SYNOPSIS: People wonder when it is reasonable to leave off following a teacher. What are the standards for giving loving benefit of the doubt, or assessing them as false and banning them completely from your purview? Both are called for in the Bible.
Continue reading “When to Follow or Reject a Teacher: Biblical Guidance”Category: false teachers
The irreversible destruction of false teachers
By Elizabeth Prata
A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. (Proverbs 29:1).
Gill’s Exposition explains the intriguing part about broken beyond remedy:
shall suddenly be destroyed; or “broken” (e); as a potter’s vessel is broken to pieces with an iron rod, and can never he put together again; so such persons shall be punished with everlasting destruction, which shall come upon them suddenly, when they are crying Peace to themselves notwithstanding the reproofs of God and men;
I understand that when Christians are developing and practicing discernment, it’s sometimes difficult to detect a false teacher, especially in the early days of the false teacher’s ministry or the early days of the Christian. Other people, though they suspect, find it hard to admit that their favorite teacher is false. “But they teach about Jesus!” they say. I know, it’s interesting to listen to some of the more crafty (Genesis 3:1) teachers who have such eloquence of tongue and then believe they are insincere. But remember that the antichrist is prophesied to gain the world by a smooth tongue and flattery. (Daniel 11:21). These present mini-antichrists (1 John 2:22) are almost as smooth as the prophesied Antichrist will be in the future, so it is no wonder that they are so slick in their speeches.
The main way to detect a false teacher of course is to compare what they say to the Bible (Acts 17:11).
But even then, some are so disguised as an angel of light that they never put a word wrong. Think of Demas who traveled with Paul, Simon Magus who was baptized by Philip, and of course Judas who lived WITH the disciples.
So here is another way to detect a false teacher: how they react when they are corrected or challenged. Doctrine is utmost, but behavior is important. How does the true or the false teacher respond when posed a question, challenged in their interpretation, or rebuked for their teaching?
It’s the behavior when corrected that also indicates the true vs false teacher. If the teacher is God-honoring s/he cares about the word as primary importance. How crushing it is when we say or teach something in error or contrary to proper exposition! We hasten to correct, humbling ourselves to Him and the truth of His word.
The false teacher who rebels when teaching the word will continue to rebel when corrected in the word. As the Proverb says, he will harden his neck. Stiff necked is a synonym for stubborn. Instead of being teachable and gentle, the false teacher will entrench him or herself into stubbornness and double down on their position. This is because they are full of pride, and care not for the truth of God’s word. They SAY they care, but their behavior SHOWS they do not.
The second half of the Proverb is encouraging. I know it’s all the rage to claim love and kindness to and for false teachers, but I do not. If a teacher has abused the name of Christ, twisted His words, and persistently shown that they care only for themselves, money or fame, harming His sheep in the process, the second half of the Proverb is rallying to my soul. It motivates me to leave the judgment of this scourge of fiery ants to the Lord, and to take comfort in His timing. They WILL be broken beyond remedy. Good.
When challenged over these issues the false teachers stiffen themselves, they entrench into their stubbornness. This is a God-ordained exposure. Let us not ignore these exposures seen through their behavior, but heed the wisdom in Proverbs.
It’s OK to take comfort in the knowledge of the coming permanent and irreversible destruction of these wolves. It means that the name of Jesus will eternally remain spotless with no dung thrown on Him or on His people, ever again. What a day that will be!
“God can use it…” Yes He can. But *will* He?
By Elizabeth Prata
“I don’t agree with everything [insert false teacher’s name here] but there are some good things he/she says. God can use it.”
No.
 |
| EPrata photo, not EPrata |
For people who say, well, ‘Don’t put God in a box, He can use anything’, you’re right, God can use anything. He can turn me into a giraffe. But will He? No, He created animals after their own kind. Just because God CAN turn me into a giraffe doesn’t mean He will.
There is the story of the demon-possessed slave girl in Acts which relates here.
