A Critique of Bill Johnson's "The Way of Life"
Johnson, Bill; The Way of Life: Experiencing the Culture of Heaven on Earth, 2018—Bill Johnson, Destiny Image Publishers, INC, Shippensburg, PA
I had heard much about Bill Johnson and Bethel Church over the years. From what I observed, I knew that there were numerous doctrinal differences that I had with him and his church. Bill Johnson really began to come onto my radar after watching the testimony of Lindsey Davis and the film “American Gospel: Christ Alone” However, I had never read anything written by Bill Johnson prior to reading “The Way of Life.” I had read much about Johnson but had never read anything by Johnson. That all changed when I promised a local pastor (who is friendly with Johnson and Bethel Church) that I would read and discuss the book with him. He graciously purchased the book for me and I kept our promise to meet. I began reading this book with an open mind. I truly wanted to hear from Johnson himself. However, what I found after reading this book was not “the way of life,” but the way of biblical confusion. In the introduction, Johnson states that, “The passion of my heart is to represent God well, in all things.” (pg. 6) In this article, I will address some of the main objections I have after reading this book, and how, in my opinion, Johnson has failed in his goal of representing God well.
1. An Over-Realized Eschatology
The subtitle of the book lays out the book’s main theme — “Experiencing the Culture of Heaven on Earth.” This is really the heartbeat of everything Bethel Church. It is front and center on their church website as their mission statement. This premise comes from the prayer in which Jesus taught the disciples in Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” According to Johnson, the “way of life” is to experience the culture of heaven on the earth. What does this mean? Johnson says,
“Simply put, there is no sickness there, so there is to be none here. There is no torment or sin in Heaven, so there is to be none here. We should never again question God’s will is in a given situation, if in fact it involves sin, sickness, or torment. It may be challenging but it’s not complicated.”
Johnson sees bringing the realities of heaven to earth as the believers “assignment” for this life. He even goes as far as combining this “assignment” with the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20. However, Johnson fails to provide any exegetical evidence as to why this phrase in Jesus’ prayer and the Great Commission are to be merged. There is also no evidence that God has commanded the Christian to even work to this end. Jesus is praying for the Father to accomplish “on earth as it is in heaven,” but Johnson sees this instead as the believers responsibility. This appears to be because he sees the apostolic authority given in the first century church as normative for the Christian life. Johnson twists the “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” to include the “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons” of Matthew 10:8. He sees this command given to Jesus’ disciples as a direct command for all believers living today. He considers this to be “an apostolic prayer” that is still to be prayed and bought to fruition today. (Link)
I believe that Johnson, and his followers, suffer from an over-realized eschatology. He desires good and great things —no sin, sickness, and suffering. Who wouldn’t desire that? However, he fails to see that this is the reality of the new heavens and new earth and is not possible in the age in which we currently live. God has promised us that he will make all things new and that one day we will experience a great resurrection from this sin-cursed world (see Revelation 21:1-4). I don’t think I have to convince anyone that sin, sickness, and suffering continue in this present world, even for the most faithful of Christians. It is not our calling to eliminate sickness — King Jesus does that through his Glorious appearing. This is not to say that we are not to pray for healing, for God does indeed heal.
Simply put, God has not asked us to bring heaven to earth. He has asked us to make disciples of all the nations. There is a big difference between these two missions. Bethel, and other Word of Faith churches, simply do not have a biblical theology of suffering. A biblical theology of suffering cannot be ignored and forgotten. God works, in spite of the brokenness of this world, to glorify Himself. This is why Bethel focuses so much of its time on healing services and raising the dead. They do not believe that these things (sickness and death) ought to exist in the world. However, they do, and will continue to exist until King Jesus puts an end to it all. Johnson sees the realities of the new heavens and new earth to be his calling now, but there is no scriptural evidence to back that up. This over-realized eschatology is dangerous on many levels:
It does not help Christians during their times of suffering
It fails to see the goodness of God during trying times of cancer, death, pain, and pandemics, etc.
It focuses on eliminating pain instead of walking by faith through it.
