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FEBC - The Burning Bush - Vol. 2 No. 2 - Paul Yonggi Cho's Theology & Church Growth Methodology

The Burning Bush
Volume 2 Number 2, July 1996

PAUL YONGGI CHO’S THEOLOGY AND CHURCH GROWTH METHODOLOGY
Christian Wei

One of the most dangerous and confused issues in contemporary Christianity is on the nature of the Christian’s success or prosperity. People in our success-oriented generation are always attracted to successful methods or prosperous phenomena. If a particular method works, a great multitude will follow and exalt it, regardless of its philosophy or theological accuracy. It is very disheartening to know that many people in modern Christianity have discarded God’s Word and Christian doctrine in favour of these so-called "successful methods" in their pursuit for more success in this world. One of their favourite arguments is based on Gamaliel’s philosophy (Acts 5:33–40). Thus, they argue that one indication that their activities are of God is the presence of large crowds. They forget, however, that there are many false religions in this world with innumerable adherents.

Paul Yonggi Cho, a very influential person in the Christian scene today, is a leading proponent of the above-mentioned concept. He is the founder and pastor of the world’s largest church—Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea. The problem that the true believer faces today is the dangerous concepts and movements that Cho is advocating. The phenomenal success in the growth of his church has attracted many people, both laymen and leaders. His involvements in the movements of positive thinking, prophesying and miracle healing, charismatic practice, prosperity theology, and world-wide evangelism have caused him to be held up as an example of "success" or "prosperity" today. Because he has achieved remarkable success in church growth, a large number of Christian leaders are recommending and using many of his books. Even some leaders in the fundamentalists’ camp are attracted by his methodology and ideology. This problem is further complicated by the fact that people today are reluctant to criticise a famous preacher or a successful minister like him, possibly because of three reasons. First, they are afraid of his followers and his influences. Second, they intentionally neglect the truth. Third, they have already been deceived.

It is always a temptation for a pastor or minister to accomplish his goals with regard neither for God’s Word nor for Biblical methods. Cho fails to realise that the Lord does not merely demand His servants to finish their jobs, He also requires them to discharge their responsibilities by complying to His will and His way. Cho apparently desires to enjoy great success in this world, and hence he substitutes the Biblical God-centred teachings with a worldly man-centred system of prosperity gospel, positive confession, visualisation, fourth dimension concept, and other dangerous ideas. His theology and methodology on church growth have deviated from the truths of the historic Christian faith.

Cho’s Theology

His Doctrine of the Bible

There are two main erroneous areas in Cho’s bibliology: the extent of revelation and the method of interpretation. He fails to realise that the conclusion implied in his teaching of the continuity of God’s special revelation causes him to violate the historical, orthodox belief of the doctrine of the Bible. This is because he subscribes to an impossible position—the mutually exclusive view of the close of the canon and the view of continuity of special revelation. In so doing, he undermines the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word. Cho’s method of interpretation is so allegorical, arbitrary, and subjective that he virtually distorts Biblical truths and textual meanings.

His Doctrine of God

In the doctrine of God, Cho’s man-centred philosophy causes him to deviate from the Biblical teaching in the areas of God’s goodness, God’s will, and God’s sovereignty. He fails to realise that God’s goodness must accord with His severity and justice, and he overemphasises both the terror aspect of fearing God as well as human potential. When he insists that God’s will for His children is prosperity and health, he disregards the clear Scriptural teaching regarding Christian suffeing and contentment. By emphasising health, he overlooks three factors: first, reality shows that many good Christians do suffer sicknesses; second, church history supports the view that God’s will for His people is not always health; and finally, Scripture teaches the fact that God does not always heal. Cho organises his teaching around a man-centred theology when he asserts that God cannot do anything unless man cooperates with Him. Thus, he seriously undermines God’s sovereign will, power, and position.

His Doctrine of Christ

Cho commits two doctrinal errors in his teaching on Christ. In promulgating the idea that Christ can never be present unless believers do their duties to release His presence, Cho destroys Christ’s divine sovereign nature. His view literally denies Christ’s omnipresence, omnipotence, Lordship, and autonomy. In advocating the concept that Christ’s atonement provides both health and prosperity for man, Cho not only neglects the essence of Christ’s atoning work, but also disregards clear Biblical teaching in at least two areas. First, man’s poverty and sicknesses are not necessarily derived from the curse on man. Second, all the promises and benefits of God in the atonement, including physical perfection, will be fully appropriated only at the end of time.

His Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

The three major fallacies of Cho’s pneumatology lie in the work, baptism, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Cho’s teaching of the work of the Holy Spirit is closely related to panentheism. This concept is totally unbiblical because the Bible teaches that God is distinct from and transcedent over all His creation. By insisting that man can obtain and manipulate the power of the Spirit, Cho repudiates the sovereignty of the Spirit and virtually dabbles in occultism. Not only does he deny that the baptism of the Spirit is regeneration, he also confuses the baptism of the Spirit with the fullness of the Spirit. He also strongly believes that the sign of the Spirit baptism is speaking in tongues and refuses to acknowledge that the evidence of such an experience lies in moral virtues, not miraculous proofs (Gal 5:16–25). By contending that God still grants His children miraculous and supernatural gifts, Cho fails to discern the purpose of the supernatural gifts, and their necessary cessation. Since the Holy Spirit divides gifts as He wills (1 Cor 12:11), Cho violates clear Scriptural teaching when he encourages his people to pursue miraculous gifts.

His Doctrine of Salvation

In soteriology, Cho’s teachings on the nature of the Gospel and the doctrine of faith have departed from the truth. He insists that the Gospel includes more than the forgiveness of sins. This idea violates directly the precise definition of the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1–5. He also fails to distinguish between salvation and discipleship. Consequently, he has to add other steps to round up his "full gospel" and "Fivefold Gospel." He is clearly teaching that the Gospel alone is not enough, and hence he falls under Paul’s serious rebuke (Gal 1:6–9; 5:2–12). Cho’s view on faith is rather radical since he believes that a "usable" faith will definitely experience miracles; if there is no miracle, there is no faith. He misunderstands the meaning of faith. He also confuses the different kinds of faith in the Bible. This is because Christian faith is not necessarily miraculous faith (cf. Matt 7:21–23; 1 Cor 13:2). Moreover, he also confuses faith with man’s will-power. Faith is God’s gift; thus the power of faith resides within God, not in the one who receives faith, nor even in faith itself.

His Doctrine of Sin

With respect to the doctrine of sin, Cho overlooks man’s sin nature when he insists that man is able to attain his own unlimited potential simply by exercising a positive attitude, which includes imagination and thinking. This concept ignores Paul’s emphasis that even the believer cannot escape the conflict between his old sinful nature and new nature (Rom 7:15–24). Cho also overemphasises man’s free-will by ignoring the fact that unless man submits himself to God (Rom 7:25), he cannot change his own destiny through will power or any other means. Therefore, it is clear that in Cho’s harmatiology human sin is substituted with human sovereignty.

His Doctrine of Man

The two major problems in Cho’s anthropology lie in the constitution and the authority of man. Cho holds strongly to the trichotomous view. By overemphasising this trichotomous position, he errs Scripturally, analogically, and theologically. Cho mistakenly draws an analogy between the tripatrite nature of God and man without realising the essential differences between them. He also makes a sharp distinction between soul and spirit with complete disregard to Scriptural data. The Bible shows explicitly that the terms spirit and soul are often used interchangeably (cf. Luke 1:46–47). Moreover, the fact that God has a soul (Heb 10:38) and animals have spirits (Eccl 3:21) leaves no room for Cho’s assertion. Through Cho’s overemphasis on man’s authority, he has shifted from the theocentrism to anthropocentrism, with an excessive focus on man’s importance and man’s works.

His Doctrine of Angels

Cho’s doctrine of angelology is based on his theory of the fourth dimension, a concept which ultimately leads him into dualism. He believes that the evil fourth dimension is able to do what God does. The Scripture, however, teaches that the devil is in no way equal to God because God created him (cf. Gen 3:1 and Rev 20:2), cast him out of heaven (Isa 14:12), and let him fall into the depths of the pit (Isa 14:15) and the lake of fire (Rev 20:10). Since Cho confuses demonic influence with demonic possession, he insists that all unsaved persons are possessed or indwelt by demons. That there is a difference between the two is obvious. For example, when Peter tried to stop Christ from going to Jerusalem to die (Matt 16:22–23), he was not possessed, but influenced, by Satan. Cho also attributes all sins and sicknesses to the devil. This concept is unbiblical because not all sicknesses are initiated by demons (cf. Matt 8:5–13; 9:9–20, 27–30; 14:35–36). Neither are all sins initiated by demons (cf. Rom 7:18; Gal 5:16–24). If this were not true, it would be unfair to punish man for sins that are actually attributable to the devil or his cohorts.

