One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." - Luke 23: 39-43 (ESV)
There is this self-righteous tendency within the church today that seems to gleefully respond whenever something bad happens to some perceived as false or even just unsaved. I remember when Glenn Frey from the band the Eagles passed away and I posted "RIP" on my Facebook page. The pious outrage was disgusting as people who claimed to be Christian were quick to happily condemn Mr. Frey to hell. I tried to point out that there is a reason why we are not directed to judge the eternal destination of people and it is found in the key verses today. This is from the crucifixion and sometimes we gloss over the two criminals crucified along with Jesus. Biblical scholars note that these two men must have done something fairly bad in order to be crucified. Since Matthew refers to them as robbers, there is a chance they were highwaymen, who violently robbed people walking on the various remote roads. Think about the parable of the Good Samaritan and you will remember the back story was a man who fell among robbers and was so violently beaten. That is possibly who these criminals were that were crucified with Christ. Yet despite these egregious sins, one of the men repented while dying on the cross. He rebukes the other criminal, acknowledges who Jesus is, and asked to be remembered when He entered His kingdom. Did Jesus judge him? Did he rebuke him? Was he mocking this man's depravity? No. He forgave him and said he would indeed be with Him in paradise. What a glorious picture of the grace and mercy of the God we serve.
I say this as a backdrop to a story from this weekend regarding Todd Bentley. It seems Todd has suffered major seizure activity and has been stabilized in the hospital according to his wife. While this does not change what Todd has done in terms of false teaching and fleecing the flock, it is not our role to be mean spirited and unchristian in our response. I have written extensively about Mr. Bentley and those writings remain true and proper within the time frame and context they were written in. This is not the time to rehash them either. This is a time to pray, even for our perceived enemies. I think I remember reading that somewhere. In these NAR dominionist days, it is easier to think that certain people are somehow beyond the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. Lunatics like Greg Locke and Mario Murillo taught recently that if you did not vote the way they do, you were unredeemable, for example. The bible however, says it will be of no credit to us to only show love to those who love us. It is always astounding to see people who God has forgiven so much from, show absolutely no mercy to others. Do I like what Todd Bentley has done in his career of false prophecy and teaching? Absolutely not. Do I rejoice in the prospect that he might end up in hell? Absolutely not. But for the grace of God go I. That is not to excuse anything. The prayer and hope we should have is that God uses this to break through and give Bentley a thief on the cross moment. Can you imagine the power of a true conversion testimony? To admit all of the shenanigans of Charismania are false? Instead, we see faux-discernment outfits like Protestia declaring:
"Invariably, the couple will request financial aid to cover the medical expense, but we'd request that no one give him even a nickel, as giving any money to Bentley is akin to giving a wife beater a couple of bucks to purchase a brass knuckle." - Protestia
Invariably? This disgusting sentiment would be bad enough if the report of the near death of Bentley was accompanied by a financial request but to just make it up in order to spew vile references to wife beaters is part of why 40 million people have left the church in the past 25 years. I know Protestia fancies themselves the "bad boys" of discernment but all they really are is blind to how infected their "discernment" is with the very NAR that requires the greatest scrutiny. All one has to see is how they have provided cover for the return of the disgraced JD Hall, to see that they should not be taken seriously at all. In the same article, Protestia also referred to Bentley as a "disqualified con artist." Considering we are talking about life and death, what exactly is Todd Bentley disqualified from? He was disqualified from ministry back in Lakeland Florida, over 15 years ago. His entire ministry was disqualifying as he would kick and punch people with cancer claiming he was imparting healing.
So, within the context of this story, Todd Bentley is not disqualified from the redemption of Christ and that redemption is what we should be praying for. Not being pollyannish but rather in humble deference to the reach of Christ's salvation. Not delusional but with eyes wide open to the witness we need to have for Christ and His gospel. Most have not written as much as I have against the teachings of Todd Bentley and his behavior. When he is lying in a hospital however, after suffering unexpected seizures, I cannot find it in myself to hate him. I feel bad for those who have been deceived by him but the best way to correct that is for him to repent. If we get into the business of deciding who doesn't make it past the line for salvation, do not be surprised if one day we find ourselves on the wrong side of that same line, with someone pointing their finger at us. Pray for his recovery. Pray for his salvation, just like the thief on the cross. Do so within the humility of remembering where we were when finally, God reached us.
