F4F | Todd White: Icky Intimacy Talk

Mark 7 and the Tradition of the Elders

Welcome to another installment of Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Roseborough, I am your servant in Jesus Christ, and this is the channel that compares what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.

Alright, so you've probably seen it, maybe you have or haven't, there was kind of something really icky and gross that Todd White said on September 1st. Kosar covered it on his channel, and I'm covering it today, and we're gonna take a look at what he said in context.

I have to warn you that what it is that Todd White is gonna say, he's gonna be talking about pornography, and some of the things he says just are probably not appropriate for little ears. I just, so I'm saying that up front to give you the warning, so if you're little ears, yeah, save the video until after they go to bed, you know, probably, but we're gonna take a look at kind of how one of the weird things that shows up in charismatic churches, as well as those doctrinal systems that steer into mysticism, is a strange set of doctrines that oftentimes gets creepily into the erotic, is the best way I can put it.

So let me just go ahead and say this, go ahead and subscribe down below, don't forget to like the video, ring the bell. So let's get into this, and we'll take a look at what's going wrong, and so let me whirl this up.

This is the Lifestyle Christianity YouTube channel, this is Todd White, the name of the message is called Burning For You, and I am starting roughly at about the 42 minute, 52 second mark, so that we can get some context here.

And there's a weird thing going on here, and that is that he doesn't have an open Bible, but he is theologizing. He's making claims about God and making statements that clearly some of these run contrary to the revealed Word of God, and end up creating additions to it when you consider the implications of it.

And so in Scripture we're warned, in fact let me kind of start off in this direction, let's see, is it Matthew 7? No, it's Mark 7, I think it's Mark 7. Hold on a second here, I'm doing this from memory, Mark 7.

That we have clear warnings from Christ regarding man-made doctrines, and let me explain. Mark 7, now the Pharisees, they gathered to Jesus with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, and they saw that some of Jesus's disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.

For the Pharisees and all the Jews, they do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders. Now I'm going to note here, you're going to note, nowhere in the Old Testament, in the Tanakh, you know, in the Torah or the writings of the prophets, is there a command, a general command to wash your hands?

And so the particular practice that is being mentioned here was a practice invented by the Pharisees. Now listen to what I'm going to say. The Pharisees taught that there were two Torahs, and the Torah is the first five books of the Bible.

They claim that there was a written Torah, which would be Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, but when Moses ascended on Mount Sinai, that God gave Moses an oral Torah, and the purpose of the oral Torah was to keep the Gentiles from knowing the whole truth about God.

It's kind of a thing to keep them so that they wouldn't know the whole truth and they wouldn't be saved, they would perish. That was the whole idea. And this is just pure fabrication. There are no Pharisees mentioned in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament, at all.

They arise during the Intertestamental Period, and Jesus makes it clear in the Gospel of John, chapters 9 and 10, they jump the fence. These are usurpers, they were never called by God, they are not rightly teachers of Israel.

And so the command in the Tradition of the Elders, and that's the way you can refer to that body of work, capitalizes. Tradition of the Elders, think of it as a body of work. There was a command that basically made it clear that if you were a Jew and you went out into the marketplace, into the Agora, and you were in the presence of Gentiles, the goyim, that their ick would get on you, and you were required then, according to the Tradition of the Elders, the oral Torah, that when you came in, there was a ceremony that you had to go through, a religious washing ceremony to get the ick off of you.

And the ceremony involved a washbasin and a pitcher, so it wasn't soap and lather and stuff like this. And here's how the ritual went. You take your left hand, put it face down, face down over the washbasin, you take the pitcher and you pour water over the top of your left hand, switch hands, right hand now, face down, pour water on top of your hand, switch again, take your left hand, palm up, water on top of your left hand, switch it again, right hand up, water on top of your right hand, and then you pray this prayer, Lord God, I thank you that you have given me the command to wash my hands.

And once you've done that ritual, face down, face down, face palm up, palm up, water, water, water, and say the prayer, I thank you God that you've given me the command to wash my hands, you have fulfilled your obligation according to the command of the Tradition of the Elders.

But here's the thing, that's a man-made doctrine, and Jesus did not permit his disciples to obey it. So here in this account in Mark 7, what happens is that Jesus and his disciples are out doing their ministry work, Jesus is preaching and teaching, they're out among the Goyim, and they ended up going to the house of one of the Pharisees for dinner, and all of the Pharisees and their disciples stop at the little wash basin and wash their hands, and say that little prayer.

