Spotting a false prophet should come easily to you as a Christian if you truly spend time in the Word of God and know what Scripture says. To make this clearer, here are a few key ways to help you easily identify a false preacher:
False Teaching
Their messages contradict Scripture. When you carefully examine what they teach, you will find that they preach their own opinions and add lies to support whatever they want to say, rather than faithfully communicating what God says.
Remember, the devil also knows Scripture, but he twists the Word to convey whatever meaning suits his agenda. This goes back to the age-old temptation of Eve, when the devil asked, “Did God really say?” Even when Scripture is crystal clear, false teachers will find a way to pervert its meaning to suit their goals.
A good example is Jesus’ instruction that Christians who are married and later divorced should remain unmarried as long as their spouse is still alive. Yet many preachers today tell people they can remarry, claiming that God could not have ordained the first marriage because it was abusive, or because one spouse was a sinner, or—more recently—because God did not explicitly tell them that the person was their spouse. Ridiculous.
Honour and Fear Are Directed Toward Them Instead of God
These preachers cause their members to reverence and fear them in a way that closely resembles a cult. Members are expected to obey whatever the preacher says without question. They are afraid to approach the preacher or risk disapproval, and everything must be done exactly according to the preacher’s wishes.
The focus becomes honouring, respecting, and fearing the preacher rather than God Himself.
They Love Money
These preachers are obsessed with money. Their desire for church growth is driven not by souls, but by profit. They deliberately plant churches in strategic locations to attract wealthy individuals, and their messages are designed to scratch itching ears rather than proclaim God’s truth.
They emphasise God as a God of love while conveniently ignoring the fact that He is also a righteous Judge. They organise endless programs and projects to extract money from naïve members, yet cannot give a transparent account of how church funds are spent.
Much of the money goes toward lavish lifestyles—such as purchasing multiple private jets—while their members suffer. Compared to the wealth they receive, they do little or nothing tangible or sustainable to help the poor and needy.
Bad Character
These preachers display ungodly character traits that should never be associated with Christians—especially those who claim to be Christian leaders. They lack control over their tongues and actions, insult people freely, pronounce curses, physically assault others, steal, or repeatedly engage in sexual sin.
Worse still, they show no genuine remorse, repentance, or decisive effort to change.
Do you know any other ways to spot a false preacher?
Tell us in the comments section.
