Cut to the Chase: Three (probably four) Reasons to Avoid David Platt

By Elizabeth Prata

Last week I wrote a series on discernment in 6 essays. They are below. I called it “Wolf Week” because false teachers are called wolves in scripture. My own version of Shark Week 🙂

Wolf Week Intro: or, We DO know the heart
Wolf Week # 1: My two “starter false teachers”
Wolf Week # 2: Why Wolves?
Wolf Week # 3: Types of false teachers and their different methods
Wolf Week # 4: Has that false teacher REALLY ‘helped’ you?
Wolf Week # 5: Why does God allow false teachers?

A short follow-up series I am publishing beginning today contains 4 more essays in short form focusing on 4 influential ‘Bible’ teachers. I have written discernment essays on these four previously in years past, but those essays were longer. In articles like that, I include sources, explain the teacher’s errors thoroughly, and provide examples. All this make the essays longer. Nowadays however, people like to read less lengthy material. So I cut to the chase and made shorter essays showing why these folks are false.

Having learned, hopefully, what was presented in the previous Wolf Week essays, these cut to the chase essays hopefully will edify you and give you skills to explore further, if you choose to.

This first one is about David Platt.

Through the years my discernment on David Platt went from unease, to alert, to alarm, settling on “no-go”. Here are my reasons:

1.Discernment unease: Platt’s book ‘Radical’ (2010-2012).

Kevin DeYoung at the time (2010) wrote a fair review of Radical. “Getting to the Root of Radical“. One of DeYoung’s concerns tracked with my main concern: “It is easy to stir people to action by relating how little everyone else has and how much we have in America, but we are not meant to have constant low-level guilt because we could be doing more.” Low-level guilt was a thread throughout the book I assessed as emotional manipulation. I’ve also seen it coined as Platt’s “poverty gospel”.  I thought the book was emotional, unbalanced, and in the end, dangerous.

2. Discernment alert – Urbana15 (2015)

Urbana is an annual college conference for missions aimed at youth. Platt usually speaks there. At the end of Urbana 15 Platt emotionally pleaded to the thousands assembled there to “decide for Christ”, and said ushers would come by and give them a glowstick which the attendees should break “if they had decided to follow Jesus for the first time”, knowing “that Jesus is worthy of their heart and life”. This altar call given to thousands of impressionable youth after his emotionally laden manipulative sermon ended with instruction to anyone who had repeated his altar call prayer to break their glowstick and come forward. Platt declared them saved.

Altar calls are a plague in the faith and result in often a misidentified Christian who had simply responded to emotions rather than repentance. Indeed, Platt’s sermon at Urbana 15 prior to the altar call was ABSENT the words sin and repent. Altar calls are dangerous.

3. Discernment Alarm: Isa Dreams (2018)

In 2018, then-International Mission Board President David Platt delivered a 6-minute report to the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting affirming Isa as Messiah and conversion through Muslim dreams. He told of some Muslims in a closed country having dreams of Isa and reporting that, and I quote Platt, “This formerly Muslim couple is now a follower of Isa the Messiah” Isa is NOT the Messiah.

In Islam, Isa is a prophet of Muhammad and a messenger of Allah. In Islam, it is written that “Jesus/Isa” did not die on the cross, but was alive and unconscious, taken down and nursed in a cave. Declaring someone saved after having had a dream (?!) anddeclaring Isa as a messiah is blasphemy. There is only one Messiah and he is not the Muslim version.

Platt’s declaration doubly devastating becuase he was Missions Leader of the largest denomination in the world, AND he declared it live on television where millions were watching. He should know better. That Platt didn’t, is evidence of his infidelity to Jesus.

4. The Real David Platt?

A new documentary is coming out in 2024 in which a sneak peek of 10 minutes was published at Christmastime 2023.

The link includes describing Platt’s alleged leadership and financial malfeasance of McLean Bible church, allegations by former members and leaders. The film is called The Real David Platt.

It reportedly interviews many of McLean’s church members, elders, and leaders who have departed Platt’s church and have much to say about alleged misbehavior from Platt. We’ll see. The published trailer was 10 minutes long and devastating to Mr Platt’s character, but I am reserving judgment on the video until I view it in its entirety, because the trailer was one-sided. The film hasn’t been released yet. Evangelical Dark Web says the film could be released as early as in June as of this writing, so it isn’t out yet. However, recently they reviewed some of the documents presented in the film. Their review of the film’s source documents is here.

However, I am not reserving judgment on David Platt overall. Due to the previous three issues of Radical, Urbana, and Isa issues, my conclusion is that David Platt IS one to mark and avoid.