Spinning The Word

By Alden Swan

Most of us by now are familiar with the concept of "spin," the practice of stating information in such a way as to make a listener tend to agree with your position. People have always done it; the concept, of course, was introduced by the serpent in Genesis 3. Spin has now become something of an art form, openly recognized and highly valued by people--most notably, politicians--who regularly have spin-doctors on staff. By the time the politicians and half a dozen commentators are through re-spinning the information, you have no idea what the facts really are. I really hate it, but accept that this is life in the darkness. After all, the only reason to "spin" anything is to keep the truth hidden. As John tells us, "men loved the darkness more than the light, because their deeds were evil." But what really gets me is when Christians do it, especially preachers and Bible teachers.

Once in a while I will turn on a Christian radio just to hear what's out there, and I am amazed at the trash that is being taught. For whatever reason, Christian TV often isn't as bad, at least in the spin department, although there's certainly some amount of spinning going on. Usually, Christian TV is just plain weird, but for whatever reason, the stuff they put on radio--while giving the impression of being serious legitimate Bible teaching--seems to be delivered with a lot more spin.

Perhaps adding to their credibility, many teachers on Christian radio are usually just pastors who really pastor local churches. Most are not well known personalities, outside of their geographic area (or sometimes even in their area). How they get into radio is anybody's guess, except that most small time Christian radio stations are probably looking for inexpensive programming, and Pastor Mike down the street is a whole lot cheaper than the syndicated shows. If my presumptions are correct, what I am hearing is even more alarming, as it means that there are many pastors out there who are continually spinning their congregations with their particular take on Christianity.

WHAT I HEAR

Perhaps it would be easier to say what it is that I am NOT hearing that I find so alarming. I don't mind pastors, or anyone, for that matter, having odd theories and thoughts on various things. I have more than my share of odd theories, I am sure. But what I am not hearing from these people are statements like, "this is my current understanding of this passage," "there are many interpretations of this, and this is mine," or "this is why I believe what I believe." Instead, what I often hear are bold statements that essentially say, "this is the only way to understand this verse, and if you don't agree with me, you are wrong."

Lately, for example, I heard one pastor take a pretty extreme view of wives submitting to their husbands, bragging about how his wife recently submitted to him. I have heard fairly specific end-times pronouncements. I have heard several statements such as "tune in tomorrow and hear pastor Bob give us the Christian view on ____," as if to disagree was to take an un-Christian position. I feel sorry for the people in these pastors' churches. I feel sorry for their families. I also feel sorry for those who are not empowered enough to turn off their radios.

WHY SPIN?

James 3:1 says, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." I would think that this verse, if not conscience, would keep pastors and radio teachers from putting any spin on what they teach, or at least want to qualify what they say as their opinion. In fact, with a warning like this, I would have to be pretty sure I was being called to teach before I said anything.

That being said, why would anyone feel the need to put spin on God's Word? If they believe Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart", is it not powerful enough on its own merit? Why can't Christian leaders merely let the Word of God speak for itself? 

I find Jeremiah 31:33, 34 a very interesting passage, talking about life under the New Covenant:

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
“ I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
“ For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."

In spite of what Jeremiah says, I think that with many pastors & teachers, there is a need to be the authority, a need to be looked up to and revered as their "source" for revelation, as well as a need to be able to convince people to agree with them. I obviously can't say this about all of the nutty pastors and teachers out there, but I am sure it's true for many of them. I know, because I have dealt with the same issues.

The root cause, I think, is essentially a lack of faith. I think with many it's a deep-seated fear of being wrong, and if they can convince people to believe them, perhaps they can believe it themselves. Why are we so afraid to be wrong, anyway? Heck, I know that I am wrong about all kinds of stuff - the Bible tells me that I understand in part. How can I truthfully represent anything else?

I think modernism is partly to blame, with it's over-emphasis on reason and understanding. The implication is that we should be able to prove truth, and if we can't, we have failed. I think very few pastors can conceive of a powerful ministry based on their lack of certainty. Can you imagine a successful end-times teaching where the bottom line is, "we really don't have a clue when (or if) the rapture will happen?" Or, what about a successful radio ministry where the closing line is always, "I have given you my thoughts on these verses, but in spite of my education and study, my thoughts are no more valid than yours, because you have the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth?” Wouldn't it be refreshing, not to mention empowering?

Of course--and this is potential reason number two--if people started believing they didn't need radio teachers and pastors to spoon feed them truth, then a large number of these pastors and teachers would have to go out and get real jobs. So, there's always the pressure to keep the numbers up in the audience, whether it's radio or the church pews. There is perhaps also a carryover in the protestant and evangelical church from its Catholic roots, where the Pope and priests are seen as the vehicles of God's grace and truth. In this mentality, listening to (and believing) some pastor or teacher's perspective is raised almost to the level of scripture, instead of merely being seen as merely the perspective of an equal.

Another cause for our need to be the authority is simply sin, or as Paul characterized it in 2 Timothy 3: 2-7, "People will be lovers of themselves ... having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." It almost sounds like this was a prophetic word about some radio preachers.

No matter how much we have learned to trust God to work in our own lives, it seems that it is much harder to trust that God will work in someone else's life. Therefore, we drive ourselves crazy trying to put people into our boxes, and in some cases, into boxes that we know we ourselves won't fit into. Again, it comes down to faith. If we really believe that God's Word is powerful, and that the Holy Spirit really is powerful enough to guide us into all truth, even in the face of postmodernism and new age teachings, then all the pressure is off. We don't have to do the convincing. That's the Holy Spirit's job.

Isn't that good news? In fact, isn't that a part of The Good News?

THE CHALLENGE

No matter how hard I try, I know that I am not going to be able to change all of the pastors and teachers out there who are spinning God's Word, either out of an intent to persuade and control others, a lack of faith, or mere ignorance. As much as I would like, I don't know if I can even reach and bring healing and grace to those people that I know who live under the bondage of spin.

Rather, the challenge for me, and for you who read this, is to try as hard as we can to be honest in our presentation of God's Word, acknowledging our lack of total understanding and the great potential that we might be wrong on some things. Be bold in expressing your theories, but open to others as well. And let's turn off our radios once in a while and give God a chance to spin His own words in our hearts.

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