Joyce Meyer 1

The fact that Joyce Meyer still continues to be a popular teacher among evangelicals is more of a testimony to the Church's overall lack of discernment than it is to Meyer's ability to make a genuine impact for the Kingdom of God.

I stopped listening to Joyce Meyer many years ago when I discerned that both her personal lifestyle and her message did not line up with Scriptural truths. By the opulent lifestyle she continues to maintain, it is quite clear to me that she doesn't live by (or even believe in) the biblical principles she teaches to others.

For example, Meyer has been teaching gullible listeners for years that she has been delivered of a low self-esteem, a root of rejection, and a desperate need to meet with people's approval because she has finally 'come to understand who she is in Christ.' And yet, it is quite clear to any discerning individual that Meyer is still uncomfortable with herself, has not accepted herself, and is still enslaved to other people's opinions. How do we know this? The answer is simple: by examining the fruit that comes from her life. After all, this is what Jesus instructed us to do.

Meyer insists on hiding behind a glamorous mask so as to present a more appealing image for others to see. In addition, instead of accepting the face given to her by God, as well as the fact that aging is a natural part of life, she went and invested thousands of dollars in cosmetic surgery. And for what? For the sake of presenting a more appealing image to others. This certainly doesn't sound like a woman who has been 'delivered of a root of rejection' and 'knows who she is in Christ.'

A person who has truly come to understand their identity in Christ will never need to hide behind jewels, sequined outfits (which I've never seen worn twice), or cosmetic surgery, nor will they find the need to continually brag and boast into the cameras about their achievements. This is why Meyer's latest book, APPROVAL ADDICTION, is absolutely preposterous! Meyer has deceived people into thinking that she has been delivered of things which are clearly still strongholds in her life. Her identity is not in Christ, but in the fraudulent image which she continues to hide behind. Despite her profession of 'deliverance', Meyer has yet to discover that a person's true identity is much larger than any that can be fashioned through even the most opulent levels of material consumption.

It is common knowledge among Christian circles that Meyer's ministry has been under investigation due to excessive patterns of material consumption. Her ministry has come under scrutiny by several watchdog agencies who keep their eyes on multimillionaire televangelists. Red flags began to wildly wave when a plethora of mansions, vacation homes, a jet, a fleet of cars, costly antiques, etc., came bleeping across the radar screens of these watchdog agencies.

Whether Meyer acquired these possessions honestly or not is not the issue. Our Lord taught us that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. He taught us to build treasure in heaven, not here on the earth. The fact that Joyce Meyer has not been able to exercise the fruit of self-control when it comes to excessive material consumption has convinced me that she has yet to understand what it truly means to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God. And yet, she has the audacity to write books instructing others how to live for God.

Everything we love, live for, and long for should be with God in Heaven, seated at His right hand. Jesus alone is to be the only Treasure that we seek and pursue. While we all need food, clothing, and a roof over our heads in order to survive, Meyer has spun completely out of control in regard to these things.

The apostle Paul clearly taught that godliness with contentment is great gain. He reminded us that we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. He then went on to teach that if we have food and clothing, we should be content with that. Meyer (as well as every other multimillionaire television evangelist out there today) does not follow the example of our Lord and His apostles, and continues to bring great reproach to the name of Christ and His true Church because of this.

People need to wake up in the Church and stop supporting people like her. I find the lack of spiritual discernment and the blatant biblical illiteracy on the part of most Christians dismaying and appalling. The reason why the Joyce Meyers of the church world are able to do what they do is because the overwhelming majority of men and women who profess to be in Christ are not studying the Scriptures on their own as they ought.

As one who has been teaching the Word of God for over twenty years now, my counsel to all is to avoid this woman's teachings. In addition to teaching a prosperity gospel that cannot be supported by the Scriptures (and which sounds lame given the fact that 1/2 of the world's population is currently living in dire poverty) Meyer has clearly shown by her consumptive patterns and need to hide behind a glamorous image that she hasn't been delivered of anything and has yet to understand what kingdom living is all about.