Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

They speak softly, humbly, and convincingly. “It’s okay if you take medicine and go to the doctor,” they say. “Your faith is not like mine, and that’s okay. I have faith I can overcome this without medicine, but if you need to, take it. Do what is to the measure of your own faith.”

It sounds humble. But it is not.

This teaching strips God of His sovereignty. It makes every failure, every sickness, every unanswered prayer, your fault. You simply do not have enough faith. Meanwhile, those who proclaim this greater faith, they and their families experience the same sickness, wear glasses, lose loved ones to cancer, wear pacemakers, endure surgeries, and face tragedies just like you and me. And yet their followers remain loyal, silencing questions as if doubt itself were sin.

Faith is reduced to a tool for getting what you want from God. You are told to pray more, give more, serve more, and eventually you will achieve the blessings promised. The Gospel, the cross, repentance, justification, sanctification, is sidelined. Christ is no longer central. You are.

Even when they tell you it is okay to go to the doctor or take medicine, it is not concern for you that motivates them. It is self-preservation. They have learned how to exploit followers while shielding themselves from consequences. History is littered with lives lost under previous extremes of this theology. They protect themselves. They keep you on the hamster wheel of works-based, desire-driven faith.

And you? You buy the lie because you love it. You defend it because you want what it promises. You perpetuate it, silencing your conscience, and you lead others away from the true God. Every testimony shared becomes a tool in this deception, a sales pitch for human desire masquerading as divine power. It is not Christ crucified. It is not the Gospel.

This is the heart of the danger. Faith has been misdirected. The lie is seductive because it appeals to your desire for control, blessing, and spiritual status. But true faith does not manipulate God. True faith rests entirely on Him, on His sovereignty, His timing, His power, and His grace.

True faith trusts the God who is sovereign, providentially working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.