We thank God for bringing us into the New Year 2021. We come in, full of faith in what our God can do and full of hope in the pictures His promises paint to us. Many of us are seeking the Lord’s face to know what He will have us do. At the end of the day, it matters what we come out with as the word from the Lord. This brings us to the issue this discussion is focusing on today – the matter of false prophecies by Christians, especially when they come from respected Church leaders.
Some days ago, I watched with tears in my eyes, a video clip
that contains the several prophecies made by many church leaders in December
2019 and January 2020 concerning what year 2020 would hold. Almost all of them
were declaring like the Hananiah and other prophets in Jeremiah 28. In Jeremiah
28, while God was warning them through Prophet Jeremiah and intended them to
repent from their sins and pass through the humiliation and burden of serving
the King of Babylon, these prophets were declaring bogus peace and restoration
and telling them that there was no reason to worry. God said that their
prophecies only ended up sealing the people’s fate to be exiled from Judah
(Jer.27:14-15). Year 2020 was one of the most difficult years the world has
ever experienced, but none of these prophets saw it. They declared a year of
peace and laughter when there was none. It wasn't.
Furthermore, many Christians for one reason or another, were very interested in
what would be the outcome of the United States Presidential Election. The
election has come and gone and President Trump lost. All his efforts to get the
results overturned proved abortive. Going through the prophecies from some
prominent Christian leaders, it shows that many of them got it all wrong. They
said that God told them that Trump would win but he ended up losing. Then I
ask, who actually spoke to them? This is because, one of the marks of God’s
word is that it gets fulfilled against all odds. Many have tried giving reasons
why what they prophesied did not come to pass. But none of their reasons suffices.
Michael Brown
shared a very insightful thought here.
Yes, to all the prophets that normally give prophecies, you are either right or
wrong. “There are no middle grounds”, he said. Either God speaks to you and it
comes to pass or He does not speak to you and hence what you prophesy will
not come to pass. He suggested that at the end, there will be need for “serious
accountability, reflection and even repentance.” Already, there are two Pastors
that have led the train of apologizing to their followers for giving false
prophecies. Pastor Jeremiah Johnson had prophesied that President Trump would
win a second term election and be returned back to the White House. It didn’t
happen. He apologized
to his followers and repented
of his false prophecy, “I would like to repent for inaccurately prophesying
that Donald Trump would win a second term as the President of the United States”.
He took full responsibility. Some Christians are against his repentance but it
is encouraging to read the comment
of the New Testament Scholar, Craig
Keener, “Thank you for your integrity. May many follow your model. And God
help us with those who are being so hostile”. Kris Valloton issued his
own apology and congratulated the President-elect Biden and promised to be
praying for him. He said, “I take full responsibility for being wrong. There is
no excuse for it. I think it doesn’t make me a false prophet but it does actually
create a credibility gap. A lot of people trust me… I want to say I’m sorry”.
Personally, that is a Christian character. To be a Christian
does not mean that you may not sin at any time along your journey, but it
matters what you do next when you realize you have sinned.
I believe that we need to repent in Nigeria as a church and not carry on with business as usual. We
have seen a lot of false prophecies; people gave their monies and sowed seeds without
results; expectations were crashed as many waited for some prophecies that did
not come to pass; bogus claims failed to yield results; the faith of many of
our young people are shaken as they watch with questions in their minds.
Unfortunately, even the questions of young people are not given adequate
attention and answer. We have a generation of youths that do not believe in
our God because there are credibility gaps here and there and all we do in most
cases is to keep silence.
This January 2021 as we pray, I feel very strongly that
instead of declaring things we did not hear from the throne of God, we should repent
and present the Church before the Lord for His fresh visitation. Peradventure,
He will remember us and show us mercy, especially to this our beloved country.
God bless you and Happy New Year.
