Are we looking for ecstatic experiences, super-natural kicks or are we looking for God Himself? The other day as I wrote about the stepping down of Litorin I wrote a blog about the importance of integrity in leadership. Leadership in general whether Christian or non-Christian, is first of all about integrity, as I today write about Benny Hinn and his leadership I cannot avoid writing about Truth!
Latest last night as an old friend asked me whether I was planning to go and listen (see) Benny Hinn, my response was: “That is the last thing I would do.” I have seen and read too much about Benny Hinn and his lifestyle contrary to what Scripture teaches. And until now I have not even addressed his teachings and praxis.
Lately there has been much discussion about Benny Hinn here in Sweden (here, here, here, here, here, ) because of the invitation of Livets Ord, (The Word of Life Church) led by Ulf Ekman. Different aspects have been addressed in this discussion; the fact that he is in the middle of a divorce- situation with his wife with whom he has been married 22 years without taking a time-out form his ministry. But other voices address his teaching, his showmanship as he ministers, and of course his prosperous, affluent lifestyle where money never seems an issue.
I know there are always controversies over people who are influential, because by nature many of us are jealous, competitive and arrogant and cannot accept that someone is better or more-liked than we are.
But in the midst of this process we have some new, hard facts about Benny’s teachings, which made even his friend Ulf Ekman, react clearly. What I like about Ulf is his willingness to confront Benny about these things, what I don’t like is that he didn’t do it publicly at the meeting after Benny’s sermon as he only told the conference participants to go home and check what they heard with their Bibles.
The other day I found out that news articles (rumours?) would be released (Aug 2) about a special romantic relationship of Benny Hinn with Paula White, another television preacher, in the National Enquirer a gossip magazine in the US although, at that moment, the Swedish bloggers and press had not caught up on the story, I decided to not write about it as the information and the trustworthiness of the magazine could be questioned. Both Benny and Paula White have written on their websites to denounce this relationship. It is clearly from reading their responses that they have synchronized their views and stories as they almost use similar wording in their statements.
Anyway, now Ulf Ekman is questioning Benny in an in-depth blog that he wrote today. I will freely translate some of Ulf’s perspectives that are important for this subject.
After a long introduction writing how Benny’s ministry has touched the lives of so many people and Ulf’s experiences of this in many conferences he says:
Having said all of this, I must say that in all the meetings where I have been with him, I have never before heard what he said and taught here (Uppsala, Sweden) yesterday. His teachings, and he is not alone in those, seem to be more developed and worked through by him more than by any other person, went way beyond that which I believe to be classical Christian faith and healthy teaching. It had not only Gnostic influences; it had unfortunately intersections with pure Gnosticism.
On Saturday night it started off well as Benny spoke about the Holy Spirit as a person, not only as a power. But soon the address moved away from the focus and became speculative as he addressed pre-adamitical races and an earlier fall into sin. It became more complicated as he moved from the Trinity to the “human trinity”. Our bodies are not only an outer shell, like a glove that we throw off, but it is an essential and integrated part of our identity and personality. We should not devaluate the importance of the body. We are not a spirit in contrast to our body. We are a spirit, a soul and body, or spirit and flesh, and human’s so-called “trinity” keeps together as a unit, our personality. And we cannot separate this in different isolated compartments. Therefore the resurrection of the body is so important since it is as important as the soul, which Benny mentioned, but only in passing by.
When he finally arrived to Jesus in his sermon he addressed in certain parts a heretic picture of Jesus. The Son was not an eternal Son, the Father was not an eternal Father and it sounded as if there had been a time when the Son didn’t exist. I asked him this right after this meeting and then he denied that and said that he meant that the Son was eternal as Word and first was called “Son” as he came to the earth.
It became more remarkable as he speculated about the fact “that if Jesus had sinned his body would not have been subjected unto decay.” This is important to reprove, because if true, Jesus body was no real body, which leaves us with an incomplete, docetic, and ostensible incarnation. Docetism and the heretic Marcion teaches that the body of Jesus was only an illusion. It was seemingly real, but still not since God will not engage and mix with matter, which is evil. The Christian faith says that the body of Jesus was fully human. If He was not fully human, he could not identify with us ad could not become our replacement and thus we could not be saved.
Later on he shared that Jesus’ blood didn’t come from Mary but directly from God. That’s not true. In Mary and through Mary Jesus humanity was developed and that includes all the parts of his physical body, also his blood. The blood is a part of his physical body and his true human identity…
…It would have been better for Benny to have left out his deep “insights” without making things too difficult for him beyond his capacity and instead have spoken about Jesus in a powerful way which he is able to do and often has done and as an evangelist should do. That would have been enough for us and it is important to fully present the Biblical Jesus.
It seems as if the whole matter becomes a settlement with different Gnostic influences within the Christian faith, but I didn’t believe that we would hear that from Benny Hinn on this particular evening. It was an unpleasant surprise that it came so strongly and so much of it. The fact is that it came and it has therefore to be reproved. In the end it is about salvation, where a illusive, docetic Jesus can not save, which leads to myths and speculations…
Ulf is happy to be Benny’s friend and has confronted him with all the issues addressed above. Now the question is: “will he stand corrected”? Will Benny show his willingness to be interdependent within the Body of Christ and with brothers and sisters (who all sin and who all need forgiveness and correction) and to bow under the Lordship of Jesus as Head?
Or will Benny see this as an occasion where a person “touches the Lord’s anointed” and put a curse on him?
I don’t know what the outcome will be, I hope that he will be able to allow others to speak into his life, not only in this matter but in so many other areas as well so that his life will become a reflection of His Lord:
Phil 2: 3 -8 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Time will tell!
That’s the Way I see it!
John
