Elevation Church is a powerhouse in the contemporary Christian music industry and rivals that of two of the most insidious faux Christian movements in the world—Hillsong and Bethel Church. The so-called “worship” music that comes out of Elevation is very popular and played in mainstream Evangelical churches all around the world. Like its competitors, the music from Elevation is designed to draw you into their movement with emotionally-charged chord structures and shallow, uncontroversial lyrics that do nothing to glorify God and everything to exalt man.

Elevation Church is an insidious and pernicious organization that poses a grave threat to the true teachings of Christianity. Its lead pastor, Steven Furtick, is a charlatan who has followed in the footsteps of the notorious Hillsong and built a vast empire with over 20 campuses spanning the globe, including Toronto.

The allure of ear-pleasing music is a powerful snare that has the ability to captivate and seduce individuals into movements like Elevation Church. Despite its heretical teachings and false gospel, the music of Elevation Church has a way of drawing people in emotionally, providing a sense of belonging and comfort that can be incredibly intoxicating to . The combination of upbeat rhythms and positive lyrics creates an atmosphere that encourages worship and leaves individuals feeling uplifted and empowered. However, behind the music is a dangerous ideology that is far from the truth.

It’s not even that the lyrics are necessarily blasphemous that is the problem. In fact, I would argue that despite the shallowness of the lyrics in Elevation’s music, they can still be technically true and orthodox. But this is the essence of what Jude meant when he said that “certain people have crept in unnoticed”—these movements hide behind a shallow facade of orthodoxy in order to sell their movements to unsuspecting and undiscerning Christians and churches. If their music were obviously blasphemous, nobody would buy it.

The teachings of Elevation Church, along with its charismatic leader Steven Furtick, are steeped in the prosperity gospel, a false gospel that promises material gain and personal success through faith. This false gospel appeals to the flesh and encourages individuals to seek and pursue their own wants and desires rather than the will of God. The seductive and ear-pleasing music serves to distract from the harmful teachings and to emotionally engage individuals in a way that makes it difficult for them to see the truth.

While the music of Elevation Church may seem like a harmless form of worship-tainment, it is a dangerous tool that is used to manipulate individuals and draw them away from the truth. The prosperity gospel is a toxic and destructive ideology that ultimately leads people away from a relationship with Christ and into a life of greed and selfishness. By focusing on the emotional appeal of the music, individuals are blinded to the dangerous teachings and are led into a spiritual trap.

Furtick is infamous for his thoughtless and erratic statements, including the outrageous claim that Jesus committed sin in order to save people. He is a self-aggrandizing opportunist who manipulates scripture to serve his own ego. He is, in short, a complete and utter narcissist.

Part of the danger of Elevation Church lies in its facade of orthodoxy. On the surface, the church claims to adhere to traditional Christian doctrine, drawing on its Southern Baptist roots, and holding to a seemingly orthodox statement of faith. However, Furtick preaches a completely different gospel. He is an ardent supporter of the prosperity gospel, a toxic and harmful doctrine that preaches material wealth as a reward for faith and even contradicts his own church’s statement of faith on the doctrine of the Trinity, teaching from the pulpit a heresy known as modalism.

The prosperity gospel is a cancer that infects many churches in America, particularly those led by celebrity hucksters like Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, and T.D. Jakes. It is a false gospel rooted in greed, teaching that God is a genie who will grant one’s desires if they have enough faith. This gospel extends to all manner of selfish desires, from material wealth to personal relationships and academic achievements.

The prosperity gospel is not limited to the lie of seed-sowing, the treasonous practice of giving money to a preacher or ministry in exchange for promises of wealth and health. Rather, it is rooted in the very essence of selfishness and greed, using God as a means to acquire things that serve one’s carnal desires instead of aligning with God’s will. Furtick is in complete bondage to the false gospel and this is undeniably evident in his preaching. He rarely, if ever, speaks of the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, or the redemptive power of Jesus’ sacrifice. Instead, he twists scripture to serve his own purposes.

It is clear that Furtick and Elevation Church prioritize self-motivation and personal experience over sound doctrine and the teachings of Jesus Christ. This makes them a dangerous and subversively powerful force in the world of Christendom and one that should be rejected in all its manifestations, be it the music, the teaching, or any other practice or program that comes out of his false church.