Jesus' disciples didn't at all, they skipped the wash basin, went right into the house. And this is where the Pharisees lose their minds, because their whole authority is based on these man-made doctrines of the Tradition of the Elders.

So when they come from the marketplace, Mark tells us, they do not eat unless they wash, and there are many other traditions, these are man-made traditions, that they observe, such as the washing of cups, pots, copper vessels, and dining couches.

And by the way, the word washing here is baptizo, the baptizing cups, and so the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, why do your disciples not walk, live their lives according to, and this should be capitalized, the Tradition of the Elders?

But they eat with hands that are defiled. So here's Jesus' response, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

In vain do they worship me, and watch this, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. You leave the commandment of God, and you hold to the Tradition of men, and you have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your own tradition.

And you're gonna note, this is one of the hallmarks of false teachers. You don't hear the Word of God, you hear their words, their ideas, their thoughts, their theologizing, as if it's on par with the Word of God.

So you just follow, you just make up stuff, okay? You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition. Moses said, honor your father and mother. Whoever reviles father and mother must surely die.

But you say, you say, if a man tells his father or mother whatever you would have gained for me, that's korban, that is a gift given to God. I don't have to, you don't have to support your family anymore.

You no longer permit him to do anything for his father and mother. Thus making void the Word of God by your tradition that you have handed down in many such things you do. So you're gonna note, when you are giving doctrines and teachings that are man-made in origin, and putting them on par with the Word of God according to Christ, you're making void the Word of God.

So we're gonna be listening to Todd White theologizing. Of course, he's spirit-filled, man, he glows in the dark. And so, I mean, everything he's saying has to be coming from God the Holy Spirit, right?

Wrong. And what he's saying is blasphemous. Blasphemous. So that's the best way I can describe it. So let's get to it. Just a reminder again, Little Ears, this isn't for them. This is not their episode.

Just want to let you know.

Intimacy, Fire, and the Claim That Christians Should Be Arsonists

And intimacy is priority. But intimacy is life. Without it, there's death. We need to know Him. And I need you to be on page with knowing Him. You need to be on page.

With knowing God, having intimacy. It's your workplace. If you're the only one that knows you're a Christian, something's really wrong. Okay, yeah, I'm gonna go with.

That. And if you work in a Christian environment, and everybody looks the same, but none of that environment is burning, something's wrong. That's why they have.

Fire extinguishers in the workplace. Burning is usually a bad thing. What are.

You talking about? We have him locked up in a bigger box than we said. We have him.

In. You can't lock God up in a box. Help. Hello, this is the Holy Spirit. And you locked me in a box, and I can't seem to get out. Please, would you open the lid of.

The box, please? Because He's not in a box. He's in you. God is not in a box.

Right. He's in you. Right. Christians are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. I agree. You are His temple. Yeah. Well, actually, we together are the temple of the Holy Spirit. But there's passages you can talk about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Indeed. And God wants to use you in this world. God has called us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them all Christ has commanded.

So yeah,.

He's given us commission. Yeah. He wants to bring fire. Christians should be...

What? Arsonists. Hang on, I'm gonna back this up. This is weird. And God wants to use you in this.

World. He wants to bring fire. Christians should be arsonists. Do you have a text for that? We should be known as fire starters. We should? Do you have a text that says that? No matter how dry, no matter how wet, no matter what it looks like, we should bring flames.

We need to bring flames. Got it. I want God to light me on.

Fire. I don't. I don't want God to light me on fire. That's usually associated.

With hell. In such a way to where everywhere I go, people catch it. You do.

Do you have a text to support this concept the way you're describing it? You.

Know, a biblical text. I don't want to live if I can't have it. You don't understand. So you're blackmailing God? I'm done. I'm like, gone. Okay. Either He intensifies the fire or I don't want to be in this world.

Are you threatening.

Self-harm? Do we need to put you on a lockdown? What is this? I said, Lord, this.

Morning I'm in my bedroom crying for two hours in my chair because I'm getting quiet. My mind's drifting, you know. I'm thinking of dumb stuff. I'm like, Lord, this is not okay. You see, if you saw me in my prayer room, you would think I'm a.

Lunatic. You have no idea. You know, there's a problem. There is a big problem here. Hang on a second here. Yeah, here it is. Matthew 6. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they've received their reward.

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.

They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they've received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Yeah, it just, I feel like what he's doing here runs against the grain of what Christ commanded there. You'd think he's lost it.

