Fourteen months ago, I wrote the following plea to the “members”[1] of NewSpring Church:
“For the sake of you, your spouse, your children, and your fellow believers, leave NewSpring Church.”
This was plea was a part of an article critical of Noble’s unsound preaching and attractional methods. It is not the only critical article I’ve written about Noble and NewSpring. Just this March, I wrote two. The first article addressed the tithing money-back guarantee that NewSpring was offering. In that article, I issued another plea:
“If you know anyone who attends NewSpring or Venue, please approach him, in love, with Bible in hand and explain to him why this Tithing Challenge is a sinful affront to God.”
In my second March article, I denounced Noble as an “entertainer” who “despite being exposed as clearly unqualified to teach from God’s word, Noble (a seminary dropout) remains the head of NewSpring Church.” Denouncements of Noble are not rare in Christian media. On the Pulpit & Pen website alone, Noble has been negatively mentioned in an article thirty-three times since November of 2013. Perry Noble, as a pastor, is an absolute disaster. Although he draws crowds and makes lots of money, he’s been a reproach to the Christian religion for years.
This week, Perry Noble was fired as the Pastor[2] of NewSpring Church problems for the “overuse of alcohol” as well as marital problems. His firing comes just four months after he hosted the “Most Excellent Way to Lead Conference” which included himself, Mark Driscoll (who himself had recently been fired from his own multisite megachurch), Steven Furtick, and Dave Ramsey. Perry Noble, up until his recent firing, was actually considered an expert on leadership in his circles. He regular released leadership podcasts, he wrote a leadership book, and he put on a leadership conference where he claims to have taught “how to leave a legacy by the impact of your leadership”.
Perry Noble is not the first pastor in history to be fired for moral failings and he’ll not be the last. Still, it should be noted that the warning signs were there with this man. Often times, people don’t understand why I write the articles that I do. After all, I’ll never go to NewSpring church, so what’s it matter to me what they do? There are hundreds if not thousands money-centric megachurches. I can’t put them all out of business.
I can warn one person about them, though. Making an impact on one person’s life is worth the time spent writing and researching an article.
The firing of Perry Noble has, in some way, vindicated the many negative criticisms of him. He’ll be back though, as sure as Jimmy Swaggart cries on stage, he’ll be back. Like I said before, Perry Noble draws. He’ll be back, as will many more like him. Hopefully, more people will start to heed the warnings about Noble and those like him. This is a good time to reassess the messages preached and activities put on at your own church. The chances are that your church is not a mega machine like NewSpring, but imitators are hardly rare and Noble is not the only unqualified pastor who is (or has been as the case may be) employed by a local church.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
[1] They refer to themselves as “owners” at NewSpring, not members
[2] CEO seems to be a more accurate term to me.
Seth Dunn 