Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. T.S. Eliot

Imagine you attend a corporate gathering at a church where you believe you will learn spiritual things that are said to deepen your walk with God and how to have all your prayers answered. The speaker teaches from a book he wrote about praying from the heavenly realm, and he goes on to talk for the next hour and a half about himself and his encounters with God and how much he has given up walking in the supernatural with God.

He tells the people to draw on what is on the inside of him and that he is speaking from their future, as he has seen the future and knows the end. He claims to have gone and to have stopped events in the future from taking place, and he even tells the people that Jesus told him numerous things, one of which involved going into the eyes of Jesus and witnessing God create him. This man claims that Jesus told him his parents were privileged to carry him because of his call on this generation. He tells of his finances and instructs the people not to be jealous of his many blessings. He says that getting heaven’s attention requires you to listen to individuals who have already gotten heaven’s attention. He shares many other stories, sprinkling in a Bible verse here and there, but his message is centered around what Jesus told him and how he is to replicate Jesus with the encounters in heaven to which he personally testifies and the books he writes, which he states are a mandate from God.

What would be your reaction to hearing such a message? I hope your imagination took you outside the service as you walked out from listening to something that was man centered rather than Christ centered. I hope you considered the thought as to why another’s personal revelation is necessary for us to know what we are to do as believers in Christ, and I hope you’re wondering why it seems you just sat through a sales pitch testimonial. This is what we call the gospel of self because though it will be said it is not about this individual or even you, the truth is it is about him and you. The clay is the focus. Personal spiritual experience is king to those who place high value on it. Hidden revelation is exhilarating. It is fresh manna, at least that seems to be the perception, and those who do not receive it are viewed as carnally minded and religious to the core. But what about Biblical truth? What about the true gospel of Jesus Christ? What happens when the fresh manna turns out to be molded and unfit for spiritual sustenance?

The sad fact is that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been downgraded by some to only being necessary for those who are lost. But the gospel is for believers as well because it reminds us of our need and dependency upon Jesus Christ daily. A great dilemma facing many who profess to be Christians is the lack of Biblical literacy, and when Biblical illiteracy is present, deception can abound. Every wind of doctrine can blow someone to and fro. It is safe to say that such teachings as the one described fall into that category, and as someone who was Biblically illiterate and once relied on experiences with Scripture sprinkled in here and there, it rings true. When the message is centered upon personal experiences, personal encounters, personal revelation, and Jesus is in the background as the seeming gatekeeper to these experiences and encounters, we have another gospel presented. However, it is not good news.

The true gospel of Jesus Christ in accordance with Scripture can be proclaimed in any country in the world with the same outcome, and that outcome is salvation. It is God bringing a dead man to life and the forgiveness of one’s sins. It is a sinner being saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and no longer at enmity with God but rather at peace with God. It is the glorious promise of eternal life and looking toward that promise while facing trials and hardships that are “light momentary afflictions preparing us for an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

A gospel promising health, wealth, and prosperity cannot be ministered everywhere with the same guaranteed outcome. Consider this thought: can the message, “You will always prosper, and every single prayer will be answered as you desire” be guaranteed to all people with the same results every time? This gospel does not hold water in the most remote and impoverished countries in the world. This cannot be replicated with certainty. There are materially poor people who are spiritually wealthy because of their faith in Christ. They have stored up treasures in heaven because their prosperity is not in material goods or in societal status. Their identity is in Christ and their focus is on Him.

If you have listened to messages such as the one described, I hope you will go back to Scripture in the proper context for the truth. When we believe false teaching, it distorts our view of God, and it damages true fellowship we have with Him. You do not need a radical supernatural experience to demonstrate you know God. You do not need to purchase a book telling you how to pray from the heavenly realms, and you do not need another’s personal alleged encounters with Jesus to know what you are instructed to do as a believer in Christ. I encourage you to read the Bible. It is sufficient for your instruction.

Listen to this episode of The Lovesick Scribe Podcast as we take a closer look at a popular individual and his teaching from his book, Praying from the Heavenly Realm: The Lovesick Scribe Podcast: The Gospel of Self on Apple Podcasts