Trinity Broadcasting Network (#1)

I spent about twenty-five years of my life in the classroom—about ten years as a high school teacher and fifteen years as a college teacher. One of the joys of teaching was responding to the questions my students asked. Every semester when I introduced my marriage and family courses I always told my students they were free to ask any question they had on their minds. I told them if they did not feel free to ask questions in class they could send them to me through campus mail or slip them under my office door. I was never embarrassed or troubled by any of the questions our young people asked. In some cases I had to do additional research before I could answer their questions, but I was always honored to respond to their concerns.

Since becoming the speaker on the International Gospel Hour, I have received many questions. I try to answer all of them, but sometimes it takes weeks or even months to do it and at times it is almost impossible. My schedule is full to the brim, but I do want to answer questions from my listeners, if at all possible. As a dear friend of mine loved to say, I have said all of that to say this: I have a letter from a dear lady that raises a number of questions about my opposition to and exposition of Trinity Broadcasting Network. Tragically, the lady who wrote the letter misconstrues and misapplies virtually every scripture she uses. I should not be surprised at that since most of the speakers on TBN misinterpret and misuse scripture after scripture or never get around to using any scripture at all. The main goals of some of the preachers seem to be to raise money and to entertain their viewers.

I must assure the dear lady and all others that I have no ill will toward her or toward anyone else. My only concern is to respond to error wherever it raises its ugly head. If I fail to do that, I could not live with myself; nor would it be possible to have God's approval. I must follow the example of Jesus Christ and of his apostles. They constantly exposed and opposed error. A careful reading of New Testament books, especially Romans, Galatians, Colossians and Hebrews will confirm that observation. If only the truth will set men free (John 8:32), must we not be diligent in condemning false doctrine and unscriptural practices? And just because a preacher occasionally quotes scripture and appears to be devout does not mean he is preaching the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The dear lady says she heard my sermon on the prosperity gospel. She wrote: "I hope that you have followed the biblical instruction to go to your brother privately to show him his fault (Mt. 18:15) in the hope of reaching an understanding." There are probably only two other scriptures that are more misunderstood and misapplied than this one: "Judge not that you be not judged" (Mt. 7:1) and "Drink a little wine for your stomach's sake" (1 Tim. 5:23). I have heard Matthew 18:15 misused numerous times. So we must carefully examine what Jesus actually said in this passage. Did he teach that I must go to false teachers privately before I respond to what they teach?

Jesus taught: "Moreover if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you, you have gained your brother" (Mt. 18:15). Jesus was plainly speaking of personal sin against a brother. The preachers on TBN have not sinned against me personally. They have sinned against God and against his church by misusing and abusing God's word. They preach the so-called "health and wealth gospel" which is not a genuine gospel. It is a false gospel and has been responsible for discouraging thousands and thousands of people. When a man is promised that he will receive ten times or a hundred times as much as he gives to certain ministries, he is being deceived. I know a case where a man sent money to one of the television preachers. Instead of receiving tenfold for his contribution, he lost his job and experienced illness in his family. What about that for a return on an investment in the health and wealth gospel? Only the prosperity preachers are assured of reaping bountifully from their teaching on TBN. Joyce Meyer has prospered at the expense of thousands of her supporters. She has a $10 million private jet and a $2 million dollar home. He husband has a $107,000 Mercedes Benz. How many contributors to her program have prospered?

Do I have to go to all prosperity preachers before I can speak out against such racketeering? The dear lady desperately needs to read Sinclair Lewis' masterpiece, Elmer Gantry. She would find many of the television preachers described in that book. I am not saying that all the preachers on TBN are modern "Elmer Gantrys"— because I do not believe that—but some of them unquestionably are. They may not be in it for the money, but dozens of them are getting rich because of the promises they continually make to their listeners. They know that their hearers, generally speaking, are not receiving tenfold or a hundredfold or even twofold. Some of them receive nothing. Many of them receive no return on their investment in those programs.

Does the dear lady believe that Jesus Christ is the preacher's example? Does she believe that preachers in every generation should emulate Jesus Christ and his apostles? Did Jesus go to each of the Sadducees privately and seek to reach an understanding with them before he severely criticized their preaching? The Sadducees disagreed with our Lord's teaching on the resurrection. He said to them, "You do err not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God" (Mt. 22:29). What if Jesus Christ had failed to correct the errors the Sadducees taught, is it not likely that some honest souls could have been deceived by their preaching?

