By Marsha West
There are a host of people on this planet who proclaim loud and proud “I’m a Christian,” and they believe they’re saved from the wrath of God because they profess a belief in His Son. What these people fail to understand is that the only Jesus who saves sinners from hell is the Son of God, who condescended to leave heaven and become a man for ONE purpose, and ONE purpose only: The Son of God came to Earth to reconcile sinful man to the Father through the Son, Jesus Christ. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18–19).
There is only ONE person who can save sinners from hell and that Person is not the Jesus of the progressive movement. Nor is he the Jesus of the cults. “All cults operate on better or hidden knowledge, according to them, and this is what the early church apostles battled in their days,” warns Chris Quintana on his Facebook page. “There can be no greater cause or truth for which we must be careful to know completely as this one. There were Gnostics in John’s day and they walk among us today, teaching a vast assortment of unbiblical doctrines and making something of Jesus in His actions or person that are incorrect, some of which will lead a person following them to an eternity separated from the One they claim to serve.”
Red Flag
A recent progressive (i.e. woke Jesus) has been introduced to the world by the billionaire funded He Gets Us campaign. This effort is principally funded by a small group of families who are mostly anonymous. We do know that David Green, co-founder of Hobby Lobby and creator of Museum of the Bible, donated a big chunk to the campaign. He Gets Us is an initiative of Servant Foundation, a non-profit that operates under the name The Signatry. A piece in the now progressive Christianity Today, a partnered organization, revealed that “The media campaign was needed to challenge unbelievers’ tainted view of Christianity.” They say their aim is to raise the level of respect for Jesus (LOL). The truth of the matter is that He Gets Us is a public relations campaign to introduce the world to a woke Jesus who identifies with progressive social causes.
Those of us who’ve been reporting on He Gets Us weren’t the least bit surprised when the campaign began producing ads bashing Bible believing Christians. One such ad was shown at this year’s Super Bowl that promised to introduce football fans to the authentic Jesus of Nazareth. Instead, fans were introduced to ”Progressive Christian’s” version of Jesus who is not the authentic Jesus of the Gospels. In their effort to deconstruct Christianity, progressive’s have dreamed up a fake Jesus.
Many people were surprised to learn that it cost advertisers $6-7 million for 30 second spots. He Gets Us ran two ads.
In How He Gets Us fails to get Jesus, Josh Buice, pastor and president of G3 Ministries, makes it clear that Jesus was not a social justice warrior fighting for DEI. He warns of the cultural aspects:
The presentation of Jesus is driven by the winds of culture rather than the pages of Scripture. The He Gets Us message is built upon the sinking sand of social justice rather than the firm foundation of the gospel. In the messages of He Gets Us the text of Scripture is filtered through a cultural lens that’s overly contextualized so that the true Jesus appears to be a social worker rather than the sovereign Savior of the world.
Robert A. J. Gagnon, professor of theology at Houston Baptist University, rebuked the costly agenda-driven ads on X:
There is no message of Jesus’ transformative power to save lives by liberating people from a life under sin’s control….It is that simple. “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet” is not the gospel message. Indeed, it is arguably an anti-gospel message because it is at best a truncated gospel, “another gospel,” which is always no gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). (Source)
So, when one of many He Gets Us ads pops up on television, fast forward through it. Bypass their social media ads and should you happen to drive by a billboard, avert your eyes.
More Red Flags
He Gets Us Jesus is far from the only Fake Jesus permeating the culture. The indecisive Jesus of The Chosen television series about the life of Jesus of Nazareth is also not the Jesus of the Bible, therefore he’s unable to save anybody.
I will go out on a limb and say that the Fake Jesus of the popular book Jesus Calling was most likely a demon speaking into the malleable mind of Sarah Young. For writing that heretical book, Young became a best-selling “Christian” author.
Another best-selling author who penned The Shack, William P. Young, was accused of blaspheming God the Father for portraying Him as a “heavy set, cushy, non-judgmental, African American woman called ‘Papa.’ (Some see this as goddess worship.) His Fake Jesus takes the form of a middle eastern carpenter. There are many theological errors in The Shack — so burn that book and if you purchased the DVD, toss it in the trash.
It’s A Battlefield
Someone once said, and I’ll paraphrase: The Christian life is spent on a battlefield not a playground. Dress accordingly.
Christians have been inducted into God’s army. Thus, Christian soldiers must daily put on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:10). We are under constant attack from unseen forces and for that reason Christ has armed His church! We have instructions to resist the enemy’s assaults. Likewise, believers must keep their discernment antenna on high alert.
How does one become discerning? For starters, grab your Bible, turn to Acts 17:11 and follow in the footsteps of discerning Christians who resided in a town called Berea:
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
According to this account, the Berean Christians didn’t believe everything they heard; they were not gullible like contemporary Christians of today. No. The noble Bereans eagerly examined the scriptures to find out if what was being said was true or false.
Gnosticism 101
People often repeat false teaching as if it sprung off the pages of the Bible. For example, many charismatic Christians believe they hear directly from God. They insist that He speaks to them through prophecies, dreams, visions and from the scriptures. This is known as a “word from the Lord” or a “prophetic word” which they claim is a supernatural communication from God. For some people who receive a prophetic word, the Lord plays fortune teller and lets them in on what will happen in the future. Quite a few charismatics have shared with me that the voice in their mind comes from God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit or an angel. (Some of these folks have their own angel who often drops by to deliver a message from God.)
