Pastoral Sleight of Hand

Pastoral sleight of hand occurs when a pastor intentionally and unceremoniously substitutes one biblical principle or concept for another similar, but distinctly different one. This causes confusion because most of his or her parishioners are unable to distinguish between the two -- a situation he or she is well aware of. Therefore, the pastor can use this maneuver to easily pull the wool over his or her congregation's eyes.

Here's a prime example. A few weeks ago, I heard a well-known Baptist minister preach a sermon about the concept of being born again. The biblical text he used for his message was John 3:1-3 (NIV) which states the following:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miracles and signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

Based on this passage of scripture, that pastor proceeded to preach as if the Bible said no one could get to heaven without being born again. He even stated it explicitly many times during his sermon. However, this passage of scripture states no such thing. Please note two things first -- this is the only instance in the scriptures in which the concept of being born again is mentioned, and Nicodemus never asked Jesus anything about how to get to heaven. But, most importantly, Jesus said, "... no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again," not "... no one can see the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again."

The Bible makes a clear distinction between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. Jesus constantly referred to heaven as a physical place of reward where there will be streets of gold, mansions, joy forever, etc. However, in Luke 17: 20-21 (NIV), the Bible has the following to say about the kingdom of God:

Once, having been asked of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or "There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

Therefore, the kingdom of God cannot be a physical place like heaven and, accordingly, is not the same thing. Unfortunately, many Christians believe it is and are, not surprisingly, easily duped by a sermon that uses the two concepts interchangeably.

So how do you protect yourself from this kind of religious shell game? The obvious answer is to carefully read the Bible for yourself and discover what it actually says -- not what some preacher says it says.