It believes it is always God’s will to heal and remove pain, but cannot answer why God doesn’t always do what they believe he ought to do. See Johnson say similar things in this clip. (Link)
2. An Under-realized Doctrine of God
Johnson’s god is portrayed to the reader as a weak god. Yes, the lowercase “g” is intentional because the god that Johnson describes is not the God of the Bible. Johnson’s god has a “dream” that one day “on earth as it is in heaven” might one day happen. He speaks about God as if he were in desperate longing, always needing reminders of how things ought to be. Johnson says, “He (God) longs for places on the earth that remind Him of Heaven, places in which He feels at home. Prayer and radical obedience make such places possible.”(pg. 96) Johnson writes as if God has a desire for how the end will be, but that He’s not really sure if it will happen or not. He writes, “Our approach to the future is to lay down our lives so that what He has intended to happen on the earth will, in fact, happen, and we will have received our assignment in shaping the course of history responsibly.” (pg. 68)
What God has “intended to happen” will happen? Isaiah 46:8-11 provides a God who stands in stark contrast with Johnson’s god—“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”
Johnson also speaks of God not being able to bring “on earth as it is in heaven” all on his own. In fact, “The Way of Life” is really about making sure that God’s “dream” ultimately comes to fruition. Johnson believes that God needs mankind in order to make his dream happen. This appears to be because Johnson has an unorthodox view of the sovereignty of God. In one of the most shocking statements in the entire book Johnson writes, “God is credited with many horrible things because of the thought He is God and in control of everything. It is true that God is in charge, but I wouldn’t agree that He is in control.” (39) He continues by attempting an analogy which fails in its desired intention. Johnson writes, “We are in charge of our households, but not always in control of what happens there. God created a world in which our wills would have an effect on the outcome. And in turn we were written into His sovereign plan. If I did to my children what many think God does to His, I’d be arrested for child abuse.” (39)
Johnson’s god is portrayed as weak, not in control, and helpless to the fact that the world is a mess. I believe that Joseph would disagree with Johnsons’ view of the sovereignty of God in the midst of suffering and evil. In the words he spoke to his brothers after years of trials and hardships, we hear how God is working through every circumstance, even those which appear evil to man.“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20) God meant for the evil of Joseph’s brothers to be used for their good and God’s glory. Watch Johnson make similar comments in this clip. (Link)
3. An Over-realized Doctrine of Mankind
A weakened view of God naturally brings an over-realized importance of man. This is the oldest trick in the book. This is the same tactic that is used by Satan to deceive Adam and Eve — to lie to them regarding what God has said and to make them think they are more capable doing things apart from the sovereign God. Instead of trusting an omnipotent God to do what He has purposed, Johnson sees mankind as “co-laboring” with God. This is a word used repeatedly throughout the entire book. The implied point of the term is that God wants to bring heaven to earth, but he can’t unless man helps him make His dream come true. Johnson also states that man has been given great power and authority to make God’s dream realized. For example, he says, “When I truly believe that nothing is impossible for God and nothing is impossible for those who believe, I will respond to that inward conviction of the heart by recognizing I carry solutions for the death, loss, and destruction that plagues humanity.” It is interesting to note that although Johnson claims to have the solutions to death and disease, Bethel’s healing center has been closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Yes, Johnson has not left God out of the picture, but he has given way too much strength and authority to man. (Link)
Here is some of what Johnson has said about man’s role in this task of bringing heaven to earth.
“…the realization of God’s dream through the cooperation of those made in His image.” 7
“Prayer removes the obstacles (the wall) to our victory so that our actions help facilitate the fulfillment of what was prayed for (the Kingdom to come). In the assignment to pray, we have an invitation to come into His presence with confidence and co-labor with Him to see His purposes realized and established on the earth.” 17
“He will bring it to pass as we co-laborer(sic) with Christ. We have the privilege of establishing a culture that attracts Heaven.” 18
“I believe there will be a generation who will dream dreams that God is totally devoted to.” 44
“The followers of Jesus are given this blank check as a daily gift to reveal the glory of His design of partnering with His creation.” 165
“He invites us into the courts of Heaven to dialogue with Him about what is to happen on planet Earth, the place He has given to us to steward (see Psalm 115:16). Somewhere in that equation is the free will of man merging with the dreams and desires of God.” 165-166
“Our dreams become the real estate that God occupies as our delight and trust in Him increases.” 170
“After all, He has destined me to be like His Son Jesus, in purity and power.” Pg 34
I write this article not to throw dirt on Bill Johnson. I write to warn believers of the dangers of the Bethel Church movement led by Bill Johnson. Bethel has become ubiquitous in its influence throughout the world, especially through its music empire of Bethel Music and Jesus Culture. It is so easy to listen to the music, seek out the teaching, let these false teachings creep in “unaware,” and be poisoned from the biblical truth. I would heartily discourage anyone from reading this book for spiritual nourishment. You will not find biblical teaching but only unorthodox views of God and man. “The Way of Life” actually leads to the way of death.
