Hellfire or humour? Watch for the glint in the pastor’s eye!

Helena (that’s what I will call her here) was a mature lady with a strong Pentecostal background. She had been with our church for several years when she enrolled for a series of teachings on deliverance run by another church.

I had been close friends with the pastor of that particular church for a long time and met with him regularly for lunch. On one of those occasions he said to me; “Chris, you need to know that one of your church members is telling people that you are demon possessed.” I didn’t know if he was serious or just teasing me as he liked to do, but he went on; “She says she knows you are because of the evil glint in your eye.”

I couldn’t think of who it could possibly be but I did know that Helena was attending the teachings and I thought that she might know. So I phoned her. “Helena, please help me with something. Who else from our church is attending the teaching series at XYZ ? You see…”, and I told her what my pastor friend had reported to me. There was a long silence on the line and then in a little voice Helena said…” it was me pastor Chris.”

What had happened was that the course lecturer had listed symptoms that purportedly indicated that a person was demonised. One of them was ‘a glint in the eye’. I have a good sense of humour and I am told that my eyes often twinkle when I hear something amusing or am telling a funny story.

Helena had latched onto this and blurted out to the group that her pastor had a ‘glinty’ eye and so must be demonised. I am glad to say that my sense of humour did not desert me on that occasion and my eyes undoubtedly twinkled as I explained to the dear lady the difference between humour and hellfire. We remained on good terms and enjoyed fellowship for many years after that.

You would think that the main lesson to be learned from this incident was, ‘don’t go bad-mouthing someone else and certainly don’t accuse your pastor of being possessed.’ Perhaps it is, but my take away was different – don’t pay too much attention to lists that are derived from experience rather than from scripture.

Far too many ‘teachers’ develop doctrine and practice from their own experiences and the accounts of others. This is an unreliable source; it is far better to take what we teach directly from the Bible and what Jesus modelled through his teachings, actions and character.

Christopher Peppler

Christopher Peppler

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1 thought on “Hellfire or humour? Watch for the glint in the pastor’s eye!”

  1. Hi Chris,
    I totally agree with your take on the incident. However, I wonder if, in both dogma and doctrine, any of us truly manage to stick 100% to Scripture?

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About Me

My name is Christopher Peppler and I was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1947. While working in the financial sector I achieved a number of business qualifications from the Institute of Bankers, Damelin Management School, and The University of the Witwatersrand Business School. After over 20 years as a banker, I followed God’s calling and joined the ministry full time. After becoming a pastor of what is now a quite considerable church, I  earned an undergraduate theological qualification from the Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa and post-graduate degrees from two United States institutions. I was also awarded the Doctor of Theology in Systematic Theology from the University of Zululand in 2000.

Four years before that I established the South African Theological Seminary (SATS), which today is represented in over 70 countries and has more than 2 500 active students enrolled with it. I presently play an role supervising Masters and Doctoral students.

I am a passionate champion of the Christocentric or Christ-centred Principle, an approach to biblical interpretation and theological construction that emphasises the centrality of Jesus

I have been happily married to Patricia since the age of 20, have two children, Lance and Karen, a daughter-in-law Tracey, and granddaughters Jessica and Kirsten. I have now retired from both church and seminary leadership and devote my time to writing, discipling, and the classical guitar.

If you would like to read my testimony to Jesus then click HERE.