Now listen to the wise words of pastor and Reformed theologian R.C. Sproul:
Claims to special divine revelations are not so much a sign of super-spirituality as they are of evangelical or pietistic megalomania. The days of prophets and apostles, genuine agents of revelation, are past. Such claims today are spurious and exceedingly dangerous. To cloak one’s desires, hunches, or opinions in such claims is to make use of a godless form of persuasion. What does one say to the person who claims, “The Lord told me to do this”? To use such devices is to place oneself above criticism by bathing one’s opinions in divine sanction. (Source)
More wise words from founder of Stand to Reason, Greg Koukl:
The Holy Spirit is our teacher, but that means He illuminates what’s already there. All teachers work from a body of information, clarifying it and passing it on. The Holy Spirit does not give new information not in the inspired words. The curriculum, so to speak, is then standardized for all Christians. Every person has equal access to the meaning. There are no private messages in Scripture.
It bears repeating that believers must take everything they read or hear to the Word of God so that they’ll know beyond a doubt if what someone is saying is true or false – test all things (1 John 4:1). When a verse is quoted, read it in context to make sure that whoever quoted it has omitted nothing from the text. False teachers have a habit of twisting Scripture into a theological pretzel and applying a different meaning from what the author intended, with no remorse, guilt or shame whatsoever. By reading a passage in context the reader will discover the writer’s intended meaning.
Why go to all that trouble? Because the spiritual forces of darkness are deceivers. Moreover, Satan’s minions work their wiles to impersonate Christ. I mean, think about it. Would a demon come to you and whisper in your ear, “Hey dude! Beelzebub here. Just dropping in to let you know that God has no problem with you moving in with your sweetie, so long as you plan to tie the knot someday.” That particular lie comes to Christians, not from Almighty God, but from the god of this world. So before letting your guard down, check the Bible to see what it actually says about sex outside of marriage and all the other sins God warns His people not to partake in.
Believers well versed in Scripture are aware that “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Likewise, those who crack open their bibles will soon find out that Satan has an agenda, which is to send them to a place where (in the words of Jesus) “the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire” (Mark 9:48).
Whispering Demons
One last thing before I move on. In the four examples above it is highly likely that demons appeared to those individuals as an “angel of light” with an offer of wisdom and guidance. For instance, creator/director/co-writer of The Chosen, Dallas Jenkins, claims he felt God “laying on his heart” that in several years The Chosen was going to be what people thought of when they pictured the disciples. In Jenkins’s words: “I felt like God was saying that ‘this will be the definitive portrayal of My people and this is what people are going to think of around the world when they think of My people. And I’m not going to let you screw it up.’”
Well, Mr. Jenkins has screwed things up, royally. Learn how he accomplished that in the article below.
What happened when Fake Jesus called on Sarah Young? The voice she heard led her into outright heresy. Those who received demonic teaching have gone on to shovel lies and half-truths into the minds of new converts — surprisingly, many long time Christians who are naïve and undiscerning gobbled up the diabolical lies, then spread the manure to family and friends. Not surprisingly, Sarah Young died a very wealthy woman, thanks largely to that heretical book.
Right vs Left
The Bible doesn’t misrepresent who Jesus is, the Holy Spirit breathed out scriptures is where you’ll find the truth about Jesus of Nazareth (2 Tim 3:16-17). With a little help from their friends, spirits of darkness, progressives who claim to be Christians, misrepresent Jesus all the time. In their effort to brand Him Social Justice Jesus, they actually lead people to Fake Jesus. The ads coming from He Gets Us campaign try to convince people that the Left has the truth and traditional conservative Christians who teach the biblical gospel must be muzzled, when the opposite is true. The Left has an agenda, brethren, one of which is to infiltrate churches and change the face of Christianity. I have covered their agenda in depth here.
Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
There have been false teachers in churches for over two millennia. Wolves in sheep’s clothing are bent on devouring sheep, and they’ll keep nibbling until the Lord returns. Until that glorious day, followers of Christ must keep their eyes on Him. God’s elect cannot take part in an endeavor that unites them with false teachers, cultists, and pagan/occult practices – and no dabbling, just for fun. God forbids dabbling!
Heed the warning in Ephesians 5:11: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
Did you hear that?
False teachers/teaching must be exposed!
Do not fear using names, organizations, ministries and churches. How else will the undiscerning know who these wolves are and the garbage they’re teaching? When believers are made aware of who the wolves are, they can mark and avoid them as per Romans16:17-18. Moreover, church leadership will know who to give the boot to. For those who partake in the unfruitful works of darkness – there will be hell to pay.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Professor of Church History at Reformed Theological Seminary, Sean Michael Lucas:
As John Bunyan’s character Talkative in The Pilgrim’s Progress warns us, simply because someone can talk about Christian experience or doctrine doesn’t mean that he has experienced the reality of it in his heart. In fact, those with counterfeit religious experiences are much more prone to talk about them because they are motivated by spiritual pride and ambition, by a desire to be seen and known. This is evidence that they are self-deceived and in a desperate spiritual condition.
Related
Is God really the one behind ‘The Chosen,’ as the creator of the series declares?
A Whole lotta ‘Christian’ bestsellers are unfit for Christian consumption (Jesus Calling, The Shack, The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery)