The Cursed Christian

By DOUGLAS DEAN

One peculiar tendency that has emerged within certain segments of the organised church is cursing.
BY this I do not mean the type of expletive vented when one clobbers the thumb with a hammer, but the cursing that is defined as a solemn invocation of divine wrath. Cursing of this nature is well represented in the book of Deuteronomy, when, for example, the Levites were instructed to cite curses over specific violations of God's governing laws.
The Levite pronouncements strike up mental images of every conceivable human misery: festering, incurable boils; torture at the hands of merciless foreign oppressors; adultery; famine; plague; loss of children; sights leading to madness; and other torments, depicting afflictions that are perhaps rivalled only by the calamities of Job, our Lord's teachings on hell, and the apocalyptic tribulations foretold in the prophetic books of the bible.
A more contemporary example of cursing is represented by Benny Hinn at a recent healing crusade in Denver : *1
"The glory! The glory, if I don't release it I'll blow up. If I don't release the anointing I'll blow up. I've got to release it on somebody. The demon must bow to the name of the master Jesus… Yes, Lord I'll do it! I place a curse on every man and woman that will stretch his hand against this anointing. I curse that man who dares to speak a word against this ministry. But any man, any woman, any person that raises his or her hand in blessing toward this ministry, I bless that man, I bless that home".
A casual hearing of Mr Hinn's cursing bears resemblance to the series of blessings and cursing found in Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28. Spiritual leaders who curse others appeal to these texts as biblical justification of their cursing from the pulpit. However, an important difference should be noted: the curses of the Old Testament resulted either from disobedience to specific covenantal laws, or from persecution of God's people; whereas, the more modern version is called down upon the more nebulous practice of "speaking a word" against a ministry, or failure to rigorously adhere to some ecclesiastical practice such as tithing cash or submission to church elders.
Proverbs 26:2 states, "Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest". The purpose of this article is to ponder the question "Are these curses deserved, and are they real?" Obviously, if church elders can pronounce curses that are real, then spare no expense or effort to do whatever is required to preserve yourself and your loved ones. If, on the other hand, these curses are used to garnish support for a teaching or ministry (for fear is a powerful motivator), then devotion to that teaching or ministry needs to be held in check until it presents itself on a sound biblical basis. Only then should we in liberty of conscience provide our consent

God's dealings with man through covenants

So how does God relate to man? Since the creation of the world, God's relationship to man has been defined by specific requirements and promises. The provisions that determine the relationship between God and man are often referred to in scripture as "covenants". God's covenants provide clear stipulations of the parties involved, and are reinforced by promises of blessing or punishment.
To understand the curses requires some knowledge of the covenants that have existed between God and man. A covenant is an unchangeable, divinely imposed legal agreement between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship. *2 The term divinely imposed is included to underscore the fact that man cannot negotiate with God or change the terms of the covenant: he can only accept the covenant obligations or reject them. These covenants of God included blessing for obedience and punishment for disobedience, thus giving rise to the existence of a "deserved curse". The curses previously cited in Deuteronomy were simply the terms of a covenant.
In the Old Testament, God established a Covenant of Works. God's people were to uphold God's standard, His Law, and with it came the blessings and the curses. Mankind's history, beginning in the Garden of Eden through to the present, is a demonstration of his inability to keep God's commands. Because of our transgressions against God's requirements, a curse does come upon us—the bible calls us "objects of wrath"—and this curse is manifest when a person is ushered into God's holy presence and judged. Those who are judged according to the Covenant of Works will experience an invocation of divine wrath (i.e., cursed), for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Praise God — where man's sin abounds, God's grace abounds even more! Even since the beginning, as Adam and Eve were receiving the deserved punishment for disobedience, the Father's redemptive plan was revealed. Surely they were cast out of their paradise; however, God sacrificed an animal to cover their nakedness, foreshadowing the time when His Son would pay that ultimate price for all of our sins. God revealed Himself as the merciful Creator.
The rest of scripture after the story of the fall is the story of God executing His amazing plan of redemption where right relationship between man and God is restored. Once again, God relates to man by establishing a covenant: the Covenant of Grace. This covenant is entirely based on God's grace, or unmerited favour, toward those redeemed.
The parties to this Covenant of Grace are God and the people whom he will redeem. In this covenant Christ fulfils a special role as a "mediator" in which He fulfils the conditions of the covenant for us. The condition for us to receive the blessing is that we have faith in the finished work of Christ. In faith, we are no longer held under the death sentence of sin. We are catapulted into a right relationship that exists solely based on His work, not ours.
There has been, and perhaps always will be, debate over the significance of good works to show that we are indeed on the "right track". Even Paul's detractors accused him of teaching that because faith in Christ is all that matters, sin all you want, and it will make no difference in the end. As C.S. Lewis puts it, "…if what you call `faith' in Christ does not involve taking the slightest notice of what He says, then it is not faith at all—not faith or truth in Him, but only intellectual acceptance of some theory about him." God, the Righteous Judge, will undoubtedly sort out the true value of each of our works. We know that when He judges, the motives as well as acts will be exposed.
Christians place their faith in Jesus as the mediator of the new covenant, and in so doing, they accept the fact that He became sin for them, thereby washing their sins away (2 Corinthians 5:21). Those Christians who believe they can actually be cursed, tragically fail to recognise that Jesus became a curse for them. As Paul makes clear, Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Good works are expected, because we are delivered from sin. But if we rely on good works, then we place ourselves back under the miserable curse of having to obey the law perfectly (Galatians 3:10-14).
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law".
Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because "The righteous will live by faith".
The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, `The man who does these things will live by them'.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree".
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
The curse is a direct result of not doing everything written in the Book of the Law. Those Christians trying to justify themselves by certain actions may feel righteous when those actions are accomplished; however, that feeling is a false assurance because they are always going to trespass against God in other areas—and with this trespass comes the curse. Also note that a person cannot live by the law and live by faith because the law is not based on faith. It is through the law we become conscious of sin (Romans 3:19-20), realising our need for a Saviour: it guides us to Christ!

