Rethinking Faith: False Prophets, Searching for Faces, and a New Book Idea
This month we will question what Scripture says about false prophets and apostles, ponder our search for faces, and explore the new book idea on my heart.
Rethinking Faith: June 2025
Welcome to the June issue of Rethinking Faith. This month we will follow up the last two weeks of Lies that Keep Us Silent with questions about what Scripture says about false prophets, fake apostles, and their teachings. We will ponder Aimee Byrd’s latest book, Saving Face. Finally, we will explore a new book idea that I have started to brainstorm. I’m glad you are here!
What are we supposed to do about false prophets and fake apostles?
The last few weeks I’ve been focused on the lies that keep us silent during spiritually abusive situations. I looked into the concept of not being able to trust our hearts because they are deceitful and desperately wicked. Using context, I showed that—contrary to what we might have been taught—this verse is not telling us to ignore our intuitions, emotions, or any red flags. I tackled the misinterpreted verses around not touching (questioning or keeping accountable) the “Lord’s anointed” and pushed back against the idea that spiritual leaders have special authority that must be obeyed no matter what.
If abusive, power hungry leaders use these lies to try and keep us silent, what is the truth that we should know and act on? How do we use our voices? What should we do to protect others? Today we will look at five answers to these questions.
Acknowledge that They Exist.
False prophets, teachers, and apostles along with their twisted teachings are common topics in Scripture, especially the New Testament. Jesus talked about them; Peter and Paul warned about them. They are real. Second Peter chapter two is all about these false teachers. Here are just a few verses.
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for ‘people are slaves to whatever has mastered them’” 2 Peter 2:1-3; 17-19 (NIV).
I often hear people pushing back against calling out certain celebrity teachers or false teaching. They don’t think we should be judging other Christians. They think it has the potential to give God a bad name. They want to focus on grace and Jesus. But if these leaders and teachings are drawing people away from truth and freedom, separating them from the real God, and mangling their spiritual life, why wouldn’t we be brave enough to call them out?
Another thing I notice is how often we get caught up in one of two extremes when it comes to spiritual abuse, abusive leaders, and false teachers. Either people want to condemn all leaders, churches, and Christianity as evil, or they are quick to give excessive grace and make excuses for abuse. Neither of these are solid responses. There is a middle ground where we agree that we are all broken but still give serious consequences to people who abuse their positions of power and leaderships.
So, according to Scripture, how do we recognize these very real false prophets and apostles?
Check the Fruit.
In Matthew chapter seven, Jesus warns his disciples about false prophets. He is very specific in his description of them and tells his disciples that they will know these false prophets by the kind of fruit they produce.
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them” Matthew 7:15-20 (NIV).
Jesus’ talk about fruit made me instantly think about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, so I went over there and took a look. I backed up once again and checked out the verses before the fruit of the Spirit and found that Paul is contrasting living by the power of the Spirit with living in our own, broken flesh. He then contrasts what it looks like to live in the flesh with what it looks like when the Spirit lives in us.
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” Galatians 5:19-23 (NIV).
I can’t help but think of the long list of Christian celebrity leaders who have been caught in that first list recently. “By their fruit you will recognize them.” Jesus calls false prophets wolves and says they are ferocious. Other translations use the word ravenous. Both of these words tell me that these wolves have no interest in taking care of sheep, but only in devouring them. We need to stop making excuses for wolf-leaders when the bad fruit in their lives is obvious. If there is bad fruit, then the tree is bad. Maybe not above saving, but definitely not something that should be anywhere near leadership.
Test the Spirits/Prophets
I’ve not personally been in the charismatic branch of evangelical Christianity much. The gift of prophecy in my experience has mostly been described as someone who can see through lies and declare truth. They are bold truth tellers, but not necessarily people who are making Old Testament style prophetic proclamations. However, as I have been researching the New Apostolic Reformation and the belief among many independent, charismatic churches that modern-day apostles and prophets exist who are especially anointed by God, I’ve heard some of them make declarations. I’ll be honest, my red flag warning lights have gone off frequently as I’ve listened. Just because a spirit tells someone to say something, doesn’t mean that spirit is the Holy One. And also, there are mental illnesses where one of the symptoms is that people think they hear from god. So, yeah…
Let’s check out these verses in 1 John chapter four.
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” 1 John 4:1-4 (NIV).
According to the commentary I read on NetBible.org, “testing the spirits” is referring to testing the false prophets mentioned later in that verse. The commentary referenced the test for true prophets found in Deuteronomy chapters thirteen and eighteen. So-called prophets were to be evaluated on whether or not their prophecies came true as well as if they were trying to entice people to follow other gods.
“You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed” Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (NIV).
“If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him” Deuteronomy 13:1-4 (NIV).
Most, if not all, modern day “prophets” would fail these tests, but somehow people keep making excuses for them and they retain their prophet title. That’s telling to me. Between their prophecies not coming true and the fruit their lives are producing, I’m pretty sure many (if not all) of the new apostolic “prophets” are fake. Also, it’s a good thing that we aren’t following Old Testament law these days because false prophets were supposed to be killed.
Know the Evil One Masquerades as an Angel of Light
This brings me to one of the most telling verses I’m going to share with you today. As I’ve listened to Charismatic Revival Fury with Dr. Matthew D. Taylor, I’ve heard apostles and prophets from independent charismatic churches who are completely caught up in the evils of secular society. They are obsessed with intense spiritual warfare, sure that there are territorial demons behind everything in politics and culture. They use “strategic level spiritual warfare, plan worship services and prayer walks, and blow shofars (rams horns) as ways of fighting the evil they sense. A group of C. Peter Wagner’s followers even climbed up Mt. Everest to wage warfare against The Queen of Heaven—a principality that a prophet told them lived there in a spiritual ice castle. I’m not making this stuff up; they wrote a book about it. All of this intense focus on evil, and they miss these verses in Second Corinthians chapter eleven. They miss the evil in their midst.
