Dem. Senator and ‘Pastor’ Raphael Warnock Claims Jesus Healed Using Psychological Games, Not Miracle
No surprises here with this wicked heretic
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA), the demonic pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ senior ‘pastor’ of Ebenezer Baptist Church (historically known for Martin Luther King Jr’s leadership), delivered a guest sermon at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas on August 28, 2022.
Referencing the healing of the paralyzed man lowered through the roof, Warnock claims that Jesus played psychological games on him to make him well. Far from supernaturally physically healing the man, Warnock says the only reason the man was paralyzed is because he had a “guilt-ridden personality” and was “internalizing stigma.” Once Jesus said he was forgiven, he was able to accept his own worth and identity, enabling him to walk.
The book says that Jesus was moved by their faith and he said, not to them but to him, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” Now, if you think about, I know you’ve been in church and you’ve been reading this text, but come on, think about it. Put on your common-sense helmet rather than, you know, what people expect you to think in church. You know that statement doesn’t make any sense. That’s a rather strange statement. The brother didn’t come looking for forgiveness. He came looking for healing. Yet Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” What’s that all about?
Well, the best critical commentaries point out that in the mindset of the ancients, if one had a serious illness, often it was assumed that sin was the cause. And so he says, “Your sins are forgiven.” That’s one way of thinking about it, but I would submit that Jesus is getting at something else here.
Long before Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Jesus understood the psychology of a guilt-ridden personality. Jesus understood what happens when a society constantly blames the victim. Jesus understands what happens when you’ve been so victimized that you start calling yourself by the names that the other folk used to call you. Jesus understood what happens when you internalize stigma.
The man was paralyzed by what he had internalized and weighed on his spirit. And all he needed was somebody to tell him, “Brother, you’re free. You’re a child of the living God. I don’t care what they said about you. I don’t care how much they’ve tried to marginalize you. You are a child of the living God.”
And once you know who you are, once you know whose you are, walking is easy. We shout when Jesus said “take up your bed and walk,” but I’m telling you, the brother was healed when Jesus said “your sins are forgiven,” because once you know who you are and whose you are, you can get up from your bed of affliction and know that you are a child of the living God.
Editor’s Note. Yeah, I used most of the post on WokePreacherTv’s YouTube channel and monkeyed about with it, Edlintoning at my discretion. He knows. I have permission. We’re cool.