I didn't think it would ever be topped.
Years ago, I remember hearing a debate on Sean Hannity's radio program between Terrance Jeffrey of CNS News and a minister by the name of Oliver White. I used the clip for years in various speaking engagements as the prime example of what accommodating with the Spirit of the Age will do to one's faith. The epitome of heresy.
Here's the key excerpt from that transcript:
Jeffrey: 'Do you believe there is a God-given right for one man to marry another man or for a woman to marry a woman, is that a right that our Creator endowed us with? Do you believe that?'
White: 'By all means, yes.'
Jeffrey: 'Do you believe that God intended there to be same-sex marriage?'
White: 'By all means, yes.'
Jeffrey: 'How did you discover that God created that right?'
White: 'I evolved. I evolved into it. I evolved into it by assimilating and accommodating with people who are wonderful.'
Jeffrey: 'Do you disagree as a Christian minister with what is described as marriage in Genesis and what Jesus Himself describes as marriage? Do you disagree with that?'
White: 'Well yes I do, because I think the book of Genesis - '
Jeffrey: 'As a Christian minister, you disagree with Jesus on marriage?'
White: 'Right, say that again please.'
Jeffrey: 'Well Jesus, as you know, in the Gospels, said that a man and a woman should come together in marriage and be as one flesh. He personally, Jesus, our Christian Savior, defined marriage as a man and a woman. Do you disagree with the way that Jesus Christ defined marriage in the Gospels?'
White: 'I don't, I don't disagree with Jesus Christ. But what I do say is that if Jesus were alive today, I think He would be more inclined to say, "You know, I didn't know it all.'"
Jeffrey: 'You believe that Jesus Christ did not know it all about marriage and that He would change His mind if He lived in the United States today?'
White: 'By all means.'
Hannity: 'Wow.'
First of all, Jesus is alive today. I get what White was meaning to say, but that was the first thing that needed to be corrected. But you see why I didn't think it could ever be topped now, right?
Could there be a clearer case of unbridled arrogance than for a created, finite, animated bit of earthen clay, living, breathing, and expressing thought only by virtue of bearing the image of its all-powerful Maker, suggesting that the Almighty, infinite, eternal God, through whom all things were made, "didn't know it all?"
Pride is a beautiful drug, isn't it?
So that could never be topped, right? Well, it's a tall task but megachurch pastor Howard-John Wesley gave it his best shot in this recently surfaced clip from 2020.
Check this out (the full transcript is attached to the social media post):
On the surface, I don't know that Wesley shocks the Christian conscience quite like Oliver. But don't overlook one key difference. Oliver did not justify any of his smears of Jesus with Scripture. He didn't misquote the Bible in coming to his bizarre conclusions - he merely stated his opinion, and then actually admitted to basing it in subjective feelings associated with personal experiences.
Not Wesley. No, he goes straight to the Matthew 4 playbook of Satan himself. Rip Scripture from context, manipulate it, wield it as a weapon to mislead others away from Truth and towards the "fine-sounding arguments of men" (Colossians 2:4) that lead to death (Proverbs 14:12).
I don't know the end game here for these men. Maybe it's money? Maybe it's being liked? Maybe it's a combination of both. But if you choose to follow the wisdom of the world, so be it. Roll the dice and take your chances on standing before the throne of a perfect God to be judged on whether your own merits and good works match up.
But compounding the misery you bring on yourself by twisting and changing the Word of the living God in order to justify obedience to sin's unholy claim to the heart of man? Woe to you, teachers of the law.