As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. (Acts 16:16-18)
Why didn’t Paul say, as so many pastors and teachers and women say today, “She is speaking truth. I don’t agree with everything she says, but God can certainly use her”?
Because it isn’t about the words such a person says, it’s the source. Paul taught,
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).
He made four explicit points:
Righteousness v. lawlessness
Light v. darkness
Christ v. Belial (satan)
Believer v. unbeliever
He made four implicit points. The goal among believers is to be in:
partnership
fellowship
harmony
in common
Whatever flavor your favored partly or all-false teacher demonstrates from the second column, God will not use it. The dividing line is clear. Have nothing to do with those who are lawless, or dark, or of satan, or are an unbeliever.
He can do anything, even use a demon-possessed girl speaking truth – but He won’t. He didn’t. The Holy Spirit inside Paul was tormented hearing the slave girl speak heavenly glories from a satan-polluted mouth! (Acts 16:18). Any false teacher is demon influenced. In Galatians 1 Paul was astonished they were deserting the Gospel so quickly. In 2 Corinthians 11 he chastised them who put up with a different Gospel so easily. In Revelation 2, Jesus threatened the Thyatirans for tolerating a false prophetess. No, God won’t use falsity. His Son is too beautiful to Him and His Gospel is too pure. Why should he?
God chose to speak thru His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), not through satan. So why would you limit God and put Him in a box by saying He can’t follow through on what He said He will do? Trust Him. If He said He will work through the Gospel given rightly, He will.
And what if…”God can use” a false teacher’s words not to draw women to Christ but to harden them in their sin? Be careful what you say “God can use.” God DOES use sinners, wolves, and false doctrine, but not in the way most people think.
I’ll end with a best quote from a sister in Christ. When the TV series “The Bible” was released by Roma Downey, Sunny Shell reviewed it. She put in a Q & A to her review. She was asked,
Q. “Even though there’s a lot of error in this movie, still, don’t you think it’s a great way to show people who God really is, I mean, can’t God use anything to save someone?
A. No, I don’t think this movie is a great way to reveal the truth about God since it’s filled with lies about God. And yes, I realize God can use anything to save someone, but He only chose to use the message of the true Gospel to save all men (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Nowhere in Scripture does God command or allow His children to use the work of Satan to proclaim His truth. And God is clear, anyone who denies Him and defiles His holy character or word, works for the devil, not for God.
Since the beginning of time, the devil has attempted to minimize and blaspheme God’s holy character by lulling us to disregard His holiness, justice and righteousness. God has never called His children of light to partner with the works of darkness (2 Cor 6:15-16). As God’s children, we are commanded to pursue holiness, rather than try to find a way to compromise the glory of Christ in order to “reach more people”.
If I hear a woman saying “I know [such and such false teacher] doesn’t teach everything according to the Bible, but I like some things she teaches” then I know one thing for sure. Something in that false teacher’s doctrine appeals to her flesh and she is unwilling to give that up.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Don’t let anyone disqualify you from the prize!
By Elizabeth Prata
One of the most surprising things to me after my salvation was that there were people claiming to be Christian who would try to draw me away from the truth. I had been relieved to enter the kingdom, and I felt literally like I was stepping into a safety zone, an oasis of calm after having lived in turbulence and chaos for 42 years. It was a jolt to my system that though peace reigned between me and God, turbulence between false professors and true believers was abounding.
False professors are people who profess Christ but do not possess the Spirit. I.e., false believers.
Colossians is a tremendous book. Of this verse in Colossians, let’s first focus on the first five words, Paul’s warning, underline mine-
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, (Colossians 2:18, NASB).
Other translations say let no one disqualify you from the prize.
There were some spiritual elites going around Colossae, intimidating the new believers there. They threatened them with disqualification from the faith, and the newbies were buying it. Now, a true believer can never actually be separated from Christ, but the elites claimed the newbies were under a threat of failure in the faith if they did not believe and practice things in addition to Christ. This is what the book of Colossians is about- Paul re-teaching that Christ alone is sufficient.
