I was raised in Evangelical Christianity. From the time I was a young child until I deconverted at the age of fifty, I attended church at least twice a week. I heard thousands of sermons, and preached 4,000 more as a pastor for twenty-five years.
Most sermons, including those preached by me, are forgettable. Some are downright awful, and a few sermons stand above the crowd, making lasting impressions upon hearers.
Over the years, I have heard countless lies uttered by God-called, Spirit-led Baptist preachers as they preached the unadulterated Word of God.
Were these so-called men of God, deliberately lying? Certainly, some were, but most Evangelical preachers I knew were what I call “regurgitators.” These men claim to “know the Bible” when, in fact, all they really know are what their parents, pastors, evangelists, youth directors, Sunday school teachers, and Bible college professors taught them to believe. Remember, many Evangelical preachers were never taught how to think. The goal has always been the same: to teach them what to think. Right doctrine becomes the end game.
Aren’t preachers taught the entire Bible during their college years? You would think so, but I don’t know of one Evangelical college that teaches pastoral students every book of the Bible. And I’m not talking about Bible survey classes, which are, in my oh-so-expert opinion, 😜 a colossal waste of time. It is not uncommon for an Evangelical preacher to graduate from college without exhaustively studying and dissecting more than a handful of Biblical texts — mostly from the New Testament. None of them is ready to preach the “whole counsel of God.”
It is possible for preachers to remedy their ignorance by committing themselves to spending long hours in their studies pouring over the Bible as they prepare their sermons. Unfortunately, some preachers value evangelism and ministries over faithfully preaching and teaching the unsearchable riches of Christ. One Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) evangelist, Dennis Corle, told me in the 1980s that I was spending too much time preparing my sermons. He suggested I spend five hours total each week preparing three sermons. That’s less than two hours per week, per sermon! Corle thought I should spend my time winning souls instead of preparing sermons.
Whether uttered by deliberately or ignorantly by liars, the fact remains: Evangelical preachers lie to their congregations about what the Biblical text actually says. And once uttered, these lies can and do cause harm.
Fifteen lies I’ve heard from Evangelical preachers come to mind:
- Masturbation will make you blind. I have scientifically tested this hypothesis, and after scores of tests, I can confidently say this is untrue. 😜
- Holding hands with your boyfriend or girlfriend leads to fornication.
- Men are visually sexually stimulated, women are not.
- There are no errors, mistakes, or contradictions in the King James Bible. Or there are no errors, mistakes, or contradictions in the “original manuscripts” — which do not exist.
- Jesus is returning to Earth soon. His return is imminent — it could be today.
- The universe is 6,030 years old, and was created in six 24-hour days.
- Rock music has a jungle beat — a euphemism for “nig*er” music. It is the Devil’s music, straight from the pit of Hell.
- Husbands are the head of the home and their wives should submit to them at all times — as unto the Lord wink-wink.
- Long hair makes men look like sissies — a euphemism for “homo-sex-u-als.”
- Going to the movie theater will corrupt your mind.
- Looking at pornography — unless you’re a preacher — will turn you into a pervert and porn addict. Preachers look at porn for sermon research.
- Mixed bathing — a euphemism for swimming at a public pool — will lead to impure thoughts and fornication.
- Jesus suffered more than anyone on the cross. We should be willing to suffer for him, even though all the alleged Son of God did was take a 24-72-hour vacation.
- Unsaved people — the “natural man” — do not and cannot understand and interpret the Bible.
- God gives us pain, suffering, and loss because he loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives.
None of these lies is remotely true. There’s no debate on the matter, but I’m sure that internationally renowned Bible scholars such as Dr. David Tee and Dr. Revival “I Lie for Jesus” Fires will disagree with me, repeating the same slurs, character attacks, and proof texts they’ve been flinging my way for years.
Educated preachers — even Evangelical and IFB ones — if they are honest, will shamefully admit that lies from the pulpit are common. They may try to faithfully, honestly, and openly preach and teach the Bible, and live accordingly, but they know that ignorance is rife in Evangelical pulpits. And if pastors are ignorant, they will certainly pass their ignorance on to congregants that trust them to tell the truth.
