Lakeland Outpouring: Discernment

Up until this point, I’ve purposefully written nothing on this blog about the “Lakeland Outpouring“. For months, I’ve been fascinated and horrified by what I’ve seen while watching the coverage on GodTV. The doctrine and practices of Todd Bentley and his crew have been, from the beginning, suspect at best. The news that broke just a few days ago of Todd’s recent separation with his wife has torn a huge rift in the entire thing.

Todd’s contemporaries and leaders have already begun to throw him under the bus, apparently in an effort to absolve themselves of their own prior endorsement of his work in Lakeland. GodTV has already cut out a good portion of its broadcasting of the event, and a number of media outlets have spilled ink to make sense of all that has been going on.

One article, in particular, caught my attention:

Life After Lakeland: Sorting Out the Confusion

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma Magazine and in the article he exhibits enough humility to recognize that he and others in Charismatic streams of the Church should have known better. I, for one, appreciate the article because it comes from a publication that showed enough sense to be cautious in making outright endorsements of Lakeland before there was really any fruit to be examined. In an honest way, Grady expresses sorrow on behalf of Charismatics worldwide for scorning discernment and careful examination of what was going on in Lakeland.

Here are some excerpts:

Why did so many people flock to Lakeland from around the world to rally behind an evangelist who had serious credibility issues from the beginning? To put it bluntly, we’re just plain gullible…
…But among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message was clear: “This is God. Don’t question.” So before we could all say, “Sheeka Boomba” (as Bentley often prayed from his pulpit), many people went home, prayed for people and shoved them to the floor with reckless abandon, Bentley-style.
I blame this lack of discernment, partly, on raw zeal for God. We’re spiritually hungry—which can be a good thing. But sometimes, hungry people will eat anything. Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up.

I appreciate the humility that it takes to write an article like that. In this case, J. Lee Grady is admitting on behalf of a much broader community of people, and I hope that many in that community take his leadership in the matter as Godly exhortation.

The fact of Bentley’s marital collapse is certainly not the sole reason to conclude that these events were counterfeit or demonic, but it has certainly opened up a lot of people’s eyes who have been following Lakeland and devoting themselves to a discipline of unquestioning fervor. All along, we’ve been told to “look at the fruit”, and it was never enough for the fruit to be as bad as aberrant teaching, violent and uncontrollable tactics, worship of the “William Branham angel” named “Emma”, and the focus on waves of feelings instead of solid ancient TRUTH.

So like many “revivals” that have come and gone, this one ends when the leader shows marital weakness. This says more about the people who go to these events than it does about Todd Bentley. The movement is willing to tolerate a fast and loose misuse of the Bible and a form of social manipulation for the sake of sensual experiences, yet it bristles at the thought that their leader would have marital problems. It appears to me that Todd Bentley’s problems serve more as a convenient scapegoat for people who ought to be exhibiting as much humility and discernment as J. Lee Grady has.

My heart breaks for Todd and his wife and I have committed myself to praying for the redemption of their marriage. I’m asking God to allow Todd to see both the error of his ways, and the grace that Jesus has always extended to him. Please intercede with me on behalf of all the people who have trusted in the events at Lakeland, and who might now be stumbling in darkness.

God, please let your people see your truth in contrast to all that they’ve been filling themselves with.

~ by Colin on August 16, 2008.