Christ was not all-sufficient to these elites. They said the new believers must also practice one or more of three things: self-abasement (humility), worshiping angels, and visions.
True humility is a true virtue. The elites in Colossians were not practicing it though. They evidenced a prideful humility that pointed to themselves. Which isn’t humility at all, of course. They delighted in their humility, in effect, saying, ‘Look how humble I am! I’m sooo godly! I’m sooo faithful!’
Secondly, worship of angels in Colossae was an issue well into the fourth century. Worship of angels destroys the one thing believers are commanded to do: “worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (Matthew 4:10b).
And visions. Oh, my, let’s talk about visions. They were a problem in the first century and they are a problem in the twenty-first century. People who are errant in their beliefs and know there is no biblical support for these beliefs, (if diligent believers go looking) the false professors instead try to buttress their beliefs with experiences and visions.
John MacArthur preached,
What is he [Paul] saying? “Don’t let anybody tell you you’re disqualified from attaining the prize of spirituality because you haven’t reached the level of self-abasement, you haven’t understood the worship of angels, you haven’t had the right visions.” … They’ve said, “It’s Christ plus my visions; plus my experiences with the angels; plus my deeper experience, my higher experience.” (MacArthur, “Spiritual Intimidation, part 1“)
No. Just…NO. Christ alone. Satan’s wiles have always been to sway a believer from the path to Jesus feet, and bundle belief with other beliefs, actions, rules.
Spurgeon said in his excellent sermon on the verse titled “A Warning to Believers“,
THERE is an allusion here to the prize which was offered to the runners in the Olympic games, and at the outset it is well for us to remark how very frequently the Apostle Paul conducts us by his metaphors to the racecourse. Over and over again he is telling us so to run that we may obtain, bidding us to strive, and at other times to agonize, and speaking of wrestling and contending. Ought not this to make us feel what an intense thing the Christian life is—not a thing of sleepiness or haphazard, not a thing to be left now and then to a little superficial consideration?
These elites have “fleshly minds” as the verse indicates. They were puffed up with their visions and boasting of humility and spiritual pride of ‘knowing more’ (mysticism). They had no reason to be secure. Their minds were flesh, not of Christ.
“There is a tendency in human nature to move from objectivity to subjectivity-to shift the focus from Christ to experience. This has always intimidated weak believers and threatened the church.” (MacArthur, Commentary on Colossians & Philemon.)
False doctrine is not only a corruption in the church, it does damage to you individually. One way false teaching and false teachers harm you is that following them even temporarily and certainly for a longer period disqualifies you for the prize. It is the false teacher’s intent to try and disqualify you. Even if they make you doubt, they have succeeded. Even if they make you wander, thus diminishing your effectiveness for a time, they have succeeded. That is why Paul wrote such a strong warning.
For the strong believer, what is inferred is a stronger believer’s responsibility to our brethren who are following a false teacher. How will it be when they are judged, when told to give an account of themselves (Romans 14:12, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15) and we hear Jesus say that a friend has lost some prizes because they followed a false teacher and thus were disobeying Jesus, while we knew all along and never said anything.
Jude says, But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.
Catch that. They are devoid of the Spirit. This means they do not possess the Spirit. i.e. unsaved. But Jude goes on in Jude 1:22-23,
And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
This means, snatch them from wandering, grab them to prevent disqualification, help them understand in love and in discernment the person they are following will lead them AWAY from the prize.
Let’s end where we started. Don’t let anyone defraud you of the prize. The ultimate prize is Jesus, His faith, His comfort, faith in Him and Him alone.
The Unspeakable Pride of False Teachers
By Elizabeth Prata
Regarding the strange video Beth Moore made of herself and posted on Instagram. She filmed herself working out in pajamas, slippers, and bed head. The point of her video was to reassure her followers just how normal she is.
She panned the camera to show her slippers working the step on her elliptical machine, took care to pan up to the lump of bed hair that wouldn’t lay down, and to note that she is still in pajamas, to which she gestured. Continue reading “The Unspeakable Pride of False Teachers”
The irreversible destruction of false teachers
By Elizabeth Prata
A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. (Proverbs 29:1).
