Why Is Anyone Following Lysa Terkeurst?

My apologies to Lysa right up front. But she is one of a group of leaders under scrutiny by…wait for it…

...other Christians.

And I’m not talking about scrutiny as in 1 Corinthians 14:29, “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said;” or 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “But test all things. Hold fast to what is good.”(emphasis mine) I mean scrutiny like, “Why You Shouldn’t Be Following Lysa Terkeurst” scrutiny. Yeah, it’s personal.

I might be way out of line with this one, but why is anyone following anyone but Jesus? Christians are followers of Christ. If we were followers of anyone else, we’d be Lysians, or Grahamatons, or Stanleyites.

James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” What about your brother? You’ve known him his whole life. You know he has a heart for Jesus. He, like the rest of us, gets it wrong occasionally. Sometimes he really goes out on a limb and says something thoroughly unbiblical. Do you hold a press conference? Write a blog? I hope you’d be moved by your responsibility for his spiritual health, motivated by love for a member of your family, and privately urge him to check his facts. (John 13:34, 35) Why do we treat the members of our family (of Christ) so differently? Would Martha Stewart’s mother publicly criticize her flambe -- telling others to never eat from her table again? Unbelievers don’t treat family that way! We wouldn’t treat our children that way, why do we treat God’s children that way?

Ever watch postgame interviews? A Receiver could have been stinking up the place the entire game, but does the QB tell everyone what a bad player this guy is? Publicly, they, as team members, maintain a united front. How much more, members of the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 12:27) It is my belief, as Christians we should NEVER, NEVER, NEVER publicly admonish anyone. Take their work, go through it line by line, thoroughly evaluate it, criticize it, pick it apart until the cows come home, but NEVER, NEVER, NEVER attack a person. We shouldn’t be naming names, but rather, putting to the test concepts and teachings. People are not enemies; lies are our enemies.

A few months ago a friend gave me a book, written by someone who was part of the Word of Faith movement. I’m not a fan. However, I do believe the author has a desire to know and serve God. (Not that it’s subject to my judgment anyway) Point is, I took from the book truth, and left the rest alone. So what if I’d taken the time, sent this brother an email, pointed out the things he taught which I believe are contrary to Scripture, and he told me to get lost? Even told me he knew they were contrary to Scripture; but they were popular ideas, and he was more devoted to selling books than to telling the truth? I’m still not certain it gives me license to publicly -- in front of unbelievers and believers alike -- call him out. First of all, why would the world care, except to point to the existing divisions among Christians and our apparent hypocrisy? Secondly, biblical conflict resolution, even when taken to its most extreme limits -- separation -- has the ultimate goal of repentance and restoration, not humiliation.

WHENEVER we put our hope in anyone but Jesus we take our chances.