Teacher to Avoid - Steven Furtick, Elevation church, and Elevation Music

Dec 10

Hey y’all!

This post exists to provide links and information explaining why this teacher/resource is unsound, false, and should NOT be used or followed. We will add to it as we find more information.

We present this information out of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We would hope someone would love us enough to tell us when there was evidence that someone we followed was unsound and could be leading us astray. We are also told in Scripture to name those who are false teachers and to not associate with unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:11, 2 Tim. 4:3-4, 2 John 1:10-11, Matt 24:24, Mark 13:22, 1 John 4:1, 2 Peter 2:1). Please read with all of this in mind.

Disclaimer: We did not create the resources linked below, and we have not thoroughly vetted every website/podcast/YouTube Channel these links come from. We do our best to only share links that are from sound sources, but sometimes things could get missed. We do not endorse anything on these sites that deviates from the Bible or with our beliefs listed on our “What We Believe” page or our “Who We Are” page.

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***If you are in need of a resource to help you discuss different false teachings with the people in your life, we highly recommend these 2 books—A Field Guide on False Teaching by Ligonier ministries and Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin. Both of these books are also available on Audible. If you would like to try Audible, using our link to sign up for a trial will get you up to 2 free audiobooks.***

Steven Furtick is the “pastor” and founder of elevation church and founder and songwriter for elevation music/worship. We KNOW Furtick is a very popular teacher and is staunchly defended by his followers. But we would ask anyone who follows him to consider this question, would you rather defend a man or Jesus? Men are fallible, Jesus is not. Consider the evidence presented and pray about it.

Furtick is an EXTREMELY dangerous teacher. The way he talks makes it very difficult to follow what he is saying to check it against Scripture in real time and since he teaches topically (if you can call it that) he bounces around using Scripture with no context or completely out of context. He reads himself into the the Bible (narcigesis and/or eisegesis). He allows women to preach including his wife which violates Scripture (1 Timothy 2:9-15; 1 Corinthians 14), and he claims TD Jake’s as his mentor — TD Jake’s denies the Trinity and supports the heresy of modalism, which Furtick himself has preached as well. And there is so much more to discuss. He is for all intents and purposes at this point Word of Faith.

Elevation music being an extension of elevation and Furtick are not a sound source of worship music. Some songs can pass a theological smell test as Justin Peters puts it, but they (like Bethel and Hillsong) are concerned with promoting themselves, the churches they are a part of, and creating more “me” centered worship than God centered worship.

Below is all of the information we have found in our research. There is a tremendous amount and it isn’t all on one topic or issue. Please give it a read and watch and if you follow him pray for him and pray about the information you have read. *We will also work to update this article with new resources as they become available.

STEVEN FURTICK/ELEVATION/ELEVATION MUSIC

Steven Furtick has made it plain that elevation is for evangelism only. Their concern is not with feeding the flock. This video and post make it clear. Many are unaware of this video by Furtick, but it doesn’t mesh with the persona and appearance that has been promoted in recent years. Christians seeking to learn about God and His Word are insulted. Some could say maybe he was over zealous in his early ministry, but it seems clear he is still very interested in more of an evangelistic style preacher than feeding a church family from how the church operates today and how he preaches.

Video - https://youtu.be/_lHzBUf7BI4

Graphic showing Furtick’s statements from Den of Wolves Documentary (We have not seen this documentary so we make no endorsement or claims about it)

Steven Furtick quote///Image credit: Den of Wolves A Documentary

Steve Furtick teaches the modalism heresy. Many will say he didn’t mean it that way, but considering that it is what his mentor TD Jakes teaches, it seems Furtick is at least parroting a heresy he has learned from TD Jakes even if he doesn’t believe it himself. That would not be considered good shepherding.

*When sharing this info previously, some have claimed he was taken out of context, so we have included a thorough review done by Fighting for the Faith here as well other links showing it in more condensed formats. If you believe he was taken out of context, please review all of this info and pray about it.

Post from Facebook with the video of Furtick teaching this with explanation of the heresy in the post: https://www.facebook.com/581206039071736/posts/768149527044052/?d=n

Here are several links to indoctrination material used in elevations children’s ministry:

http://apprising.org/2014/02/19/indoctrinating-children-into-the-cult-of-steven-furtick/

https://standupforthetruth.com/2014/02/elevation-coloring-book/

Elevation church is also using and promoting the New Age non-Christian enneagram.

Here is a link to their video promoting it with a detailed explanation in the post: https://www.facebook.com/581206039071736/posts/781394159052922/?d=n

His most recent controversy - his “I am God almighty” quote. We couldn’t do a better job digging into that than Justin Peters did, so here is his review on that. Many say he was taken out of context, and he also addresses that in the video.

There are so many other issues here to unpack that it seemed simpler to post the rest of the links for everyone below so you can continue your research. We hope you find them helpful and informative.

If you would like to check out the post on elevation music, click here.

Michelle Lesley- https://michellelesley.com/2020/07/24/steven-furtick-elevation-elevation-music/

Justin Peters video about music (elevation music is included) - https://youtu.be/Y0uFSYHVSRk

Video compilation of several false teachings being taught by Furtick - https://www.facebook.com/101020594666037/posts/281864376581657/?vh=e&d=n

ReformedWiki - Steven Furtick/Elevation: false teacher? 9 concerns

Fighting for the Faith - A Biblical critique of Steven Furtick’s Preaching

The Gospel of Christ - Steven Furtick “Following Jesus DOES NOT CHANGE YOU” - Paul Washer and Steve Lawson respond

Colin Miller - WATCH: Steven Furtick DISGRACES Moses!

Fighting for the Faith - Steven Furtick makes Christmas about YOU rather than the birth of our Savior

WWUTT - What did Steven Furtick say about faith?

WWUTT - Did Steven Furtick can himself “God Almighty?”

Fighting for the Faith - Steven Furtick is trapped in Nazareth