Gill’s Exposition explains the intriguing part about broken beyond remedy:
shall suddenly be destroyed; or “broken” (e); as a potter’s vessel is broken to pieces with an iron rod, and can never he put together again; so such persons shall be punished with everlasting destruction, which shall come upon them suddenly, when they are crying Peace to themselves notwithstanding the reproofs of God and men;
I understand that when Christians are developing and practicing discernment, it’s sometimes difficult to detect a false teacher, especially in the early days of the false teacher’s ministry or the early days of the Christian. Other people, though they suspect, find it hard to admit that their favorite teacher is false. “But they teach about Jesus!” they say. I know, it’s interesting to listen to some of the more crafty (Genesis 3:1) teachers who have such eloquence of tongue and then believe they are insincere. But remember that the antichrist is prophesied to gain the world by a smooth tongue and flattery. (Daniel 11:21). These present mini-antichrists (1 John 2:22) are almost as smooth as the prophesied Antichrist will be in the future, so it is no wonder that they are so slick in their speeches.
The main way to detect a false teacher of course is to compare what they say to the Bible (Acts 17:11).
Here is another way to detect a false teacher: how they react when they are corrected or challenged. Doctrine is utmost, but behavior is important. How does the true or the false teacher respond when posed a question, challenged in their interpretation, or rebuked for their teaching?
It’s the behavior when corrected that also proves the true vs false teacher. The god-honoring teacher cares about His word as primary importance. How crushing it is when we say or teach something in error or contrary to proper exposition! We hasten to correct, humbling ourselves to Him and the truth of His word.
Justin Peters is a true teacher but is often challenged and rebuked by some who are less discerning. He responds in charity and gentleness, with a teachable spirit when warranted. At the most, if a person challenging him is not teachable, he will ignore the words of that chattering crow and go his way, sharing the Gospel and ministering in truth.
The false teacher who rebels when teaching the word will continue to rebel when corrected in the word. As the Proverb says, he will harden his neck. Stiff necked is a synonym for stubborn. Instead of being teachable and gentle, the false teacher will entrench him or herself into stubbornness and double down on their position. This is because they are full of pride, and care not for the truth of God’s word. They SAY they care, but their behavior SHOWS they do not.
The second half of the Proverb is encouraging. I know it’s all the rage to claim love and kindness to and for false teachers, but I do not. If a teacher has abused the name of Christ, twisted His words, and persistently shown that they care only for themselves, money and fame, harming His sheep in the process, the second half of the Proverb is rallying to my soul. It motivates me to leave the judgment of this scourge of fiery ants to the Lord, and to take comfort in His timing. They WILL be broken beyond remedy. Good.
John Mason on Twitter said, (@LivingGodsTruth)
It would appear that the most popular names and teachers in Christian markets are either:
1. Conforming to the pressures of LGBTQ acceptance over the Word of God.
2. Not preaching sin at all & a promoting a false prosperity centered Christianity.
This is God ordained exposure.
I agree, and in my opinion these are examples of the Proverb. When challenged over these issues the false teachers stiffen themselves, they entrench into their stubbornness. This is a God-ordained exposure. Let us not ignore these exposures seen through their behavior, but heed the wisdom in Proverbs.
It’s OK to take comfort in the knowledge of the coming permanent and irreversible destruction of these wolves. It means that the name of Jesus will eternally remain spotless with no dung thrown on Him or on His people, ever again. What a day that will be!
Disciples of false teachers, their anger, and what we can learn from this opportunity
By Elizabeth Prata
The fiercer the reaction, the deeper the hold satan has on his false teacher and her followers. We’ve seen the rabid ferocity of those who follow Beth Moore. When their idol is touched, her people come from out of the woodwork to pile on to the person attempting to bring light to Moore’s followers.
The same recently happened with Rachel Held Evans. My obituary contained mention of the fact that RHE had lived the life an an apostate, causing vitriol to pour from the lips of her many followers.