Fear, Pride and Money: powerful motivators

Recognising our pitiful condition enslaved to sin (a necessary element of true repentance), and knowing that Christ endured unimaginable agony to secure our salvation, are all the motivation we truly need to live a life of faith that honours God. I believe it is a dangerous thing to be motivated instead out of the fear of being cursed for failing to uphold some standard imposed by a man or ministry. Fear-based works cannot earn us any blessing from God.
And neither can pride-based works. How easily we fall into the trap of pointing out the visible evils of the world while the sins of egotism, exhibitionism and self-promotion are tolerated, especially in our leaders. A.W. Tozer made this observation: "Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice…to tell the truth, these sins actually seem to feed upon orthodoxy and are more at home in a bible conference than in a tavern. Our very state of longing after God may afford [these self sins] an excellent condition under which to thrive and grow". *3 He wrote these words more than 40 years ago. I wonder what our troubled Mr Tozer would have thought about today's brand of sound-bite theologians, parading so confidently across our television screens?
The real indictment of the visible church is that so many of the so-called ministers of the gospel have reaped such tremendous "success" (i.e. money and position) through self-promotion. There is fierce competition for your hard earned dollar. And when that ravenous animal, called self, gets what it desires, it proceeds to arch its back and bare its teeth to protect and maintain its prize.
Who needs a gun to ward off intruders when curses are just as effective?
I have observed three primary areas of desire where curses are commonly used to either encourage, or discourage, Christian behaviour:

• Curses to encourage giving of tithes and offerings.
• Curses to encourage commitment to spiritual authorities.
• Curses to discourage honest questioning of a teacher or ministry.
• Certainly, these Christian behaviours are appropriate when they are expressed as faith working through love. But as was already stated, if behaviour such as tithing is motivated by fear (of not doing) or self-assurance (for having done), then there is little room for faith. The blessing promised to the giver is short-circuited by wrong motives (James 4:3).
  

