for the vain venture in Orlando
I would never say all of this without listening to
this man for myself, though what I have written so far I would not doubt the
truth of just on the basis of seeing the ad. After sighting the ad, I decided
to watch one of his performances over the internet. ‘God Uses Ordinary People’
(from 2005) is not a sermon. It is not a speech. It is something akin to a
semi-hysterical rant. My guess is that all of this man’s ‘sermons’ are like
this, crammed with claims and destitute of doctrine. Though rantings and
ravings by men like Bonnke are all alike in their tone (rabid), I was fortunate
to choose the ‘Ordinary People’ tirade. He gives us some of the background in
this one, concerning both his call and popularity. The story of his call to
minister is, not surprisingly, a remarkable one. Being too poor to take a tour
of London, Bonnke ended up bussing around the city and then walking about in
the midst of it. He eventually happened upon the house of a former preacher who
then anointed him for his mission just before he died. And thus did the mantle
of George Jeffreys fall upon Bonnke. That is the story. And it is interesting
to trace the tale backward from George Jeffreys. This Mr. Jeffreys was one of
the men responsible for bringing the ‘gospel of signs and wonders’ to Great
Britain, a man who was converted during the Welsh Revival of 1905 or
thereabouts, which revival was more conspicuous for fanaticism than teaching or
preaching. Jeffreys believed that the Brits are the spiritual and even literal
descendents of the ancient Israelites. Does a belief like that not have a
cultic ring to it? Is that man fit to preach who would believe such obvious
nonsense? Bonnke, not to be surpassed by his predecessor in the fantastic
nature of his claims, asserts, though somewhat indirectly, to be in the line of
apostolic succession!
What was to be the foundation for Reinhard Bonnke’s
ministry? This: preaching on the Baptism of the Spirit, and prayers in unknown
tongues. That is what the Lord told him, he says. Did the Lord say the like to
any New Testament apostle? No, but that doesn’t matter. Why should it? We might
even suppose (not by exposition, for Bonnke doesn’t do any) that Jesus chose
his twelve apostles ‘at random’ as he ‘bumped into them,’ as it were. That is
the revelation to Bonnke for the rest of us, which is for the purpose of
teaching that God uses ordinary people. Yes indeed, Jesus prayed all nite just
to pick apostles at random the following day! The revelation has no support
from Scripture to back it up. No matter. Bonnke needs it to justify his
anti-intellectual pattern.
When Bonnke was bucking for his beginning, he sought
cooperation from local churches for his first crusade. The answer they gave was
that anyone can say, ‘The Lord spoke to me.’ Supposing that this story is true,
they were right to put him off like that, and Bonnke should have never been
given access by anyone to speak anywhere on anything regarding the Bible. After
he got his way, how did his venture take flight? Only 100 persons showed up at
his first meeting. But why so many after that? Because of core doctrines
preached by a holy minister at his first meeting? No, but because of ‘healings’
in the crowd. God does not put a propeller behind you, Bonnke says. But that’s
just about what he claims God did for him. “Sermonettes are for
Christianettes,” he says. That’s his way of belittling hard work, learning, and
preparation. What did he do instead of preach a carefully wrought sermon? He
performed for the audience, and by chicanery or emotive influence, some
phenomena occurred. What followed after that? Crowds followed, for the world is
full of easily deceived sinners who run after wonders even while their souls
are sinking down toward hell. And when they show up, what happens to their excitable
selves? The lucky ones have hands laid on them or they collapse, or both. Are
they taught anything about the Bible and made to feel their sins thereby? No,
but what’s the difference? They will settle for the thrill of falling down.
Some dare to hope that they will be healed as they fall. But falling is enough
in a pinch. Nothing in a Bonnke meeting resembles what we find in the New
Testament ministries of Jesus, Peter, or Paul. What does that matter, though?
The discomposed folks who gather in meetings like this don’t know what’s in the
Bible and care little to find out. And what kind of narrow-minded bigot would
limit himself to the rule of Scripture anyway? How many ignorant folks obeyed
this man to go out as if called by the Holy Spirit to do so, only to go who
knows where and to what disappointing, and maybe even deadly, end? There are
consequences to believing the fancies of fanatics.