It’s important not to simply shae our heads adn go tut-tut, and walk away. I like to process an event and try to find a positive meaning from it. So that is what this essay is. Perhaps others may find it helpful.
These are a few of the names I was directly called:
wrong
gross
unkind
unloving
disgusting
opportunist
cruel
arrogant
horrid
disgraceful
insensitive
hypocrite
nasty
judgmental
condescending
Pharisee
poisonous
heathen
unsaved
good only for compost
evil
abomination
hellspawn (my personal favorite, lol)
b**ch
I asked the angry people tweeting me to cut and paste the allegedly objectionable portions of my essay, with an earnest promise that I’d take a look at it. Not one, not one person, acceded to my request. Very few even shared a Bible verse, to my recollection. I was called to be tolerant, but by the lengthy list above, you can see that their call for loving tolerance was simply a double standard, as they were anything but.
Anahn E. Moo® @anahnemoo made the following observation:
Every post, tweet, and article I’ve read by born-again Christians who are discussing the very likely state of RHE’s soul have been loving, gentle, mournful, and prayerful.
Every response by her worshipers have been vile and hateful, often laced with profanity and blasphemy.
This was a typical tweet from a #RHE devotee. There were literally hundreds on Saturday. Mainly they went like this, if I can summarize the general vein:
“RHE taught love & grace and tolerance, you horrid, poisonous hellspawn who speaks lies! I pray that you, judgmental, nasty Pharisee that you are, will find the grace that we all have, thanks to Rachel our prophet’s teaching”. This is a compilation of actual tweets.
Some of these people I chose to engage with, and I had success with one or two. One I blocked immediately, (the curse word lady). Two or three others I engaged with a bit then muted. The rest I shared the Gospel, attempted to be gracious, and let the hateful words slide off my back while offering either verses or pleasantries. One lady I did get a huge kick out of, her comment stood out. See below.
With so many tweeting and commenting, how did I know which to mute, block, or engage? That is a discussion I’ll enter into below. For now, I believe I can make an axiom out of this: the deeper the false teacher is in satan, the more vitriolic her followers’ response will be to anyone claiming she is false. Alternately, the longer satan has had a ‘spy’ in his clutches, having infiltrated a body of believers, the harder satan hangs on to her. (cf Revelation 2:20). His job is to use the false teacher to make slaves and draw away the unwary from Christ.
Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— (Galatians 2:4).
These spies infiltrate the body and then promote false teachings, to which the fleshly gravitate. They accumulate these teachers for themselves, heaping them up because these false teachers suit their lusts.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, (2 Timothy 4:3).
Neither the false teacher nor their followers will want to let go. The false teacher is enjoying popularity and money, the fleshly followers enjoy having their desires indulged.
Their ferocity is always at-the-ready:
Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6).
Their ferociousness is always bubbling just below the surface. Upon the slightest touch, it spews immediately and with a savagery that astounds the more polite and civil members of society. This is as true in real life as it is online, I’ve experienced both.
The ‘dogs’ verse evokes a mental image of stray, skinny, mangy, hungry dogs roaming in packs, but when you try to pet them, they turn snarling with foaming lips and tear you limb from limb.
We know that the world’s systems are under satan’s thumb. (2 Corinthians 4:4). Entertainment, politics, media, secular organizations all serve satan’s agenda, not Christ’s. We have seen where Christian movie makers and actors are blacklisted or whose reputations are destroyed, simply for either speaking as ambassadors of Jesus or for making movies that reflect His precepts.
We’ve seen in politics, especially in the realms of pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality, people that flood the public square with satan’s agenda and how they pile on on to those who oppose it. Even death threats and physical violence has been done against people exercising their right to freely speak their conservative beliefs in the public arenas.
We’ve seen the media taken over by the liberal journalists, who go to any lengths to preserve and present satan’s reality and publish even lies through their print or broadcast mediums.
