The Theatrics Replacing Truth in Today’s Church

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.’” Jeremiah 23:16 (ESV)

Disclaimer:
This is the unapologetically biased opinion of a lay person. I make no claim to theological authority or prophetic insight. I’m not a pastor, a prophet, or a scholar—just someone who loves God and is paying attention. What you’ve read is based solely on my personal observations, scriptural study, and how I interpret the circumstances concerning Biblical prophecy and spiritual leadership. There is no animosity here—only concern, conviction, and commentary.

_____________________________________________

Sometimes, all it takes is a moment of distraction. That’s how I found myself following a story about false prophets in the church. It pulled me into deeper thought: Are there prophets today? I don’t believe the prophets of old still exist in the same way, but I do believe God still speaks through prophecy. Not in grand theatrics or spectacle, but in confirmation. I believe that God can use a message, sometimes even from a stranger, to confirm what He’s already whispered to your spirit.

And I don’t say this as some hyper-spiritual Christian trying to sound righteous. I say it as someone who has always told God, you know me. I don’t need signs and wonders to believe. I don’t need to see an angelic being to know You’re real. I’m proud to be among those who believe, even though I haven’t seen Him with my eyes. That faith grounds me.

This week, it was hard to choose a blog topic. Not because there was nothing to write about, but because everything felt like a repeat. Trump. Democrats. And of course, the internet’s favorite obsession: AI. It’s exhausting. But amidst all the noise, something so unbelievable and juvenile caught my attention that I couldn’t resist speaking on it.

What does it say about who is leading the Black community when the loudest voices come not from true spiritual leaders, but from YouTube pulpits? The Black church is in a state of crisis, and social media plays a major role in that. It is now easier than ever to gain a following. All someone has to do is say something that resonates, even if it’s shallow or twisted. Suddenly, they have a platform. Suddenly, they are someone’s spiritual authority.

Followings are fleeting, but the grip of prophecy, money, and the promise of greatness is strong. Everyone wants to be great, and many are willing to use the Word of God to justify their ambitions. Scripture is twisted to serve egos, not truth.

Tiphani Montgomery is a prime example. She recently stood in the pulpit and declared that God told her that if Matthew Stevenson does not repent, he will die. What she did was not uplift, it was condemnation. She didn’t minister, she judged. And last I checked, only God can cast that kind of judgment. That’s not prophecy. That’s blasphemy. Declaring someone’s death as a divine decree, without humility or reverence, is a mockery of the God she claims to serve.

Let’s not forget, Jesus Himself was nearly stoned for reminding the people that "there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, only Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:27). That truth enraged the crowd. Prophets don’t win popularity contests. But real prophets don’t condemn people to hell because of disagreement either. They speak truth with power, not spectacle.

Matthew Stevenson, a well-known preacher, is apparently living a lifestyle that many view as contrary to the Word of God. That may be worth addressing biblically, but not like this. Declaring someone’s death as a divine prophecy is not ministry. It’s manipulation. And for believers, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Her statement was not a divine insight. It was performance.

Now, she is calling out other ministers by name—Pastor Phillip Anthony Mitchell, Jackie and Preston Pressley—accusing them of calling her a witch and attacking her with subliminal messages for the past two years. She’s even recorded private phone calls and is now threatening to release them. But no one really cares. Not because the issue is unimportant, but because the show is tired. It’s not holy. It’s not righteous. It’s theater.

After her failed prophecy, she even pretended to have a husband. And what’s striking is that every family she condemns is married. Happily—outwardly. She has now inserted herself into their homes, their unions, putting their marriages on the line, all while she sits back, angry over subliminals, waiting for another man to fall or another marriage to fail. Social media has convinced her that she is not just a messenger, but a judge. A prophet with power she was never given.

And this is the state of her ministry: fueled by drama, not doctrine. Her conferences are packed with theatrics, talk of witches and warlocks, and diluted sermons full of vague dreams and visions. The Millions Conference is not centered on salvation. It’s centered on spirits. There’s talk of marine spirits, African ancestral spirits, and demonic realms, but very little of Jesus Christ. The messages don’t point to the cross. They glorify the speaker. It’s self-promotion dressed up as deliverance. The sermons are sensational but shallow, emotionally charged but spiritually empty. And millions tune in, hungry for a word, but leave confused, stirred, and still searching.

Her numbers have to be dwindling because people are waking up. The fruit does not match the message.

This is not ministry. It is mimicry. And mimicry is dangerous. It is imitation without anointing. It is performance without purpose. It looks like the real thing but lacks the power, humility, and truth that mark true ministry. It borrows the language of holiness but strips it of conviction. It stages deliverance like theater, leaving the audience moved but unchanged. The danger lies in how close it appears to truth, just enough to deceive, but never enough to transform.

