WHEN TEARS BECOME A COMPASS TO DESTINY

“How Hebrews 5:7 Gets Turned into Theological Play-Doh”

By Akin Ojumu

Courtesy of Instagram’s ever-resourceful algorithm, I recently stumbled across a post containing a quote attributed to Lou Engle:

“Pay close attention to your tears because your tears point you to your destiny.” – Lou Engle

For those unfamiliar with Lou Engle, he is a prominent figure within the prophetic-apostolic stream of modern charismatic Christianity and has long been associated with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) milieu – a fast-growing heretic movement within Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity that teaches that God is restoring the governing offices of modern-day “apostles” and “prophets” to lead the Church.

Engle is also known for his extraordinarily intense preaching style—the animated gestures, the violent rocking back and forth, the shaking, the groaning, and the highly charged prophetic theatrics that frequently accompany his public ministry.

So, when I saw the statement that “your tears point you to your destiny,” I was hardly surprised. This kind of language is common currency in that religious ecosystem.

Take a little psychology. Add a spoonful of spirituality. Sprinkle in some destiny. Throw in a few tear drops. Then arrange the words in the right order until they sound deep enough to make someone stare thoughtfully into the distance.

Voilà.

A revelation has been born.

And because I apparently possess a gift for disturbing hornets’ nests, I decided to leave a simple question beneath the post:

“And where exactly is that written in Scripture? Chapter and verse, please.”

As expected, one of Lou Engle’s defenders promptly responded. He offered Hebrews 5:7.

Hebrews 5:7 KJV

“Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared.” 

Then came the helpful instruction:

“Referring to Jesus, read from verse 5 all the way down to the end :)”

And there we have it.

As a general rule, I do not spend my time responding to insults, abuse, curses, or personal attacks on social media. People can call me whatever they like. Defenders of religious celebrities can insult me until their data bundles expire. 

That does not particularly interest me.

But when someone takes a passage of Scripture, drags it out of its context, and conscripts it into the service of an idea the text does not teach, that is another matter entirely.

You may insult me. But please leave the Bible alone.

Contrary to what the Lou Engle’s disciple may have been taught to believe, Hebrews 5:7 does not teach that your tears point you to your destiny. 

Not remotely. 

Waiving Hebrews 5:7 as prooftext for Lou Engle’s pseudo-profundity is what happens when Scripture is treated like theological Play-Doh.

Take a biblical text. Knead it long enough. Stretch it far enough. Flatten it. Twist it. Roll it between your palms. And eventually you can mold it into whatever doctrine you had already decided to preach.

Hebrews 5:7

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

The subject of the passage is not destiny discovery. The subject is the incarnate Son’s suffering, prayer, reverence, obedience, and priestly identification with human weakness.

Keep reading.

Hebrews 5:8 

“Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what he suffered.”

That is the argument.

Suffering. Obedience. Submission. Priesthood.

The argument is not, follow your tears and they will lead you to your destiny.

The tears of Christ in Hebrews 5:7 were expressions of genuine human anguish as the incarnate Son walked the path of suffering and obedience appointed to Him by the Father. They were not celestial breadcrumbs Jesus followed in order to discover why He had come.

Christ did not need His tears to reveal His mission to Him. His mission was already known. His mission was already revealed. His mission was already prophesied.

Indeed, His redemptive work stood within the eternal purpose of God before Bethlehem ever had a manger.

Before Bethlehem. Before Gethsemane. Before Golgotha. Before Judas counted thirty pieces of silver. Before Caiaphas convened his religious tribunal. Before Pilate washed his hands. Before Roman soldiers lifted a hammer. Before nails pierced hands and feet. 

Before the foundation of the world, the redemptive mission of the Son belonged to the sovereign purpose of God. Centuries before the Incarnation, Scripture had already announced the suffering of the Messiah.

Psalm 22 portrayed the agony of the righteous sufferer in language that finds its astonishing fulfillment at Calvary.

Isaiah 52–53 announced the Servant who would be “Wounded for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities.”

Jesus did not arrive on earth wondering what His destiny might be. 

John the Baptist did not introduce Him as:

“Behold, the Man who is still trying to figure out where His tears are leading Him.”

He said:

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

The mission was already clear. The Lamb had come to die.

Peter makes the matter even more explicit:

1 Peter 1:19–20

“...He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.”

Notice the order.

Foreknown before the foundation of the world. Manifested in history.

This was not divine improvisation. Calvary was not God scrambling for Plan B because Adam wrecked Plan A. The Cross was not an emergency committee meeting in Heaven after humanity fell into sin.

Peter says again in Acts 2 that Jesus was:

Acts 2:23

“…delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.”

The definite plan and foreknowledge of God. Not a destiny discovered by following tears. Not a purpose revealed through emotional clues. Not a mission deciphered from inner anguish.

A DEFINITE PLAN and FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

And the Apostles repeat the same truth in Acts 4. 

Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the peoples of Israel gathered against Christ to do:

Acts 4:27–28

“…whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”

So, no.

Hebrews 5:7 is not Lou Engle’s biblical authorization to teach Christians that their tears are some sort of spiritual GPS directing them toward their destiny. The verse teaches something far greater and far more glorious.

It shows us the incarnate Son entering fully into the reality of human suffering. It shows us Christ praying with fervent cries and tears. It shows us His reverent submission to the Father. It shows us the obedient Son walking the path appointed to Him.

And ultimately, Hebrews presents Him as the perfect High Priest who suffered, obeyed, and became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

That is Hebrews 5. The text is about Christ. His suffering. His obedience. His priesthood. His saving work.

To turn that magnificent Christological passage into motivational advice about how your tears reveal your personal destiny is not biblical exposition. It is biblical ventriloquism.

The preacher has an idea. The text is placed on his lap. His hand goes up the back of the passage. And suddenly Scripture begins saying things Scripture never said.

Your tears may reveal that you are grieving. They may reveal that you are hurting. They may reveal love, disappointment, fear, repentance, compassion, joy, exhaustion, or loss. But there is no biblical doctrine teaching that tears function as a divinely installed compass pointing Christians toward their destiny.

And Hebrews 5:7 certainly does not establish one.

Christ’s tears did not reveal His mission. His mission had already been determined in the eternal counsel of God and announced beforehand in Scripture.

So, please. Stop turning the Bible into Play-Doh. Hebrews 5:7 belongs to Jesus Christ. Let the text say what God inspired it to say.