The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? - Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV)
"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. - Luke 6:43-45 (ESV)
When debating there are certain false tactics used known as fallacies. One of these is known as the proximity fallacy or argument. One definition I found that summarizes it nicely is the belief that proximity to an event, situation or process gives one special insights into them and therefore entitles one to opine from a position of purportedly superior insight. In vulgar terms it is the "you don't live here" or "I was there" argument, in which the fact of being proximately familiar with something confers special argumentative rights when discussing it. Now that is a mouthful but the point is that because you are closer to something than me does not confer to you better insight into it. This fallacy is a trademark excuse that Dr. Michael Brown routinely wields when defending false teachers. It is the "I know them, you don't" or "you don't know their heart defense."
So let me start with the key scriptures today. First of all, I do know their heart. It is wickedly deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Therefore, no one can understand it. This counts for me, you, Dr. Brown and everybody else. I find it particularly interesting that God goes as far as to say deceitful, indicating that the heart will always lie to us and that we cannot trust our own evaluation of it let alone try to judge other peoples' hearts. God never charges us to test the hearts of man because He has already instructed us to not trust them! When it comes to people who labor in doctrine, "test everything" refers to the teachings, not the heart of the individual in question. When we see the Bereans were more noble it was not because they considered the heart of Paul closely but that they examined his teachings in light of scripture. Dr. Brown must know this but it is always a quick and dirty way to pretend an argument is invalid. For example, the second time I was on his radio show we were discussing why Bill Johnson is a raving heretic and the first reason I provided was the fact that he runs a school that thinks it can teach the gifts of the Holy Spirit to people. They teach people how to prophesy for example which is wildly unbiblical because only the Spirit gives out His gifts as He decrees. Brown tried to deflect by pretending I was saying you shouldn't teach about the gifts, which is absurd. When I dispelled that he quickly pivoted to well, you don't know Bill, I do and I have taught at that school. That is not a valid point in a debate. It is a fallacy by definition.
The second verse set was suggested by my friend Jake Elliot from The Framework. This is Jesus teaching us that good trees cannot produce bad fruit because it is only out from the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks. So, if you defend someone by claiming you know their heart and I do not, scripture teaches us rather that testing everything about their teaching actually reveals the true nature of that person. You may work closely with Jennifer LeClaire for example and think that she is a swell gal and therefore you defend her as not being false because you "know her heart." You have seen her possibly being generous with money and time. Perhaps you have seen her be genuinely concerned for other people and she always says hallelujah and praise God. Those are all subjective however. I know that her teaching disagrees with scripture. I know she willfully deceives when claiming sneaky squid spirits are stalking her and she has the ability to release the angels of abundant harvest but only for those who buy her book. Now, because we know that God has said that we speak out of the abundance of our hearts, we can correctly conclude that not only is her heart wickedly deceitful but she speaks directly out of this deceit based upon her teaching and grifting. So, Dr. Brown, who has defended Jennifer, only thinks he knows her heart but the evidence he relies upon is all subjective and irrelevant. I actually do know her heart because I have properly done the work of a Berean regarding her teachings and it is only out of the abundance of her heart that she speaks her heresies.
Let me give you two perfect examples of this in action. For years I have always warned the body of Christ that Mike Bickle was a false teacher and prophet. I have always said IHOP was a cult. This was after carefully reviewing the theology and holding it up to scripture as well as holding their created music up to scripture and listening to those who managed to get out. Bickle taught wild theologies like the bridal paradigm and Joel's end times army. The worship music they produced was the most disgusting version of "Jesus is my boyfriend" faux worship. Their 24-7 prayer room has always been demonic and people who went there were just kids they manipulated into covering this insane assignment that God never instructed us to do. IHOP knew it was wrong because they would punish kids by giving them longer prayer room assignments. I also covered the murder of Bethany Deaton and how those involved described the absolute cult like behaviors and demands of IHOP. All students had to listen to hours of indoctrination about the false prophetic history of the founding of IHOP. That was my record. Last year Dr. Brown participated in two roundtable discussions for the American Gospel movie series. The first one featured himself partnered with Sam Storms and opposed by Justin Peters and Jim Osman. Keep in mind this was before the Bicklegate debacle where it was revealed that Mike Bickle had been a child sexual predator for forty years and that the IHOP prophetic history was nothing but a sham and con. With that said, these were two comments in this debate about false teachers made by both Brown and Sam Storms:
"I know this man to the depths of his soul. I cannot think of a more biblically orthodox, humble, Christ exalting individual who lives an incredibly simple lifestyle. So, when I hear people say that he is a false teacher it angers me because I know the individual. I know the man personally. And he is not NAR that has been claimed by so many. He has openly defied it." - Sam Storms
"If I am going to be judged on my orthodoxy for refusing to call a fine man like Mike Bickle a false teacher then I am going to say you are out of line. You do not know the man. You do not know his fruit. His walk, his life." - Dr. Michael Brown
