Andrew Wommack changes Jesus' explicit teaching




Andrew Wommack changes Jesus' explicit teaching. 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g1hdZtnCApc

“All you’ve got to do to see you go from where you are to where you know God wants you to be is go to the book, go to the bible, find the seeds that promise the things that you’re needing and you put those seeds in your heart and you defend them. Satan will come and try to steal away the word, but if you will stand against the affliction and the persecution and if you don’t let other things enter in and choke the word of God, this seed will activate this supernatural born again life that’s on the inside of you and it’s just a matter of time until you see things come to pass.” 

Hermeneutics is the discipline of biblical interpretation that helps readers and hearers of Scripture understand and apply the biblical text.  One key principle of Hermeneutics is that a particular passage of scripture has one meaning but may have multiple possible applications. 

The Andrew Wommack quote above is from a YouTube short on his channel. In this short quote, Wommack has several presuppositions, such as his belief that no Christian should be unwell or suffer because God (in his view) has promised complete health and material wealth on this side of heaven. This is in clear opposition to scripture, which I have touched on in other blog posts. See 1 Peter 4:12-16 and 1 Tim 5:23. 

However, with this post, I want to address his use of the Parable of the Sower. Whilst he does not directly reference the parable in this short clip, it is obvious through his constant use of the word “seed” and phrases such as “Satan will come and steal away the word” and “don’t let other things enter in and choke the word.”  

As I mentioned earlier, one of the fundamental principles of Hermeneutics is that any particular passage of scripture has one meaning. This is the meaning that the author intended to convey when he spoke or wrote down the text. As Christians, it is our duty to delve into the context, social and cultural background, original language, etc. (2 Tim 2:15) to discern this intended meaning. 

The Parable of the Sower is found in 3 parallel passages in the Gospels. Matthew 13:3-23, Mark 4:3-25 and Luke 8:5-18. In each of these three passages, it is recorded that after telling the parable, Jesus clearly explained its intended meaning. Something we don’t always get from our Lord. 

In the Luke account, Jesus explains to his disciples that the seed in this story is ‘the word of God’. This is the Greek word ‘logos’. This is the gospel. The Greek lexicon BDAG confirms this, “In these places and many others logos is simply the Christian message, the gospel.”  The Mark account also says, “The sower sows the word.” This is the same Greek word, logos. But now we have the sower as well. The sower is simply the one who sows or ‘spreads’ the word. In the Matthew account the seed is described as the “word of the kingdom.” This is the gospel. 

Jesus himself made this parable clear for us. The seed is the word of God, the gospel. The sower is the one who spreads the gospel, and the soils are the hearts of the unregenerate who God either softens or hardens in preparation to receive the word. There is nothing special about the sower, no tricks or entertainment necessary to make the seed ‘appealing’ to the unsaved. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). 

Andrew Womack's twisting of our Lord’s parable implies that the seed is a ‘promise’ of the things you need in your life (i.e., health and material possessions). If you just hang onto it and ‘activate’ the supernatural born-again life (no text of scripture describes any such thing) inside of you, you can be guaranteed that God will provide it for you so that it is like some formula or slot machine for getting what we want in this life. 

This is an egregious mishandling of the text, for which he will have to answer to our Lord and explain why he altered it and felt Jesus' interpretation of the parable was insufficient.

Fellow believer, the parable of the soils is a wonderfully comforting and reassuring explanation from our Lord that he is sovereign in the salvation of those we love, our friends, co-workers and acquaintances. The gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16), and nothing we do to make it seem more appealing or “culturally acceptable” will change that. Secondly, if you have health or material needs, humbly bring all of your requests to our Father, who is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28); even if we can't see what this is right now, we know that He ultimately is in control and not us. What a great comfort that should be to us. 


Soli Deo Gloria 


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