Cho’s Methodology

His Method of Visualisation

Cho claims that if there is no visualisation, there will be no church growth. He insists that every minister needs to have visualisation, the process in a person’s mind through which pictures in visions or dreams bring about miracles and powers. This method, however, is unbiblical. First, its foundation is unbiblical because Cho misinterprets Bible verses to fit his peculiar theory. He also ignores God’s warning regarding the dangers and deceitfulness of dreams and visions (Deut 13:1–5; Jer 23:25–32; 27:9–10). Second, it is an unsound practice since it relies on the human mind and is related to the occult. Hence, the Scripture condemns the practice. Third, it is biased because Cho relies on his own interpretation of Biblical examples and his personal experiences. He also neglects the Biblical truth that only God, not man, can produce results in the Christian ministry (1 Cor 3:6–7).

His Method of Healing

Divine healing is another method which Cho uses to generate church growth, and he claims that this is the most essential element to successful church growth. This teaching, however, reveals many methodological weaknesses. First, it rests on a false premise. The Bible shows explicitly that healing or miracles do not necessarily bring a person to the saving knowledge of Christ (cf. Matt 9:22–25, 32–34; 11:20–24; John 9:1–41; Acts 4:5–22). Second, it fosters wrong motivation since it encourages the crowd to come to church with ulterior motives. Third, it obscures the true purpose of healing, which in the Bible authenticates the messiahship of Christ and the apostleship of apostles. Finally, Cho’s concept conceals the true nature of healing since he confuses functional disorders with organic illnesses. Furthermore, contrary to the Biblical pattern, Cho also fails to "heal" some who desire healing.

His Method of Hope

Cho himself admits that his message of hope always exalts people and focuses solely on prosperity, health, and a problem-free life. This teaching is erroneous in two ways. First, it promotes the deceitful message of selfism. The Bible teaches emphatically that man needs to deny self (Matt 16:24, Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). Second, it advocates the dangerous message of uplifting man. The Bible teaches that God’s Word is profitable not merely for instruction in righteousness, but also for reproof and for correction (2 Tim 3:16). Paul also teaches that one of the duties of a pastor is to rebuke the sins of man (2 Tim 4:2).

His Method of Prayer

Because Cho teaches that prayer will definitely alter the material world and lead to church growth, his method of church growth through prayer is unsound. Cho fails to realise that true prayer does not necessarily demand the changing of circumstances or the material world for man; rather, it requires the changing of the attitude of the believer and the submission of his will to God’s will. Cho misunderstands the Biblical goal of prayer, which is the glory of God, rather than the benefits of man. By insisting that prayer provides conditions for God to move into human affairs, Cho not merely undermines God’s sovereignty, but also overlooks God’s initiative in prayer. He also ignores God’s principle in answering prayers. For example, God does not always answer prayers even though sometimes all the conditions to effective prayers have been met (cf. Matt 26:36–44; 2 Cor 12:7–9). He only answers prayers which correspond to His will (1 John 5:14–15). Cho also twists the meaning of praying in the Holy Spirit when he insists that it refers to speaking in tongues. When Paul and Jude encouraged believers to pray in the Holy Spirit, they were referring to the assistance, the influence, and the intercession of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:26). It has nothing to do with speaking in tongues.

His Method of Church Growth

Cho’s teaching of church growth through organisation has two major flaws. First, he neglects God’s will by concentrating too much on mechanical organisation. God does not designate everyone to have a big church. Besides, He has the sovereign will and authority to choose and act differently in the lives of various people. Second, he violates the Biblical role women by appointing them to be leaders or pastors to teach and preach to men. This distinctly violates Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 14:34–36 and 1 Timothy 2:9–14.

Biblical Response

Although the Bible shows explicitly that men will resist the truth in the last days (2 Tim 3:8), it does not mean that the true believer has to give up and surrender to the devil and his deceitful schemes. The Apostle Paul admonishes Timothy to preach the Word at all times, regardless of how evil the circumstances may be (2 Tim 4:2, 5). Jude also encourages the believers to "earnestly contend for the faith" (Jude 3). The words "earnestly contend" denote the great inner strength required in fighting for something by means of rational and scriptural arguments. Thus, Bible-believing Christians today must hold fast to sound doctrines, maintain Biblical teachings, and defend the truths of the Christian faith. To accomplish the task, God demands His servants to be faithful (1 Cor 4:1–2). To be a faithful servant of the Lord, Cho needs to give up all his wrong teachings and submit himself totally to the Word of God. He also needs to repent and return to the sovereign triune God Himself, who is the sole object of all men’s faithfulness and loyalty.

Rev Christian Wei (BA in History, National Chung-Hsin University; BA in Theology, Orient Fundamental Bible College; MA, PhD, Bob Jones University) is president of Chinese for Christ International and pastor of the Chinese Bible Church in Greensville, South Carolina, USA.

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