I'm really not kidding. It looks like this. God, I love you. I worship you. I praise you. Jesus, thank you so much. And I just have some pads on, like that. You're preaching about yourself, Todd. And I'm just loving the Lord, loving Him.

God, I love you so much. And maybe five minutes, I'm in that place of just, God, beholding Him. And then I'm like, in my mind, driving a car, just going somewhere that has.

Nothing to do with the Lord. So your mind wanders. Apparently, you suffer from lack of intimacy. Maybe it does, but I cut it off. Cut it off. I cut it off. I'm like,.

God, it's not okay. Did you see that? I know you did, because you're in me, and.

You see it. You're in me, and you see it. I don't understand. See, this is... I'm telling you, gone. Now, God is omniscient. He knows all things. You think that,.

Like, well, Lord, to be transparent. I got news for you. Nothing's hidden. He sits in the theater room of your soul and sees everything that goes across your screen,.

Guys. My soul has a theater room? Really? Okay. Your whole pornography thing, you think like no one knows it? God's watching it with you. God's watching pornography with people. Really? Wouldn't that mean He's participating in their sin?

See, what you just said is different than God knows all things. Now you're saying God is participating, even tacitly, you know, or passively. Listen again. He.

Sits in the theater room of your soul and sees everything that goes across your screen, guys. Your whole pornography thing, you think like no one knows it? God's watching it with you. He waits till you reach climax.

God, if He only knew me.

If He only knew me. So God is in there watching, and then says, if He only knew me. He only knew me. When you get to the conclusion of whatever it is you're.

Doing with your porn. If He only desired to know me, I would be His climax. That is...

It's just blasphemy. This is sick. What are you talking about? I can't even say the words, they're that blasphemous. I don't even want them on my lips, and it hurts that I heard them in my ears. I have to play them again, though.

This is disgusting. This is not Christianity. This is not biblical doctrine. This is not biblical teaching. These are Todd White doctrines created in his mind based upon what he perceives to be true, because of course, he glows in the dark, and he's indwelled with the Holy Spirit.

So he's able to just do improvisational doctrines. It's like a guitarist improv-ing. That's what he's doing.

Here. Listen again. God, if He only knew me. If He only knew me. If He only desired to know me, I would be His climax. He's not mad. He just sees it. These are sins that the.

Son of God bled and died for, and those who persist in sin and unbelief are going to experience the wrath of God, and you're taking away God's wrath.

He's in. In the frenzy and in the heat of a husband that is cheating on his wife. He.

Sees it. He's right there in bed with you. What text says that? He's right there in.

Bed with you, and he's seeing it all. He's watching it. He is watching you look into the woman that you're not in covenant with. So God's watching.

Through your eyes. What text says that? Now granted, God sees all things, but this is creepy beyond all reason and way beyond Scripture and begins to basically make God guilty of sin of some kind. He is watching through your eyes, through.

Your frenzy, through your passion, through you thinking that that's your life, and He is all the while in your heart saying, this is not who I created you to be.

He would be telling you to repent, convicting you of your sin. What are you talking about? This is not who I created you to be. Hello? This is called sin? But through.

The frenzy of human wisdom and selfish ambition. People are like, I don't like this.

Do you think He does? Yeah, the reason I don't like it is because you've gone well beyond Scripture, and these are Todd White doctrines. These are doctrines of men, and you're making void the actual Word of God with this impromptu doctrines that you're teaching here while the music is playing manipulatively in the.

Background. All the while, in the heat of that moment where you're in, you think it's okay because your wife doesn't know, and you've chosen to...because she doesn't treat you right, and you're not getting what you think you need.

You've chosen to go, maybe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, and God.

Is saying, if you would just water your own lawn. Really? Rather than calling the fellow to repent, God's, just water your own lawn. What are you doing with sin here? Watering it down for your doctrine of intimacy, which seems to be running.

Contrary to Scripture. People don't like it when I talk like this. I don't care if.

You do or not, really. I love Jesus. Yeah, if you loved Him, you would be staying within the bounds of the written Word of God, and not making up these doctrines that you've done. Because by making up these man-made doctrines that you're making up, you have much in common with false teachers, including the Pharisees.

I love Him. Do you? You don't seem to love His Word because you're not preaching it. What if? Yeah, here we go. What if Jesus, you know, what if. Instead of that, the Lord.

Spoke to you and said, hey. What if God said hey, but He won't interrupt you.

Because He's a gentleman. Where in Scripture does it say that? He doesn't do it. He doesn't confront you with your sin, really? Gosh, what if He did? He doesn't. But what if you got real with God? You just need to get real, man.

