The Roller-Coaster of Word-Faith
A brief look at the twisting of Scripture found in WOF teaching
THE GOD KIND OF FAITH
I first remember being taught about the God kind of faith, when I was attending an Assemblies of God church as a teenager. This particular church invited evangelists, prophets, and healers to minister under a big, water stained tent that was set up every summer in the back field. There was a large banner brought out of storage each summer as well that hung behind the makeshift stage, proclaiming: With God nothing is impossible.
We believed that with God’s kind of faith, we could see miracles on demand. We thought that the only reason we didn’t see miracles was that we didn’t give God an opportunity to do them through exercising His special kind of faith. You see, most people only had the faith of the natural man, the faith it takes to flip a light-switch and expect the electricity to work, or to sit on a chair and expect it will hold them. The God kind of faith, though- this was what we needed to see true revival, signs, wonders, and miracles!
Fifteen years later, I have come to believe that where faith is concerned, it is meant to be much simpler. I trust God to do what needs to be done, and I pray that He is merciful and His will is accomplished.
I think about when Jesus spoke of the power of faith the size of a mustard seed. The power of God is not in our faith, it is in God Himself. I put my faith in Christ Jesus who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, just as He said.
“Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18–20, HCSB
If Jesus Christ has all authority, how much is left for me?
Let’s ask a Word of Faith preacher!
“It’s time for you as a believer to begin to act that way. You have obtained an inheritance, and in that inheritance you have been given all authority. The God of the universe lives inside you! He lives and walks in you. Become God-inside-minded and you will begin to walk in this point of authority.”
Kenneth Copeland, “7 Facts About Your Authority as A Believer”
The teachings about the believer’s authority & the God kind of faith come from EW Kenyon and Kenneth E. Hagin, and it is now carried on by Kenneth Copeland and many others you’ve probably seen on Christian television. These doctrines come from interpretation of scripture passages which are questionable, at best. For the sake of brevity, I will only cover a couple of scriptures here…
THE ROLLER-COASTER OF WORD-FAITH DOCTRINE
So, this is a bit of a roller-coaster. The scripture is like this track that is meant to be straight forward (like the straight and narrow, ya know) but in the hands of some Word of Faith teachers it gets twisty. Let’s get on the roller-coaster for a minute and do some loopty-loops.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Hebrews 11: 1–3, KJV
First, we have to reinterpret the Hebrews passage as saying that God created the world through faith, that faith being described as substance means that it is in fact an invisible building block used by God to create. (Holy Legos, Batman!) Essentially, we end up rearranging the passage to read something like this:
“Now faith is a substance that creates what we hope for, it is the evidence of things not yet manifested by the believer’s authority. We understand that God used faith-filled words to create the world, so things which are seen were created using the invisible force called faith.”
HeBreWz 11:1–3, WOFHV (Word of Faith Hypothetical Version)
Many pagan creation stories speak of the gods creating worlds by use of existing substances, but the Bible speaks of creation being made by God ex nihilo (“out of nothing”). Jesus is called the Word, and through Him all things were made, according to John chapter 1, and apart from Him nothing was made. Jesus Himself is the power behind creation, not a substance called faith.
The Hebrews 11 passage indicates that it is by faith that we believe the account of God creating all things from nothing. It is the Christian who requires faith, not God. God is the object of our faith, the Person in Whom we believe and trust.
“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”
Mark 11:22, KJV
I hope you brought a barf bag on the roller-coaster, because I see a big drop up ahead! Hold on…
In Mark 11, Jesus exhorts his disciples to have faith in God, as they marvel at the withered fig tree. The KJV phrases Jesus’ words “have faith in God.” According to Kenneth E. Hagin, we ought to refer to his Bible’s margin notes for the truly inspired meaning- “Have the faith of God”. This notation revealed to Hagin that God Himself uses faith. It is a special, elite faith that gets results, a faith that is exercised by declaring what you want to happen.
“The key to the God kind of faith is believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth. Our lips can make us millionaires or keep us paupers. Our lips can make us victors or keep us captives.”
Kenneth E. Hagin, The God-Kind of Faith
“Learn how to fight against the hindrances to revelation faith and the blessings that await you when you learn how to discern The Two Kinds of Faith.”
Publisher’s Description of E.W. Kenyon’s The Two Kinds of Faith
E.W. Kenyon’s book The Two Kinds of Faith creates two categories of faith- “Sense knowledge faith” and “Revelation faith”. This differentiates between the light-switch faith spoken of earlier and the special, God kind of faith. Presumably, Hagin ran with this idea (he was known to enjoy plagiarizing Kenyon), and he diagnosed people who did not see blessing and miracles as operating out of the lesser faith, while claiming that he and those who saw the supernatural, had attained the special faith of God.
The irony, of course, being that most Christians apparently had “sense knowledge” faith that was great enough to be redeemed, but no “revelation faith” to get them healed, delivered, or blessed. Bummer. Maybe some scripture will help!
“There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope at your calling — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
Ephesians 4:4–6, HCSB
It seems like these few verses make it clear that there is one faith. Kenyon created a false paradigm wherein if you aren’t seeing results, it must be because you need to tap into a higher kind of faith. In fact, faith is not the issue. Faith small as a mustard seed is all that is needed to move a mountain, according to Jesus. Certainly, if you have faith enough to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have plenty enough faith to receive any subsequent blessing.
Binding together the ideas of the God kind of faith, manifesting reality through faith-filled words, and Jesus giving His authority to believers, gives us Word-Faith theology in a nutshell. This breaks down into what is widely known as the Prosperity Gospel, Name It & Claim It, or in jest, “blab it and grab it” theology.
I realize I didn’t cover much on the believer’s authority, but that deserves its own article. There is much twisted, roller coaster theology associated with it. And for now, I’m ready to get off of this ride.
GET OFF THE ROLLER-COASTER
So many of us have fallen for man made doctrines and old heresies, because we have lacked the diligence and care needed to educate ourselves. We’ve depended on our pastors and teachers, and frankly, many of them are not feeding the sheep. Instead, they’re strapping them into the roller-coaster seats every Sunday and assuring them that everything they need to know will be projected onto the screen up front, so they can enjoy the ride without having to crack open a Bible!
We need to get back to our Bibles, and we need to take the time to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. It’s time to get off the roller-coaster and be accountable for our own learning so that we don’t have to be embarrassed by our misunderstanding and misuse of what God has given us.
May God bless you and keep you.
You are not alone.