Among the churches of Christ in Galatia, there were teachers who were seeking to combine what they probably considered the best elements of Judaism with the teaching of Christ and of the apostles. We do not know the names of the teachers nor how many there were, but we know they were doing great damage to the church of our Lord. Should Paul have tried to visit personally all of the men who were teaching such soul-condemning error? If he had done that, he would not have had the time to warn the Galatians of the false teachers among them. The Judaizers could have led the churches into complete apostasy. If you think I might be exaggerating the seriousness of the error the Judaizers were promoting, please listen carefully to these words. "I marvel that you are so soon removed from him who called you into his grace unto another gospel: which is not another; but there are some who trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:6-9). Paul warned his brothers and sisters in Galatia that seeking to be justified by the Mosaic covenant would mean they had fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4). Should Paul have gone to all of the Judaizers to reach some kind of understanding before he could write such a scathing letter about the false teachers?

How would it be possible for me or any other preacher to go privately to all the health and wealth preachers on TBN? Some of them are in California, some in Georgia, some in Tennessee and in other places. It would take a lifetime to meet with all of those men and women. In the meantime, those preachers are leading thousands and thousands of people into error. If we are concerned with the souls of men, we must show that the prosperity preachers are misleading their hearers. In addition, they are furnishing plenty of ground for the people of the world to criticize religious people. Even unbelievers in many cases know that the so-called "prosperity gospel" is a false gospel. People of the world make fun of the Crouches, Benny Hinn, the Copelands, and most of the other preachers on TBN. There is never any justification for making fun of anyone, but the TBN preachers furnish a rich soil for skeptics to lampoon New Testament Christianity.

I have in my library dozens of books that attack the inspiration of the scriptures, the deity of Christ, the gospel plan of salvation, the bodily resurrection of Christ and many other gospel truths. For example, I have Dr. John Killinger's book, Ten Things I Learned Wrong from a Conservative Church (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2002). Dr. Killinger denies the inerrancy of scripture that Jesus had to die for our sins, that Jesus is the only way to God, and many other fundamentals of the faith. Frankly, I had never heard of John Killinger until I purchased his book several months ago. He lives in Warrentown, Virginia. Do I have to arrange for a private meeting with Dr. Killinger before I can respond to the grievous errors in his book?

My correspondent correctly says that the "Lord hates those who sow discord among brethren" (Prov. 6:19). But who is sowing discord—those who preach error, such as, the prosperity gospel, dispensational premillennialism, and the rapture of the church or those who seek to correct these errors? Am I sowing discord when I respond to the errors of John Killinger or to other liberal preachers? Was Paul sowing discord among the Galatian churches when he condemned the Judaizing teachers? Was John guilty of sowing discord among brethren when he called some false teachers deceivers and antichrists (2 John 7)? Has the dear lady who wrote me ever bothered to read Galatians, Colossians and 1 John?

The lady asks, "Can you not pray and leave it in the Lord's hands to correct them where they are wrong?" She cites the following verse to sustain her thinking: "Who are you who judges another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Yea, he shall be upheld: for God is able to make him stand" (Rom. 14:4). Is Paul speaking of the teaching of God's word or of matters of indifference, such as, whether Christians should eat meat or be vegetarians? If he had in mind the fundamental teaching of scripture, he was inconsistent in his teaching and in his behavior. Paul judged certain people as being enemies of the cross of Christ (Phil. 3:18). Why did Paul write, "O foolish (or stupid) Galatians, who has bewitched you, that you should obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you" (Gal. 3:1)? Should not Paul have waited for the "the Lord's hands to correct them where they are wrong?" How did the great prophets of the Old Testament handle such matters?

The lady writes: "We are told to build up one another" (Rom. 14:19). I wholeheartedly agree with that truth. But are we building up one another when we hear error preached and do nothing about it? I shall give you just one example. I heard Larry King interview Benny Hinn. Mr. King asked, "Is it possible that some of your healings are psychosomatic?" Benny Hinn replied: "Yes, but they are miracles too." Either Benny Hinn does not know the meaning of "psychosomatic healings" or he does not know what miracles are. Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., Publishers, 1986) provides the following definition of "psychosomatic": "of, relating to, involving, or concerned with bodily symptoms caused by mental or emotional disturbance" (p. 588). Psychosomatic healing means the mind heals the body. If that is a miracle, Indian medicine men, voodoo healers, and other such pagan practitioners are performing miracles. Is Benny Hinn prepared to grant such people miraculous powers?