What if you.

Got real with God, and you realized that He is there, and you were convicted of.

Your righteousness? So I need to get real with God, and the scenario that you're giving, you've got a guy committing adultery on his wife, and you got another guy addicted to porn, and the problem is they need to get convicted of their righteousness.

I'm pretty sure they need to be convicted of their unrighteousness in those scenarios. Because when you're convicted of your.

Righteousness, He cuts off the want to sin, period. He cuts it off, man. Where does.

It say in Scripture that when you are convicted of your righteousness, God cuts off the desire to sin? That's a man-made doctrine. There's no text that says that.

I mean, He cuts it off as though, that's not, that could never be you. What are you talking about? Stomach sick to even think about it. God's in you watching pornography. He is seeing it.

No, He's not. Not like the way you're describing it.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If the eye is...

No text says that. No text says that God is looking through your eyes when you're sinning like that.

Dingle, the whole body is full of light, but if that light that's in you is darkness... See, there are Christians that say they love God, but they're stepping into these areas because they don't have intimacy with God.

Stepping into those... you mean they're sinning. They're sinning because they have a sinful flesh, and they are not mortifying their sinful flesh, but obeying its passions. The problem is not intimacy here.

The problem is our sinful flesh.

See how one thing you share builds up people, and everybody's like, yeah. And then you go into somewhere else, and it's like...

Yeah, the reason why people are going... Because clearly you're adding to Scripture, and you're saying things that the Bible doesn't say. In fact, you're saying things that are contradicted by the Word of God, even.

What if...

What if... What if we fully, fully, fully gave ourselves?

What if we fully, fully, fully... Have you fully, fully, fully given yourself, Todd? Because last time I checked, it was Christ who fully gave himself for me. Even became obedient to the point of death, death on a cross, so that I can be forgiven.

You've got this turned around backwards, sir.

As a body, gave ourselves as a community. What if... To this Father, what if we... What if we... What if we all together, what if we all together gave ourselves completely to community?

What are you talking about? The solution to our sin is to repent and be forgiven, not to... What if we all gave ourselves fully to community? How would I know when I've done that?

To Father, to the body, what if we stepped into a place of Philippians 2? What if we stepped into that place? And what place is that? Where we considered everyone else as greater than ourselves.

Yeah, that's what we're called to do in light of the incarnation of the Son of God. What if... What if...

What if we stepped into intimacy? What if we stepped into real relationship? What if... What if you stepped into real relationship? You know, the way Todd White has. There are people that are out there that watch, that have stuff to say about these things.

What are you going to say when you stand before Him? It's better that you know now that all of it is naked. Nothing is hidden from Him. David said... I agree. Psalm 139. Where can I go from your presence?

Nowhere.

And this should have been your point to begin with, without all the other stuff. Where?

If I go to the deepest part of the ocean? If you went to the furthest part of the galaxies, you think you can hide in someone else's bedroom?

You know, one has to wonder if he's projecting here. Just, you have to wonder. Our God... is a loving God. He's good. He's gracious. He's full of mercy. He's full of kindness. God is kind.

He's merciful. He's an amazing Father. Mm-hmm. And if you meet Him... If I meet Him... That stuff... and other things... that are idols... will never be an idol again.

Really, never be an idol again. If you just meet Jesus. If you just meet God. The reason why you're struggling is because you're just not intimate enough. You haven't fully surrendered enough. You haven't, you haven't, you haven't.

The reason why you still sin is because you still have a sinful flesh. You have your sinful old Adam to contend with. That's the struggle of the Christian walk. Read Romans 7. These are man-made doctrines.

This isn't Christian sanctification. This man is pontificating and theologizing, creating his own doctrines. And the things he said are absolutely blasphemous. Why anybody thinks that this is somehow a Christian teaching, and that they're learning what Scripture says because this man is up there saying these things, is beyond me.

Now, if I seem annoyed and upset, it's because I'm annoyed and upset. So, this is the kind of stuff that really I have a hard time with. So, if you found this video to be helpful, all the information on how you can share the video is down below.

Please warn people, this man is a wolf. He's not teaching the Word of God at all in what he preaches himself, in his own doctrines that come spinning out of his head. So, you know, warn people about this man.

Stay away from him. He's sick and he's perverted, and this is gross and blasphemous. So, if you found this helpful, all the information on how you can share the video is down below. And until next time, may God richly bless you in the grace and mercy won by Jesus Christ and his vicarious death on the cross for all of your sins.

Amen.