Acts 7-8: The 4 Tactics of Miraculous Tricksters

 

 

The tactics of miraculous tricksters haven’t changed in nearly 2000 years. Whether we talk about Simon the Sorcerer or Benny Hinn (whom I have seen in action, live and clearly fake) we get to the same four tactics to draw folks in.

1. Talk

2. Tricks

3. Testimony

4. Time

1. Talk: In Acts 8:9, Simon the Sorcerer went around saying “he himself was somebody great” (ESV). The modern miraculous tricksters are marvelous. If you don’t believe it, just ask them.

2. Tricks: Someone might ask, how can you say what Simon did was tricks. Because when the real power of God came into town, everyone could tell the difference. Even Simon could tell the difference and tried to buy some of the real power he saw displayed. If only I had the time to tell you all the tricks I saw at the Hinn crusade. I’ll just share one. He had supposedly gotten one man who had been in a wheelchair to walk on the stage. I watched as everyone else’s attention was turned to the new person on the stage. The supposedly healed man had to be carried down the stairs off the stage and put back in his wheelchair when Hinn was done with him. Tricks. They are still being used.

3. Testimony: Simon, having convinced some with his tricks perpetuated his reputation with the testimony of those who had been duped. Just watch a few episodes of the modern miraculous tricksters on TV and you will see they rely on the same kind of testimonies. Someone touched a TV and their cancer went into remission. No doubt a certain number of cancer patients go into remission each year. The trickster on TV didn’t heal these people, but they have been duped and they get on TV to testify to the “power of God” in their life. Notice that Simon had testimony from the least to the greatest. The fact that he had duped even great, powerful and influential people to believe him didn’t change the fact that he was a fake.

4. Time: According to Acts 8:11, Simon had amazed the people for a long time. We all know how this works. It starts small. You dupe a few people. They tell others. The others are skeptical. But keep up the tricks long enough and more and more people begin to believe. For how many years have these modern tricksters duped people. Maybe I should tell the story about my friend who had been in a motorcycle accident, became mentally and physically handicapped, bound to a wheelchair who wasn’t even allowed in the main room when Richard Roberts came to heal everybody in Beaumont, TX. My friend actually found the back entrance to the stage and was watching from the sidelines. When my able bodied friends got behind the curtains to see why he was hollering, they found him on the ground with one of Roberts’ henchman on top of him about to hit him in the face. Of course, the henchman said my friend had a demon and he was trying to exorcise him. Yeah right. But, the faithful followers of Roberts just won’t believe this story because he has been amazing them for a long time.

Anyway, when Philip, the real power of God, came to town. Everyone knew the difference, even Simon. Here is my challenge. Instead of coming in to town with a crusade where you rent the biggest hall and then beg for money as a seed of faith for a miracle. How about we meet down at the hospital, the nursing home or even the morgue. Let’s start cleaning those places out for free and then maybe we can declare that the power of God has really come in among us.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC