Todd Bentley.
I have to admit, I don’t know what to think about Todd Bentley.
If you’re wondering who that is, you can find the Bentley’s website here and the most recent news regarding Bentley here. Long story short, he’s a faith-healer evangelist based out of Lakeland, Fl., and has just recently separated from his wife. The separation seemed fairly ambiguous at first, but “new details” have come out in the last few days (as it seems they most often do in these situations). From Bentley’s website:
“We wish to acknowledge… that since our last statement from the Fresh Fire Board of Directors, we have discovered new information revealing that Todd Bentley has entered into an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff. In light of this new information and in consultation with his leaders and advisors, Todd Bentley has agreed to step down from his position on the Board of Directors and to refrain from all public ministry for a season to receive counsel in his personal life.”
Youtube is aflame with videos from Bentley’s revival meetings. Videos that include Bentley being “drunk in the Spirit,” Bentley kneeing a cancer victim in the gut, and Bentley describing how the Lord told him to “leg drop” a pastor of a church he was visiting. (Full disclosure: Even as I wrote the above sentence, I found myself thinking, “this is absolutely insane. How did we get to this place as Christians where we can attach “…because the Lord told me to” to just about anything and call it legit?)
In my judgment of this situation, I can not question whether or not Bentley loves God and is a follower of Jesus. That is not a call I am allowed to make, nor qualified to do so. What I can do (and what others can do while observing) is evaluate the fruit that comes from Bentley’s life and ministry. A broken marriage, a broken ministry and a giant smear across the face of an already limping Christian body does not sound like any fruit that I would be willing to consume.
I find myself asking, “Why do people do stuff like this?” How is it that someone like Bentley can have such a different view on the teachings and life of Jesus, so different than mine that they almost seem to be opposing? Or even contrary? What do I do with that?
Frankly, this whole situation is embarrassing. Watching Todd Bentley embarrasses me. It embarrasses me because I know that he is the only Christian exposure that some people will ever have in their lives and because of that, they will write Jesus off. Is it right? No, but it’s reality.
I’ll close this post with some words on this Bentley situation from Notes From Off-Center:
Regardless of what one thinks about Bentley’s ‘revival’ — and just so there is no confusion: we think it is an unbiblical, unchristian, an inexcusable display of sensuality vs. Scripture — fact remains that God uses flawed people. If that were not so, there would be no Christian in ministry anywhere.
That said, along with everything else that has been said about this so-called revival, this latest revelation underscores the severe lack of spiritual discernment on the part of Todd Bentley, his staff, the spiritual ‘leaders’ who enabled him, and the the tens of thousands of Christians who keep chasing after false teachers, pretend ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets,’ fake ‘revivals’ and so on.
Mind you, Bentley and his cohorts are people who claim to be visited by angels, talk about their trips to heaven and their conversations with the apostle Paul, and pepper their language with the word ‘prophetic’ — pretending to speak the very words of God into people’s lives and situations.
We have referred to this whole charade — not just Bentley’s show but the entire cast of ‘New Apostolic’ leaders — as a Christian Role-Playing Game that brings nothing but spiritual tragedy.
Our prayer is that these events will act as a wake-up call for many Christians — Todd Bentley included — caught up in chasing after experience.
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