Curse Myth Number 1: The Tithing Tantrum

Within certain theological circles, it is a well-established fact that unless you give 10 percent of your gross income to the church as a tithe, you are robbing God and a curse will fall upon your finances. Giving is not even considered as such until after you pay the tithe and give an offering, because the tithe is simply the "rent" you owe God for living on His green earth and breathing His air. The proof-text for this tithe-or-else teaching is Malachi 3:8-10: "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, `How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house". Who in their right mind would rob God?
Well, for starters, the preachers who assert such a seamless connection between Malachi 3 and new covenant giving. Because if one examines the purpose of the tithe, it was not only to meet the needs of the Levites who had no inheritance (Numbers 18:21, 23-24), but every third and sixth year it was used to meet the needs of the aliens, the fatherless and the widows (Deuteronomy 14:27-29). In many of these "tithing" churches, if the needy are taken care of at all, this need is typically funded by a "monetary benevolence offering" given above and beyond the so-called tithe.
The seventh year of the seven-year tithing cycle was a year of Sabbath rest for the land, and the agricultural tithe that year (grain and fruit) stayed in the possession of the people. (Leviticus 25:2-7). Let's see how well that will preach!
One is left to wonder why a dogmatic adherence to the wording of Malachi 3 is taught as it applies to our giving, but as for its purpose and distribution, we observe a radical departure from scripture. Even more questionable is the practice of insisting that someone who is poor and in dire need of help must give their way out of debt by "planting seed" in the church; that failure to tithe is the reason for their predicament (i.e., the curse). Let's not deceive ourselves. Whether through tithes or by other means, the heart of God has always been: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need and has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" (1 John 3:17).
The truth is, there is not a seamless connection between the regulations of tithing and giving to a local church. For example, the tithing regulations never involved money, unless it was to purchase a tithe in a faraway city, or redeem back a tithe (animal or produce) previously offered. For an excellent discussion of the common misconceptions of the tithing ordinances and Spirit-led giving, I highly recommend a book entitled, Beyond Tithes & Offerings by Michael and Mitchell Webb. *4 It has some eye-popping comparisons on what is commonly taught in churches today versus what the bible actually says concerning tithes and offerings.
We have a duty to be generous to the ministry where we worship, and 10 percent is a great guideline for our giving. But if the Spirit prompts you to give 20 percent, don't feel good about giving just 10. And if circumstances are such that you cannot afford 10 percent, then sacrificially but with cheerfulness give what you can, without fear of a curse.

Curse Myth Number 2: My Way Or The Highway

Spiritual authority is a popular subject among many teachers who feel compelled to constantly remind us of theirs. They will sometimes deliver a "fresh" revelation from scripture, or push a corporate church practice, or even advise on a highly personal matter, and attempt to coerce obedience with the threat of a curse. This practice was very prevalent in the "shepherding" abuses of the 1970s and 1980s; it is still present, with a different twist. The "curse" comes to those who rebel and "move outside of the spiritual covering" of the local church leaders—presumably, right into the devil's traps.
What is at stake here is the freedom to be self-governing. In the beginning of the American nation's history, one of the more important arguments men had to think through was the "divine right" of kings to rule men. What they discovered was that, when Christ began to redeem men from the internal tyranny of their sinful nature, they were indeed free to be self-governing. And the more internal government one had, the less external government was needed. Thus, the "divine right" of men to rule other men was rejected in favour of a Republic where the power rested with the people:
"To put the power with the people implies faith. It implies that the component of individuals is, for the most part, already endowed with self-control. This Republic is grounded in the belief that the individual can govern himself. On the validity of that belief it will stand—or fall." *5
So in God's providence America became a Republic—a government which derived its powers from the majority, which contained 1) safeguards against both the tyrannical powers of kingly rulers, and 2) restraints on majority rule to protect the rights of each individual. This form of government benefited both the majority as well as the minority.
Church government should embody similar checks and balances. Those who have leadership gifting should be recognised and consecrated by the congregation into positions of authority. The members of the church should then willingly submit to the leaders "who keep watch over you as men who must give an account" (Hebrews 13:17). But this submission is not unconditional or blind submission—it is based on the scriptures. If significant doctrinal error is taught, there needs to be an appeals process or some other mechanism whereby the congregation can right the ship.
Now this issue of "divine rights" has resurfaced by those who have the "anointing", those of the self-perpetuating "five-fold" ministries who appoint themselves to governing positions of the Body. The apostle stands out as chief among these, setting things in order within the local church. The basic premise underlying this form of government is that God has given these five-fold ministries as gifts to the Body of Christ "…to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the Body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ". (Ephesians 4:11-13). This is interpreted to mean that you cannot be fit for works of service or mature in Christ without the impartation of the five-fold ministry.
It is not the purpose of this article to argue against this form of government. However, it is emphasised that only Word-based (i.e. that which based on the Word of God) teaching is suitable for equipping the saints: "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). If a teaching is not scriptural, whether it is delivered by an apostle or by an angel of light, you have no obligation to accept it. (Galatians 1:8). And if you are told you must accept it, or you are in rebellion to your spiritual authorities—do not violate your conscience! Otherwise, you will eventually forfeit your capacity to be self-governing, and will settle into a dependency on "anointed" elders for your spiritual knowledge.
John 7 provides an excellent example of why you must not solely derive your beliefs from the "spiritually elite". In this chapter, there was widespread whispering about Jesus at the feast. People were whispering because they feared the Jewish leaders, who had decided that anyone who professed that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. So gripping was this fear that in John chapter 9, the parents of a man healed of blindness would not testify on behalf of his miracle.
Now when Jesus arrived at the feast and began to teach, many refused to think for themselves but instead asked, "Have the authorities really concluded that He is the Christ?"
At the end of this chapter, the proud hearts of the pharisees are exposed. When the temple guards arrived without Jesus and confessed that they had been influenced by Jesus' teaching, the pharisees retorted, "Have any of the rulers or of the pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them!" (John 7:47-49).
You should meditate on who suffered in this scenario—those that feared the Jewish leaders and heeded their threats, or those who accepted the words of Jesus? You would do well to remember this lesson next time someone attempts to threaten or scare you because you humbly cling to the Word in your heart in lieu of his or her teaching or instructions.