This is American false prophecy. It’s not rooted in Scripture. It’s rooted in culture. A woman can stand in the pulpit and say God told her about Listerine before COVID, and somehow that becomes spiritual authority. Many women follow her because they believe that if they fast long enough, God will send them a husband. I wonder what happened to all the women who fasted for a year and are still unmarried. That says a lot. It reveals how desperate some of us have become, that we would follow a false prophet just to believe in a promise she never had the power to keep.

Is that not the Pied Piper? Her conference is called Millions for a reason. Because she is a female Pied Piper. She blows a loud whistle, makes clarion calls to the blind, and leads them straight into a sea of lies.

Now, I’m not saying everything she says is false. God can use anyone, even a false prophet. He has used lying spirits before to deliver His message. He even allowed a witch to call forth Samuel to speak truth. So maybe the “Listerine prophecy” came true. Maybe. But that kind of vague, half-true revelation doesn’t change the deeper issue.

None of it justifies blasphemy.

And yet, this is where the world seems to be heading. A place where frauds are mistaken for heroes and true saints are dragged into arguments that have nothing to do with doctrine or ministry. A space where spectacle replaces substance and platforms matter more than fruit. People argue over who is anointed, who has power, who speaks for God, as if He no longer judges the hearts of men. But no matter how loud the performance, we cannot see someone’s heart. We can only judge their fruit.

And as prophets or believers who claim to hear from God, it becomes even easier to judge, because the words must align with Scripture. True prophecy is meant for edification, exhortation, and comfort. That is the Word. Sentencing a man to death or declaring that a marriage will fail is none of those things. That is not prophecy. It is pride. Her language, her contradictions, and her mixed-up theology all point to the same conclusion: bad fruit.

There is also a cultural shift happening. Tiphani once said that culture does not change the Word of God, yet her entire ministry is shaped by cultural acceptance. Her very presence in the pulpit contradicts Scripture. According to 1 Timothy 2:12, a woman should not teach or have authority over a man. That is not a cultural opinion. That is the Word.

Yet she goes further, claiming that Paul the apostle was full of pride and misogyny. She speaks as if she has more authority than a man chosen by God, a man who encountered Jesus directly. That is not confidence. That is arrogance. That is rebellion cloaked in spiritual language.

This is the sickness we are witnessing in the church. A hunger for recognition, a craving for applause, and a willingness to manipulate the Word of God to serve the self. The church is becoming more theatrical and less theological. We are raising a generation that confuses going viral with being called.

If we are not careful, we will be so busy defending frauds that we forget the faith. We will exchange truth for trends and lose the power of the Gospel in the process.

It is time to return to the truth. Not the gospel of platforms or dreams or brand deals. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel that calls for repentance. The Gospel that demands humility. The Gospel that reminds us we are not the center of the story. Christ is.

Let us stop mistaking a following for fruit. Let us stop defending those who preach themselves instead of Christ. Because the truth is, if you are truly called, you do not need to prove it. Your fruit will speak for you.

Now, I know this topic, and I can’t stand the term, is considered “low-hanging fruit.” But this isn’t fruit you can pick and enjoy. It’s overly ripe. It’s filled with worms. Let’s keep it real. America is consumed by social media. And social media is consumed with truth filtered through lies. It’s the wheat and the tares. Fake frauds and a few true saints.

As Christians, we shouldn’t be surprised. This is the world system. It was never meant to be pure. That’s why we must stay close to God, to be able to recognize the tares when they appear.

Unfortunately, Tiphani Montgomery is lost. She needs to repent and turn from her wicked ways, because she displays all the signs of a false prophet. But more broadly, we as Christians must remain vigilant. The enemy doesn’t always show up in obvious ways. Sometimes, he hides in the glare of a ring light, wrapped in influence and Christian lingo.

Social media is a distraction, but if even one sliver of truth can break through to the masses, then we must confront it head-on. Not to join the noise, but to bring clarity. Not to chase trends, but to lift truth. Because no matter how loud the false prophets get, the Gospel still speaks louder if we are listening.

To bring me back to my original thought. The reason of this block post. We live in a world where people constantly need to be stimulated by something. That’s why social media is so successful. Just like newspapers, books, radio, and television once did, it keeps us occupied, following the voices of individuals with no foundation, so lost we will believe anything or anyone.

But it’s my beliefs that compel me to speak. I am not a prophet. I am not a pastor. I am a watcher, standing on the wall, witnessing what is happening in the church and in our culture. I don’t speak from a place of authority. I speak from conviction. And I speak because I still believe, even though I have not seen.

________________________________________________________

© 2025 Jacqueline Session Ausby. All rights reserved. This post and all original content published under DahTruth are the intellectual property of Jacqueline Session Ausby. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.