How Steve Harvey BUTCHERS The Bible!

Fight For Truth

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Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to the channel where the Bible and critical thinking meet to give you real

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Christian commentary about the things that matter. Thanks so much for watching, let's get into the video. So Steve Harvey, for those of you who don't know, is a comedian, game show host, and now motivational speaker.

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Harvey often talks about getting rich and how to build wealth and accomplish your wildest dreams. But most of the time, he proves his point using little trite motivational sayings from our culture.

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The early bird gets the worm, you can be anything you want to be, dream big, never settle for less, etc.

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Most of the time, Steve Harvey simply sounds like a modern motivational speaker, nothing to see here. But in a video

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I just watched, Steve actually uses the Bible as a source. He attempts to use the Word of God as part of his motivational routine.

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In this particular clip, he's talking about sleep. Check this out. Rich people don't sleep eight hours a day.

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That's a third of your life. It ain't but 24 hours in a day. You cannot be asleep eight hours a day.

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You can't live in LA and wake up at 8 o 'clock in the morning. It's 11 o 'clock on the East Coast.

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The stock market been open two hours. They already making decisions about your life and your ass will sleep.

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The Bible says he who loves to sleep and the folding of hands, poverty will set upon you like a thief in the night.

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So Steve says you cannot be rich and sleep for eight hours a day. The Bible says that he who loves sleep will have poverty come upon him like a thief in the night.

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Now I want to simply ask a question which ought to come to your mind. Is he using this verse properly? Is he really attempting to exegete the

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Word of God and gain wisdom or is he simply skimming through the Bible looking for verses that will strengthen his motivational presentation?

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Let's talk about this using three biblical points. Number one, does Steve use this passage of Scripture accurately?

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In order to answer that question, we've actually got to reference it and read it. Proverbs 6, 10 through 11 says, quote, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber.

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At first glance, it seems that Steve Harvey's interpretation is entirely correct or at least acceptable. Don't sleep for eight hours a day or poverty will come upon you.

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Never sleep. Work all day. Never stop. Never settle. Eat more broccoli. Eye of the tiger. Blah, blah, blah. But remember, before you agree with Mr.

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Harvey, keep in mind that this is what all prosperity teachers do. They take one verse, they quote it out of context, and people buy it hook, line, and sinker every single time.

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So let's look at the verse that comes just before the one that Stephen quotes, shall we? Proverbs 6, 9. It says, quote, how long will you lie there,

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O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? So now we know what the passage is saying.

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It's talking about the proverbial sluggard, the lazy person who will not stop sleeping or wake up to do their work.

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They're lazy. The passage is not saying that you can't sleep for eight hours. It's saying that lazy people love sleep too much, and they are punished for it when harvest comes and they have not planted anything.

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That's the whole point. Therefore, the passage is not warning against having a healthy amount of sleep, whatever you happen to decide that is, rather, the warning is against loving sleep so much that it interferes with working hard for your family's well -being.

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But this is how Steve Harvey and all the Christian motivational pastors these days sound. They rip verses out of context and passionately use them with fervor to support their own motivational mumbo -jumbo.

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And that's all it is. It's the same formula every single time. You'd think we'd be wary of this by now in the church.

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We've seen it so often. You'd think we'd have more discernment given how many charlatans we've seen arise in our ranks.

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But no. We've let our guard down so much that our pastors and Steve Harvey, for goodness sake, sound exactly the same nowadays.

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It's tragic. This brings me to point number two. The video of Steve we just watched reminds me of pretty much all the popular pastors of our day and age.

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But isn't that odd? Shouldn't that really strike us as significant? Why does a motivational speaker sound identical to Joel Osteen or Kenneth Copeland, for instance?

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Maybe it's because, at the deepest level, the popular prosperity teachers and their motivational -speaking counterparts worship the same

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God. The God of money. That's the only explanation that makes sense. I've got news for all the preachers out there.

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If your sermon sounds like a motivational speech with Scripture thrown in every now and then, scattered about it, your teaching is not centered on the

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Word of God. Rather, it is an attempt to whip people into an emotional frenzy, an attempt to make them think that you're saying something profound and true because you got it from the

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Bible, while all the while you're saying something rooted in worldly wisdom. If you've got a pastor who is preaching motivational speeches with Scripture thrown in here and there, pastors like Stephen Furtick, Joel Osteen, or Kenneth Copeland, get out of there as fast as you can.

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They are leading you down a very dark path. Many of you are now going to ask me, Colin, how do we find a good pastor then?

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You always tell us how to find the bad ones. How do we find a good one? Well, it's a good thing the Bible has the answer to that question.

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Second Timothy 4 .2 says this, quote, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

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Find a pastor who makes an effort to rightly handle the word of truth. They don't teach their own opinions.

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They don't teach political correctness. They don't teach pop psychology. They teach the Word of God.

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They get into the original languages. They show you the historical context. They call on their congregation to memorize and meditate

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Scripture and to check them when they get something wrong, knowing that they're a fallible human being.

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That is a true pastor. And that is a true shepherd. This is the kind of man you want to lead you and your family spiritually.

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Trust me. Examples of such men are John MacArthur, Paul Washer, Votie Bauckham, Steve Lawson, R .C.

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Sproul, Doug Wilson, etc. There are many, many more, and we should thank God for these kinds of men. The point is this.

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The pastor you choose will lead you spiritually. When you have a family, he'll lead them too. If he is more tethered to the culture than he is to Scripture, you're not going to be led well.

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In fact, there's a good chance you're going to be led into false teaching. So don't listen to pastors who try to sound like Steve Harvey or any other relevant motivational con artist today.

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Christians are not called to act like the world, to act like the culture, no. They are called to act like Christ.

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And this brings me to point number three. What should this teach us? What should we walk away from this video thinking?

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What's the takeaway? Well, I'll tell you what this teaches us. It teaches us to remember where true wisdom comes from.

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True wisdom does not come from a secular psychology textbook. True wisdom will not come from a secular scholar or a motivational speaker.

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No, these are the places we look for wisdom, but that doesn't mean it's where we find it. The fact is, true wisdom comes from believing the

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Word of the living God. Proverbs 9 .10 says, quote, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the

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Holy One is insight. Listen to all the modern charlatans you want that are currently in our society.

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Their ideas have been tried before, and they will be tried again. From Greek philosophers to modern motivational gurus, everyone wants to sell you their magical program, their secret sauce to understanding life in the way it ought to be understood.

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Only when you listen to them will you truly understand what life's all about. Only then will you truly unlock the keys to your purpose and your success and your happiness.

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Is any of this sounding familiar? It should, because again, it's nothing new. And unfortunately, it's entered the

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Church. Ecclesiastes 1 .9 -10 demonstrates this for us perfectly. It says, quote, What has been will be again.

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What has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, look, this is something new?

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It was here already long ago. It was here before our time. So Christians, wake up.

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Stop buying this fake bill of goods you're being sold. There is no secret to life. God has given us every bit of wisdom we need in His Word.

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Trust in Him. Memorize, study, and meditate on the Word of God. Believe in Jesus Christ. That is the source of true unending wisdom.

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And let's pray for Steve Harvey, that he would turn to the truth of the Gospel and repent of all this foolishness.

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Thank you so much for watching. If you liked that video, please like, comment, share, subscribe, and hit the notification bell so that you never miss another one.

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And until next time, fight for truth, never surrender, and keep your eyes open. Thank you, and God bless.