Curse Myth Number 3: The Silence Of the Lambs

The curse uttered in an attempt to silence critics or impressionable church members is very easy to dismiss as unbiblical. Jesus plainly said, "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." (Luke 6:28). James put it this way: "With it [our tongue] we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, things ought not to be this way" (James 3:9-10). When a man lashes out and publicly speaks dire consequences over his critics, you can rest assured he does not speak in the authority of Jesus' name or in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Conclusion: live free in the grace covenant

As previously mentioned, Jesus became a curse for us under the Covenant of Grace. And we have been given a command under this covenant to bless, not to curse, even when we are persecuted.
There is no reason to fear these "undeserved" curses, so long as your place your faith in Him, as evidenced by loving God and loving your neighbour.
This is not to say that these curses cannot cause harm, because they can—they can plant legalistic motives in you and rob you of your freedom. This is what Paul had to deal with in the Galatian believers when he wrote:
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:1,13). Paul had to take a strong stand against the legalistic teaching that in order to be saved, one must be circumcised.
Today's brand of legalism doesn't involve circumcision as a requisite to salvation; in fact, we're generally clear that salvation is by faith in Christ apart from keeping the law. Instead, our legalism is more focused on how we live the Christian life. It's an insistence that we conform to the man made religious rules and requirements of our religious circle, which are often unspoken but nevertheless very real.
If you have been a Christian very long, you have likely sensed the pressure to conform to differing opinions, or to exercise certain spiritual disciplines, or to generally cave in to the pressure to live your life according to what others think or do.
You should have concern for what others think up to a point, to avoid being a stumbling block. But if you begin to be overly motivated by the expectation of others without regard to what God desires, you are moving away from faith (a requirement of our Grace Covenant) and moving toward man-pleasing works.
Even worse, you run the risk of actually thinking that these works earn you favour with God. Then you are relying on the law and not on faith.
The curses are an effective way of creating a hyper-conformity within impressionable believers. And where people are afraid not to conform to some legalistic practice, they will also be insecure and reject anyone who is labelled as "rebellious".
So outwardly, you seem to have an assembly of believers who have kindred spirits and are working together in love and harmony. In actuality, what you often have is a group of believers whose refusal to accept the non-conformist reveals a commitment no better than "the tax gatherers and sinners", who love those who love them.
To be painfully honest, if faced with the choice, I would prefer to be with a group of "sinners" who believe "live and let live", than in a gathering of believers who place pious, sanctimonious, conditions on my friendship.
So hang on to your freedom and resist these controlling influences. Seek first the Kingdom, and allow His government to come into you on the shoulders of Jesus. Never surrender your conscience out of fear or seeking favour with man. As the Puritan Samuel Bolton put it (and I close with his words):
"Let us never surrender our judgments or our consciences to be at the disposal or opinions of others, and to be subjected to the sentences and determin-ations of men…
It is my exhortation therefore to all Christians to maintain their Christian freedom by constant watchfulness. You must not be tempted or threatened out of it; you must not be bribed or frightened from it; you must not let either force or fraud rob you of it…
We must not give up ourselves to the opinion of other men, though they are never so learned, never so holy, merely because it is their opinion. The apostle directs us to try all things and hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). It often happens that a high esteem of others in respect to their learning and piety makes men take up all upon trust from such, and to submit their judgments to their opinions, and their consciences to their precepts. This should not be so".*6
If we truly will live by the Covenant of Grace, we must stand firm and defend the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.

Post publication NEWS link

*1 Video clip shown during an interview with Benny Hinn on TBN, September 13, 1999.
*2 Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Wayne Grudem; Inter-Varsity Press.
*3 The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer
*4 Beyond Tithes and Offerings; Michael Webb and Mitchell Webb. On Time Publishing, www.OnTimePub.com.
*5 Felix Morley, The Power In The People
*6 Samuel Bolton, The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, first published in 1645
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Appeared in Volume 6.1 April 2000