In my past experience as a journalist I’ve experienced how the liberal media works when I opposed the lies. They decide on a target. In one case they had decided on three targets for a certain smear campaign, but decided three was too unwieldy so then they focused their attention on one person alone, funneling all their hostility onto him. Next, they decide what to say against their selected target, and lies work just as well or even better than the truth. Finally, they tag-team the target with their talking points. They do not alter it and they do not vary their talking points, knowing that if a lie is repeated enough times, it will stick. They do this with a savagery and a brutality that is relentless and breathtaking.
Events such as these are instructive, I find. Even more so is when the Christian stands against satan’s lies when opposing a false teacher. How is it instructive? The false teacher’s followers are masquerading as penitent, polite, grace filled people, therefore they are hard to spot. But when their idol is touched, that thin veneer is stripped away quickly. This is helpful. With little effort we can quickly see who the mission field is. False converts are hard to spot normally, but when they come out in full force, well, there they are.
False teachers are a problem and have been since the beginning. Their followers are often like marauding hordes intent on destruction (of character, reputation of the body itself). In fact, in John 16:2 (NAS) we read,
“They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.”
They think they are doing right, protecting their false teacher so fiercely.
By the number of verses in the New Testament dealing with the fact that false teachers will exist, and that their many followers will cling to lies, we know we must be on guard and act as salt and light to their dying hearts.
Now it is the job of the Christian to determine which disciples of false teachers to engage with and which to turn away from. The Bible suggests various approaches.
For example, Jude 1:22-23 says to engage,
have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others, show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
James says to engage,
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, (James 5:19).
Titus 3:10 says to warn a divisive man once then twice, (but then then have no more to do with him, because foolish controversies edify no one.)
In other cases we are not to engage with a follower of a false teacher or a false teacher herself. We are told to simply mark and avoid, (Romans 16:17), told to close the door to the false teacher, not even allowing him or her into our homes. (2 John 1:10).
Other times we are also told not to associate:
Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. (2 Thessalonians 3:14).
By the number of verses that exhort the believer to do certain things or not to do certain things when encountering a false teacher and/or her converts, it’s obvious that care and prayer must be involved. Is this a case where I must engage? Or simply mark and avoid? Is this a case where I have mercy on those who doubt, or is it a case where the doubt is so entrenched that I must close the door to them?
The level of their anger will be a first indication of how far to go in engaging them. The list of angry words above is put in a level of order from (IMO) mild to hot. (AKA wanderers from the truth) it’s obvious that care and prayer must be involved.
Remember, the hate directed toward you is not directed toward you particularly, it’s directed toward Jesus. It is not a situation to decry, but it is in fact an opportunity. Wayward believers have just revealed themselves. What to do? Not all, but some are the mission field. The level of their anger will be a first indication of how far to go in engaging them. The list of angry words above is put in a level of order from (IMO) mild to hot.
We can engage with scripture, share the Gospel, or simply behave in ways the world does not expect (salt & light, grace & truth).
Other times we mark and avoid. Praying to the Holy Spirit will guide you as to what to do, when. Remember, His ministry is to point to Jesus and the Spirit is even more concerned than you are for Jesus’ name, your edification and growth, and the false believer’s soul (whether it demonstrates God’s justice in perdition or in His grace in heaven).
Be well and wise, soldier, and march onward.
————————————
This is a heartfelt PS. I wrote this essay because I process things by writing. I’m autistic. I’m not introspective. I find it easier to write it out of me and then see what is on the page.
I also wanted to make this an opportunity for encouraging anyone with some verses and facts, and a perspective that’s hopefully positive. I’m not writing this because I think said everything perfectly, I didn’t. There were a few cases where I regret my comment. I don’t write this because feel I have it all figured out. I don’t. Even though I’ve been through this before, the ferocity still surprised me. It left me unsettled.
I am writing this to encourage, help, or at least offer a coda to it all. For those who emailed, commented, or tweeted encouragement, thank you. I appreciate each and every one of you.
