“What’s your message?” That was the question that Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends asked 4 year-old “preacher” Kanon Tipton. As most 4 year-old boys are apt to do when asked a question that they do not comprehend, young Kanon just shrugged his shoulders. Kanon and his parents, Damon and Candy, will be featured on National Geographic Channel’s “Pint-Sized Preachers,” which debuted on Wednesday, August 17. In their interview with Fox & Friends, Kanon’s mom continually talked about her son’s “passion and sincerity.” After watching young Kanon, there is no question that he has passion and sincerity.
However, one cannot discern whether something (or someone) is of God simply because the person is passionate or sincere. If that were the criteria, then a person’s beliefs would be validated as true by the passion and sincerity with which the person holds said beliefs. Christians who believe in the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture cannot rely upon passion and sincerity alone to determine whether our words or actions are “of God.” If what we say and do conflicts with the written Word of God, then no amount of passion or sincerity will change that fact.
There are billions of people in the world who have passionate and sincere religious beliefs, but who continue to reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Their passion and sincerity will not save them. Only Christ alone is salvation. The message of the Gospel — the atoning, sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross, His death, burial, and Resurrection — is “the power of God unto salvation for those who believe.” For preachers of any age, the Gospel of Jesus Christ should be preached with passion and sincerity. To preach any other way does a disservice to the Gospel. Does that mean that one must jump up and down, run on and off the stage, yell at the top of their voice, and pound their fist on the pulpit, in order to be passionate and sincere about the Gospel? Of course not. That is a ludicrous proposition.
I simply do not know whether young Kanon has been called by God to preach the Gospel message. After all, Jeremiah was called in his mother’s womb. But, I do know this — a passionate and sincere message, whether preached by a 4 year-old or a 44 year-old, must always be founded upon the very Word of God. Why? Because “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by (or through) the Word of God.”
Brother Howell,
I saw this on Fox and Friends yesterday and wondered the same thing about his mother’s words. What really got me going was the fact that his father sat there and admitted the he mimicked him and because of the mimicking he was following God. The jury is still out on this one for me.
Blessings,
Tim
Bro. Tim,
I was probably going to be a bit more hard in my analysis, but then my wife gently reminded me (as I was writing) that I shouldn’t be so definitive on that which I did not know for sure. I’m like you in that the jury is still out, but I am very skeptical, particularly when the little boy can’t answer a question as to what is his message. I would venture to say that in the pentecostal tradition within which this is taking place that it would be very easy for the little boy to “mimick” what the father and grandfather were doing. And, the dad even admitted that some of that was going on, but that he did not want to discourage his son from doing somthing that was good. There’s a fine line there for me, which is why I posted the video so that others can discern for themselves. Hope things are well with you today in NC. God bless,
Howell
Howell,
After posting on this myself I was contacted and informed that this family is also Oneness Pentecostal.
Mark,
I was contacted by someone as well, most likely the same person who contacted you. When I wrote about this, I was fairly confident that this was a Pentecostal family, but I didn’t know it was a Oneness Pentecostal one at that. While it’s hard to argue with someone’s experiences and what they said “God told them,” when the little boy couldn’t respond to a question asking him what his message was, I knew this was most likely not of God. If you’re teaching contrary to Scripture (as Oneness Pentecostals do), then this is definitely not of God. Thanks and have a great day,
Howell