My correspondent writes, "Have you asked yourself what is for the upbuilding of God's kingdom?" In more than sixty-one years of preaching, teaching Bible on the college level and in lecturing in churches and colleges, I have asked myself that question hundreds of times. In addition, I regularly preach on the topic. But am I building up or tearing down when I oppose modernism, sectarianism, secular humanism and other soul-condemning error? Was John building up or tearing down when he wrote as follows about the teachers who were denying that Christ had come in the flesh: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1)?

Can I sit idly by and not oppose the shenanigans that occur on TBN? Have you noticed the carnival-like atmosphere on many of their programs? They dance, swing and sway and act as if they are having fun at the expense of the reverence we should show toward God and toward his word. In my more than sixty-one years of preaching, I have never witnessed anything comparable to the shows on TBN everyday. Is it even remotely possible that our Lord and his apostles would have engaged in many of the practices of the charismatic movement? The music is professionally performed. There are some outstanding singers on their programs, but it all seems more for show and entertainment than for honoring God.

The dear lady asks, "What is the fruit of their (the charismatics on TBN) ministry?" Jesus was speaking of false teachers when he said in his Sermon on the Mount: “Wherefore by their fruit you shall know them" (Mt. 7:20). What is the fruit of many of TBN's programs? When those preachers continually stress their dispensational views, such as, the rapture, the centrality of Jerusalem in the last days and the great tribulation, they are producing fruit that has no foundation in scripture. And no teaching is more unreasonable, unscriptural and destructive than the prosperity gospel. Jim Bakker has admitted that the health and wealth teaching has no foundation in scripture. Oddly enough, Jim had to spend five years in prison before he realized that he was teaching error on what Jesus said about money.

The lady asks, "Have any been saved?" She means, "Have any been saved by the preaching on TBN?" She evidently thinks they have, but is that not judging in areas that belong to God alone? For one to be saved, does he have to do what the Bible tells him to do? I must ask my correspondent and others in my audience: "How many times have you heard any preacher on TBN tell committed believers: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38)? Since that was what Peter said in the very first gospel sermon ever recorded, does it not seem strange when no one on TBN ever tells sinners that? Was not Peter and the other apostles speaking as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4)? Do most modern charismatic preachers imagine they know more about the will of God than the apostles knew?

Paul expressed great concern for the salvation of the Jewish people. "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God" (Rom. 10:1-3). The term, "God's righteousness," does not refer to the fact that God is righteous. It means God's way of making men righteous. Many of the Jews in Paul's day were embracing their own and not God's plan of salvation. That is precisely what occurs everyday on TBN. The TBN preachers almost always urge alien sinners to pray for forgiveness. That is not what Peter or Paul or Philip or Ananias did in the first century. Saul of Tarsus was a penitent believer. Would it not have been an excellent opportunity for Ananias to say to him: "Pray and God will forgive you?" What did the heaven-sent preacher say to Saul: "Why are you waiting? Arise, and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16)? How many TBN preachers tell alien sinners what Ananias told Saul? I ask you again, "For one to be saved, does he not have to do what the Bible tells him to do?" If we do not have to obey the Bible plan of salvation, why do we have the Bible in the first place? Can we just make up a plan of salvation as we go along?

My correspondent asks, "If they (the charismatics on TBN) are fruitful, does the Lord not say we should not muzzle the ox?" Of all the misuses of scripture I have read and heard in my lifetime, this is one of the most unusual as I have found. What did Paul have in mind when he quoted Deuteronomy 25:4: "You shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the corn" (1 Cor. 9:9)? He was speaking of supporting preachers in their work of spreading the gospel. He said in this context: "Even so has the Lord ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel" (1 Cor. 9:14). It has nothing to do with fruit bearing. We must have the attitude of Paul who told the Philippians, "I am set for the defense of the gospel" (Phil. 1:17). By God's gracious help, I am also set for the defense of the gospel.

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334