Why Do People Listen to the Lies of False Prophets?

For the time will come when men 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.

2 Timothy 4:3,4 (NIV)

Myth--a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

In Lakeland, FL and Charlotte, NC and possibly a city near you, strange fire and doctrines of demons are being embraced by undiscerning churches seeking a new thing from God. Why do people listen to the lies of the false prophets who are spreading this deception?

People want to hear fantastic, exciting stories to be entertained, to escape reality, to feel good. Watching television shows and movies has trained many in this generation to turn off their minds to truth and to accept fiction as fact- the more outrageous, the better. Stories of average people becoming superheroes with special powers, such as Spiderman or Ironman, have become commonplace, so why not flock to see the endowments and exploits of Todd Bentley or other "superprophets"? People are used to celebrities being untruthful, so they just ignore the lies and keep watching in fascination. They suspend belief and reason and are ready and willing to be deceived by the latest "new thing" in town.

Sound doctrine demands too much self-sacrifice and too much discipline for those who insist on being entertained and comfortable. Personal desires must be altered or denied in order to come in line with the will of God. Effort must be expended to search the Scriptures and to try the spirits. Sin must be confronted and confessed. It is much easier to roll around on the floor or bark like a dog than it is to humble oneself before the Lord. And as for preferring one another, forget it. People will fight for the best seats in the house and knock each other down in the race to the altar--not an altar of repentance, but one of "more stuff for me".

My heart goes out to the innocent children and ignorant sinners who are caught up in this spectacle of self-promotion and subterfuge. I pray that God will bring them out of the darkness and deception and into the light of His love. We must do all that we can to spread the truth of God's Word, even if it means that we will be seen as unspiritual troublemakers. Jesus is coming soon, so let us make the most of every opportunity we have to testify of Him.