Any person who believes that a ministry of
reconciliation begins like Mr. Bonnke’s charade did is disconnected from
biblical history and ignorant of the history of the Church. In Acts 2 the
Spirit falls upon believers, not unconverted visitors, and much teaching on
Jesus Christ follows. In a Bonnke meeting, we are led to believe that the
Spirit falls upon unconverted visitors through a man who preaches nothing but
stories of himself! This rancid talk he gives about God using ordinary people,
for instance, has no doctrine in it except the bare mention of salvation and
Jesus’ death. And we are told, even during a rant in which no doctrine is
expounded or explained that the finger of God is moving through the stadium! It
is more likely that seeds planted in a snow-bank would sprout! The Spirit was
not moving in this meeting any more than he moved over the pages of Bonnke’s
Bible that time he was ‘told’ by God to read 1 Chronicles. If you have ears to
hear spiritual things, maybe you will pick up on the spiritual meaning of this
story he tells. Here it is: the finger of God moving over the pages of a Bible,
that’s nothing; but the finger of God moving in a Bonnke crowd, this is
everything. That person is in a sorry spiritual state, or at least in a
spiritually stunted condition, who believes that salvation or healing falls
from the sky subsequent to a minister shouting for an hour about nothing but
himself and his unbelievable experiences. That person needs education on the
bare necessities of sacred Scripture if he believes that, and he probably needs
to be saved besides. “All the wisdom in man will not save the world.” This is
Bonnke’s way of saying that doctrines (teachings on justification,
regeneration, repentance, etc.) are not necessary. I know that ‘wisdom of man’
and ‘doctrine’ are not synonymous. But I tell you, the context and tone lead me
to insist that this is his way of dismissing saving doctrines. These doctrines
are nothing to him but the contents of man’s wisdom. He has no time, patience,
or diligence for doctrine. What need of actual sermons? No need. He will get
people to respond to his enthusiastic yelling, pacing, and fist clenching. That
is his method: self-caused exuberance instead of warm, careful exposition. It
is the easiest and fastest way to get a rise from the audience. His mad zeal
reminds me of a certain woman who used to exclaim, ‘Stop the insanity!’ Or of a
certain man who used to strain his veins with, ‘Technique!’ Mr. Bonnke might as
well be a walking infomercial parody, so little does his performance exude holy
spirituality! He is a good actor, though, and has a hypnotic effect on deluded,
passive souls. If the man did not expect us to take him seriously, it would be
safe to say that he is entertaining. What characterizes a sermon during a
meeting in which the finger of God is present? Is a revival sermon about the
minister and his experiences? Or is it about the most holy things of God?
Edward Griffin has written a competent, dependable summary of what a revival
sermon contains. He experienced, under his ministerial leadership, genuine
revival in Massachusetts
A prophet may be discovered false by many avenues of
inquiry. He is usually interactive, asking for Amens from the audience, for
example (the case here.) He either preaches doctrine falsely, or he dismisses
doctrine altogether; again, the case here. A false prophet usually occupies a
glittering stage, which is the case here as well. And false prophets of the
charismatic stripe always focus more on personal experiences and manifestations
than on the life, death, and merits of Christ and the doctrines that are
connected with closing with him for salvation. In other words, redemption by
Christ, and his righteousness to a sinner’s account through faith, these are
facts not considered worthy of expositing or preaching, while claims of bodily
healing and other modern miracles take center stage. The false prophet is
usually about the business of temporary, transient things (like money and
popularity) at the expense of the soul. And, as if by the gift of God for the
naïve, the gullible, the simple, and the credulous, the false prophet will wear
on his sleeve the denial of some basic biblical reality. Here, for example,
that comes in the form of a mantra emotionally exclaimed: ‘Hell empty; heaven
full!’ Even the dullest reader of Scripture ought to notice an error when a
speaker’s pet phrase contradicts a fundamental spiritual reality that is set in
stone by God in the Bible. Hell is not empty right now, and it never will be
empty. That this phrase is just Mr. Bonnke’s way of expressing his desire for
the salvation of all is no worthwhile counter argument. A true prophet, while
he may desire the salvation of all or any, submits to the will of God that is
written in the Bible. And he chooses phrases that are in line with that.
But for me, what mostly singles out the false
prophet from the true one is his attitude toward God. This indicator is not as
easy to spot as some of the others. Familiarity with a godly attitude is
necessary for one to be able to spot irreverence. If a person listens only to
speakers who are irreverent, and therefore imagines, when he reads the Bible,
that the Psalmist spoke in a saucy manner too, and that this manner is the holy
norm, he will not recognize irreverence even when it stands before him
disrespecting God. The discerning spirit will feel the irreverence come across,
as it does here when Mr. Bonnke tells the story of how he used to skip the
first part of 1 Chronicles while executing his reading plan. Seeing and hearing
this man repeating and shouting ‘In Jesus’ name!’ and ‘Glory to God!’ will
repulse every spirit that is acquainted with the spirit of the Psalms. This
man’s exclamatory utterances will sicken the soul of any person who has had
sweet fellowship with any portion of Scripture that is conspicuous for exalting
any Member of the Holy Trinity. Those who are filled with admiration for a man
who labors to exude energy will take Mr. Bonnke’s demeanor for German passion
or even holy zeal. My suggested treatment for this false interpretation is
this: Listen to this man and then pause to read Psalm 8 or Psalm 26. Go back
and forth, from the spirit of Bonnke to the Psalmist, and if you feel no
difference, God help you, for then you cannot be very near God’s kingdom. Read
a verse from the Bible where God is extolled: “I will praise thee, O LORD, with
my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works” (Psalm 9.1.) Then listen to Bonnke say to God: “I do the
preaching, and you bring the people!” If you are not struck by the difference
there between a holy tone and a sneering voice, then I might go so far as to say
that there is little hope for cure to your blind eyes and ears. But the God who
is little esteemed by Bonnke knows for sure if you are one of those, or not,
who is beyond curing and left over to endure his everlasting curse. “If you
love the praise of man, the criticism of man will destroy you.” That is a rare
jewel from Reinhard Bonnke, albeit lacking polish, for criticism is often for
our good. It may be safer to say: If you love the praise of man so much that
you have no regard for criticism, you might be in danger of missing the advice
that would save you from Ultimate Destruction in Hell. “Reproofs of instruction
are the way of life” (Proverbs 6.23.)
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