Is Kevin Young A False Teacher?
Category 5
Verdict: An Obvious Wolf In Wolf’s Clothing.
Preface
Part of how this Discernment ministry operates is taking in reader questions about prevalent teachers. In this specific instance, the research is being done because Young is a rising prominent figure on social media. You can make a request here and see our answered verdicts here.
Biography
Kevin Young has been viral for a relatively short time, since June 2020, because of an initial post that blew up well beyond what he thought it would.[1] But prior to that he was a worship producer at Prestonwood Baptist Church, Jack Graham’s megachurch in Texas. From there, he was an associate pastor at Mountaintop Community Church, a seeker-sensitive church in Birmingham, Alabama.[2] From there he was the senior pastor of Friends Church: Willoughby Hills, Ohio, a quaker church with a seeker sensitive ambiance. His resume thus far denotes a liberal drift. In 2017, he was a seminary graduate with a doctorate in ministry at Portland Seminary. Portland Seminary is a liberal nondenominational seminary. In March 2017, he was a Senior Minister at JupiterFIRST Church, in Florida. Senor minister refers to senior citizens, not senior pastor. JupiterFirst is a liberal United Church of Christ (UCC) megachurch or aspiring megachurch in Jupiter, Florida. They openly champion diversity and are universalist.[3] Their values state:
We believe that each person is unique and valuable. It is the will of God that every person belong to a family of faith where they have a strong sense of being valued and loved.
We believe that each person is on a spiritual journey and that each of us is at a different stage of that journey.
We believe that the persistent search for God produces an authentic relationship with God, engendering love, strengthening faith, dissolving guilt, and giving life purpose and direction.
Their statement of beliefs state:
God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.
In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator.
These excerpts contradict the exclusive gospel of Jesus. There is also no mention of hell or the inerrancy of Scripture in their beliefs. Kevin Young would stop working there in January 2021. It’s fair to conclude that at one point in time the beliefs and values of JupiterFIRST were agreeable to the beliefs of Kevin Young.
A month later Kevin Young founded Christ’s Table, a virtual church that operates on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch with limited success. Additionally, he is on staff at Northwind Seminary, a liberal online seminary.[4] In the last several months, he has emerged as a deconstructionist pundit.
Homosexuality
Kevin Young has a well documented history of being pro homosexuality and transgenderism declaring his affinity for sodomy in the summer of 2021.[5]
So somehow, in the wearing of a rainbow watchband, I found my resolve to spill this ink. And on this, the last day of Pride Month, I have realized that it is time that I came out—not as a member of the LGBTQI+ community—but as an ally.
I hesitate to use the language of “coming out,” feeling that it should be reserved for the courageous stories of those within the LGBTQI+ community who have valiantly determined that their personhood is more important than the discomfort felt by those who would rather they stay mostly quiet and fully closeted.
And yet, it is truthful to say that for a pastor to come out in support of LGBTQI+ issues or individuals is to some people akin to pastor proclaiming: “I’ll choose eternal hell and damnation for $200, Alex.” Conservative Evangelicals tend to give equal ire to both our LGBTQI+ brothers and sisters and the clergy who support them. In some ways, the hate directed at church leaders is even more venomous. But that is changing, slowly, one courageous person and pastor at a time.
It isn’t safe to be an ally, yet. But it is now one pastor safer than it was.
Anti-Inerrancy
Kevin Young’s view of Scripture is that it contains error. Believing otherwise, to him, is idolatry.
THE BIBLE:
— Dr. Kevin M. Young (@kevinmyoung) March 25, 2023
🟢 Inspired.
🟡 Infallible.
🔴 Inerrant.
The Bible is inspired, the story alone is infallible, but the text is not inerrant.
Inerrancy is idolatry.
— Dr. Kevin M. Young (@kevinmyoung) March 26, 2023
God did not write a book. He inspired people who wrote inspired texts.
Amazing, beautiful, holy, transformative texts... but not inerrant in either original or xeroxed editions.
If you need something to be inerrant, it's Jesus, my dude.
Egalitarianism
As he supports homosexuality and has an overtly liberal view of Scripture, Kevin Young is also an egalitarian despite coming from a complementarian faith tradition, denoting deconstruction.
Semiotics
Semiotics is an interpretive method of that focuses on signs in the text. This stands in contrast to exegesis which focuses on the context and words of the text. Kevin Young considers Leonard Sweet his mentor,[6] and Sweet is a pioneer of this school of interpretation theory.
Miscellaneous
A collection of evidence in miscellaneous categories.
Things you can be and still be a Christian:
— Dr. Kevin M. Young (@kevinmyoung) January 21, 2023
Unchurched
Conservative
Liberal
LGBTQIA or +
Evangelical
EXvangelical
Progressive
MAGA
Affirming
Nationalist
Democrat
Agnostic
Things that make you not a Christian:
Not being a Christian
This tweet denotes antinomianism as well as universalism.
Conclusion
Kevin Young is betamale theology in a façade of alpha male packaging. His podcast, Jacked Theology, and physical appearance are appealing to a younger generation, but his theology is anti-biblical. And from his disregard for God’s Word comes his theology which he can and has bent to say whatever he wants. And so he has become an effective marketer for Satan on social media.
In the past Evangelical Dark Web researched John Pavlovitz for the same reasoning. Although Pavlovitz is more articulate, Kevin Young is, at the moment at the epicenter of many online conversations in Christianity, and unfortunately, many in the church believe Twitter is real life. This was not an exhaustive compilation of the reasoning and evidence for why Kevin Young is a false teacher, as that would be too long to read. This is to serve as a warning for an up and coming false teaching in the church. This is also to serve as evidence against those associated with Young.
[1] https://kevinyoung.substack.com/p/the-uneasy-business-of-being-viral
[2] https://mountaintopchurch.com/
[3] https://www.jupiterfirst.org/believe/
[4] https://www.northwindseminary.org/about Note: Kevin Young is not listed on their website as a staff member.
[5] https://kevinyoung.substack.com/p/from-anti-to-ally
[6] https://kmyoung.com/
One Response
I don’t know this guy. It’s possible that he was associated with Mountaintop Church at some point but not since 2005 when I became a member. And I can assure you his theology today does not line up with Mountaintop today nor did it line up with the founding pastor.
As for Mountaintop being a “seeker-sensitive” church I might disagree depending on your definition. While there are characteristics (production, searching for the unchurched, etc.) the messages preached are not as soft as the stereotypical “seeker” churches and do not shy away from the gospel or sin, or hell, or repentance, or the actual teachings of Jesus Christ.
Just wanted to share.