“And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 (NIV).
I see the same things happening in the SBC right now as they focus in on certain topics they feel are evil, but refuse to acknowledge or appropriately deal with rampant abuse and blatant patriarchy. They are also missing the evil in their midst because the evil one is pretending to be light.
We forget that the devil is a skillful liar. We think he looks dangerous and scary. We are looking for a boogie-man, when in reality the evil one is handsome and suave. We miss him because he is charming, subtle, and filled with spiritual sounding half-truths.
In John chapter eight, Jesus speaks to the religious leaders of his time and connects them to the devil. They are offended. Like these well-studied men, we forget how easily we are deceived. We don’t notice that the best lies are almost true.
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” John 8:44 (NIV).
Expose Evil Deeds
Spiritually abusive and power hungry leaders conveniently ignore Ephesians chapter five. As they push for control and try to cover up personal sin, abusive tactics, and more, they use spiritual sounding lies to keep us quiet. They tell us not to gossip, to keep the unity of the brethren, not to trust our hearts but instead trust our leaders, that we shouldn’t “touch” the Lord’s anointed, and to obey our authorities. But what does the Bible say about the fruitless deeds of darkness? It tells us to expose them!
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light” Ephesians 5:8-13 (NIV).
In the past I’ve heard people focus in on verse twelve to keep others silent. They conveniently snatch it from the context around it and the words right in front of it and focus on how shameful it is to even mention what is done in secret. Somehow that shame is supposed to silence us, but if you look at verse twelve it is sandwiched between two verses that tell us to expose these deeds of darkness and bring them into the light so that they are visible.
Exposing darkness makes it lose it’s power. Light overcomes darkness because darkness is simply an absence of light. Who is the light of the world? Jesus.
If we are making excuses for sin, covering up evil, and lying to keep things in the dark, we are not following the Light of the World. False prophets and fake apostles will always be running around listening to their father the devil and spinning his beautiful lies. This is not new. But we will know them by the fruit their lives produce. We don’t need to wage spiritual warfare against territorial spirits using praise music and 24/7 prayer. We need to know the truth, so the truth can set us free.
“Our faces are called to search for meaning in the faces of others.”
Saving Face by Aimee Byrd
My neighbor (who also goes to our church) has a tiny, foster baby that they are taking care of right now. He came to them directly from the NICU. Born six weeks early and addicted to a substance, this little guy is barely five pounds. I spent the night with him last week so that they could get some sleep. The two of us didn’t sleep much, but during one of the nighttime feedings I couldn’t help but think of Aimee’s book as his eyes searched for mine. He’s already experienced so much trauma in his sort, little life. His face searched for my face and I reassured him that right now I was here and he was safe.
I’ll be honest, I put Aimee’s book down the first time I started to read it after a couple of chapters. A friend who works with the publisher had given it to me thinking it would resonate, I loved the premise, but struggled to connect with her writing style. After talking to another friend who was reading it, I decided to try again. The second time has been better. Aimee has been through difficult rejection in the church where she thought she belonged because of some books she wrote pushing back on biblical womanhood. She asked the wrong questions, explored freedom for women in ministry, and suffered the consequences. I’m currently in the middle of Saving Face and it seems to be a reflection of this painful journey mixed with the struggle to find a new church where she can fit in and be safe.
It’s not the easiest read, but I’m going to keep reading because, like I said, I appreciate the premise. I don’t normally review books that I don’t love, but I thought you should know about this one. The beautiful thing about books is that they feel different to different people. It might be your new favorite.
Twisted Truths: a New Book Idea
Speaking of new books, I’m working on one of my own! A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with a friend in the publishing industry to share some thoughts and ideas that were rolling around in my head. She was very encouraging!
I originally wanted to find a way to write more of a chronological memoir while tackling some of the twisted truths that are prevalent in our culture. But as I’ve researched the New Apostolic Reformation and begun looking into Doug Wilson and his Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, I’ve realized that this can’t be my full story. I need to tell enough to explain why I’m the person to write this book, but the whole memoire will have to wait.
I’ve found eight similarities between my experience growing up in Bill Gothard’s IBLP and these other authoritarian Christian groups. There are twisted truths that keep showing up in modern evangelical Christianity because they weren’t questioned and exposed the first time around. I want to dig into these lies and ponder what makes them so attractive. Why do we keep falling for them? I’m going to bring in experts, tell stories, ask questions, share Scripture, and hopefully bring us all to a place of freedom and actual truth.
I’d love your prayers as I brainstorm and begin to plan out chapters. I’m a little behind schedule because the book shifted so much and because I want to make sure I am understanding Wilson and the NAR enough to articulate the lies. I have no idea about an agent or publisher at this point. My friend told me to spend my creative energy on the book right now so that’s what I’m doing. It’s a little backwards compared to how I’ve been told to write a book in the past, but I’m okay with that. I’m excited about it, and that feels amazing.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or comments. You can find me on Threads, Instagram, Facebook, in the Substack app, and on my website. I’d love to connect with you on any of these places!
My podcasts, Religious Rebels and Looking for the Real God can be found here on Substack, and on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.
I am here to say amen to this book idea and thank you for your openness to this story being shared.
What I cannot understand is why leaders are not held the to the
Fruit of the Spirit. For some reason their charisma seems to excuse
them from this requirement!