It has been the primary emphasis of the enemies of God to convince the people of God that God “didn’t really say that.” It started in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 when Satan convinced Eve that God did not really say what she heard God say. It continued throughout the history of the Israelites, who listened to what God said, then did what was “right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6, etc.). It was further exemplified in Jesus’ own wilderness temptation, where Satan began his attempted manipulation of Jesus by twisting Scripture by cleverly claiming “for it is written” (Luke 4:10) then ripping verses out of context and hoping to convince people that the twist is the truth. Remarkably, ten times Genesis 1 repeats, “God said,” and Jesus’ consistent responses to Satan’s twisting of Scripture was “it is written” and then placing Scripture in its correct context. All too often though, we see evidences of the twisting of Scripture, or fallacies, throughout the ongoing history of the Church. It is the justification of the intentional twisting of Scripture in the name of tone as not to offend a watching world.
This twisting began in the Garden and continues today by the often subtle effort to confront the truth of the Scriptures with lies and distortions. Let’s look further into the tactics Satan used there in the Garden. Would Satan have been able to confuse Eve into doubting what God had clearly said if he came to her yelling and screaming and seeming irrational or delusional? No. Did Satan come to Eve with a tranquil tone and a rational sounding argument? Yes! That’s why he came to her with that tone. We are reminded in 2 Corinthians 11 that Satan “masquerades as an angel of light” (v. 14) and that his servants “also masquerade as servants of righteousness” (v. 15). The word μετασχηματίζω or “masquerades,” literally means to transform into something you are not. Here we are told that such people who transform themselves in this way as “false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ” (v. 13). So, why is this type of deceptive transformation and continuing distortions dangerous? We are told in verse 3 that Paul was “afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:15, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” The word ψευδοπροφήτης, or “false prophets,” means those who speak falsely on behalf of a divine prophesy or pretending to be divinely inspired when they are not. Jesus refers to them as λύκοι ἅρπαγες, or “ravenous wolves,” who are ἐν ἐνδύμασιν προβάτων, or “in sheep’s clothing.” Although this idea of a wolf disguised in sheep’s clothing came from Aesop’s earlier fables and became commonly understood in Jesus’ time, the concept is relevant today. Fundamentally, we are warned that those among us within the church appear to be fellow sheep, but are really wolves pretending to be righteous. Thus, Jesus and Paul both warn of the dangers of being deceived by those pretending to speak for God, but are merely attempting to deceive through twisting the Scriptures.
That brings us to consider why the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) began to insist on a required at least 10% tithe when most of Church history and all of the SBC’s previous efforts did not support tithing. The first thing to consider here is whether tithing is supported in the Scriptures or are there wolves in sheep’s clothing that are twisting God’s Word for their own gain. If the teaching of tithing is not supported in Scripture, then those who teach it must be false teachers to insist that it is so. Further investigation reveals the leaders of the SBC are ignoring the truth of Scripture and following man-made fallacies.
Additionally, we must give careful attention to recent statements made by SBC leaders about the cause and the cure for church decline. These leaders have decided that the cause for overall church decline is diminished financial giving of an at least 10% tithe to the local churches. They seem to want to ignore the Scriptural proclamations that explain church declines. Jesus asserted in Matthew 24:10 that in the end times, “many will turn away from the faith.” In the very next verse, Jesus also adds, “and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” These leaders seem to want to put the cart before the horse to explain church decline. They also seem to want to make tithing the cure for such decline.
A brief examination of Scripture leads to an understanding that a lack of sound doctrine is the cause for decline. The clear declaration of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3-5 definitively identifies the shortage of sound doctrine:
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Ephesians 4:13-14 details that the goal of the Church is that we “all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature and we will no longer be “blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”
Through all of this, these same leaders also look at those of us who attempt to compare what is being taught with the Scriptures as having the wrong tone. These leaders have called us bullies, Pharisees, uncaring, insensitive, ignorant of the times and have attempted to disregard us generally. Sadly, these leaders have decided that the tone calling for repentance a return to sound doctrine is wrong. It is deemed unloving to proclaim the truth. At the same time, they proclaim that the tone calling for a disregard for the truth of Scripture and a focus on the watching secular world is right.
This intensifying willingness to focus on tone rather than truth and the ostracism has led many local churches and members to leave the SBC. It has also caused many others to question remaining within to seek reform. This book aims to help those who are struggling with the decision to stay or leave the SBC.
First, we must learn to identify the false teachers among us. We can only do this by identifying who Jesus refers to as the wolves in sheep’s clothing. We will look at how to identify and deal with false teachers and identify the consequences of not combating these wolves. All of this begins and ends with the insistence on choosing truth over tone.
Second, we will look at six commonly used man-made fallacies utilized by the recent push by SBC for a required at least 10% tithe. We will observe how Ronnie Floyd’s 2020 book, TEN PERCENT: A Call to Biblical Stewardship (Nashville: Convention Press and Ronnie W. Floyd, 2020) uses all of these fallacies. We will put tithing in perspective as well as address historical trends such as financial giving, attendance, affiliations and Biblical illiteracy. After clearly identifying tithing as false teaching we will address the possible motives behind the tithing push in light of the global ambitions of the SBC.
Thirdly, we will examine the dangers of allowing even a little false doctrine into the churches. This will bring us to investigate Ed Litton’s plagiarism scandal, Al Mohler’s triage reversal, as well as Steven Furtick’s public support of modalism. Also, to test the willingness of the SBC to deal with false teachers in its midst, we provide a specific case of bringing Furtick to the credentials committee for review of his false teaching. A detailed review of specific correspondences with SBC state and national leadership and an examination of one Furtick sermon reveals a growing willingness to sacrifice truth on the altar of tone.
Lastly, this book will analyze three different perspectives on handling rampant false teaching allowed to flourish within the SBC. One perspective insists on staying within the SBC to insist on reforms because there is much to be lost if false teaching completely overtakes all the churches. Another view insists on leaving the SBC due to unrepentant false teachers and the belief that all that is worth fighting for can be achieved out of the context of the SBC. A third perspective suggests staying associated with the SBC but defunding all entities, yet maintaining voting rights in the annual conventions to slowly enact reform while no longer financially supporting the entities within the convention. This book provides a framework for making the decision between these three macro perspectives.
In conclusion, this book will issue a call for repentance for these false teachers and those who tolerate their teachings. This call insists that it is a mandate to either heed the call to repent of false teaching or blow the trumpet of warning about this need to repent. Either way, it is a mandate and not a choice. This book assists with obeying this mandate and provides resource materials to better understand the false teaching of tithing, how to find a good local church, suggested networks and denominations to avoid, and how to identify a false teacher. The prayer remains that each of us heed the call, stop the wolf and choose truth over tone.