————————————————-
Further reading:
False prophets and their methods, by Adrian Rogers
Wretched: Christians must get over their fear of pointing out false teachers
False teachers who try to scrub their tweets, statuses, and videos
I’m so grateful for the long-term, steady, accurate handling of the word of God by so many of the pastors who are available on tape recording or video. Barnhouse, Boice, MacArthur, SL Johnson, ML Jones, John MacArthur … labored or are still laboring for the Lord for decades. Their sermons and lectures were captured, books and notes blessedly, by tape recording or radio recording or scan and remain available to us now in this online age. It is a balm to listen to a solid sermon expositing the scriptures delivered 50, 60, even 70 years ago. Or yesterday :).
I particularly love John MacArthur’s sermons because they present the word of God in a solid, grave, and responsible manner. Selfishly, I love them also because they are transcribed, so it makes posting excerpts very easy. On Saturdays I enjoy listening back-to-back to a variety of pastors and teachers online. However the vast majority of their sermons are not transcribed. I spend a lot of time on Saturday transcribing. I can’t help it. There are so many insightful and profound thoughts that I need to write them down so as to further study later.
In this online age, just as we can easily partake of the goodness of a good sermon, it is also just as easy for the false teachers to post their tripe and let it propagate. We all know this. However once in a while a pastor, whether false or true, will say something unbiblical that even catches their followers by surprise, and they get heat for it. Or they post a sermon that is so outrageous that the true brethren push back hard. In those cases, it is just as easy for that pastor or teacher to simply delete the tweet or the video. It’s just as easy to delete a sermon or tweet or Facebook status as it is to post it in the first place. Poof, it’s gone. Sometimes this happens so fast that the more astute brethren know they better capture a screen grab of the tweet, or download the video, or screen cap it in context before it can go poof.
Imagine a pastor-teacher who taught from the Word of God for thirty, forty, fifty years. Imagine no wrong doctrines or major gaffes. Imagine never having to take back something he said. Now imagine all this, it is transcribed or recorded. The pressure is enormous. These pastors and teachers took care, because it is the word of God they are handling. They know there is a stricter judgment for them. (James 3:1). Once someone asked John MacArthur about how he feels about all his 3500+ sermons being online for all to hear. He said “It is a lot to be responsible for”.
Now imagine, they never deleted their sermon or edited portions out of it. They never scrubbed their tweet. They never deleted material from their book introduction for successive printings. They did not try to escape accountability. Because that is what these false teaches and pastors are doing when they scrub their words from the internet. They are attempting to avoid critique, and trying to escape accountability.
I say “try to escape” because Jesus records every word we say. We are all accountable to Him for each and every careless word.
And how can we conclude that such deleted material is anything BUT careless? If one prepares their material through prayer, thought, study, and careful writing, one will not need to remove it almost immediately after publishing. This is why I appreciate the long-term ministries who have never had to apologize for handling the word of God carelessly, nor had to apologize for the behavior of the person publishing said material.
I appreciate the above pastors and teachers who never erased one jot or tittle (to my knowledge) of their teachings. They take care in the first place, let stand what they brought to their people, and will allow Jesus to reward or judge them accordingly. This is maturity. More to the point, it is submission to the grave responsibility they know they are called to perform. Think about this the next time you go to a video or try to read a tweet or find a Facebook status that now says “This post/tweet/video/status is unavailable.” We’re all so used to search results containing scrubbed or deleted material from the internet that we forget this is not the way it is supposed to be when it comes to the teaching of the word of God.
Remember: Nothing is ever scrubbed from the halls of recording in heaven.
But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. (Matthew 12:36).
Discernment cannot survive without doctrine, and where there is doctrine, we need discernment
In 2007 a novel called “The Shack” by William P. Young was published. It is a novel about a father experiencing grief over the kidnap and murder of his 7-year-old daughter. He receives a personal invitation from “God” to meet at the very place where his daughter was killed, a shack in the nearby woods.
The book swept Christianity, with near unanimous affirmation that this was a sensitive and heart-shaking book that revealed Christ as a loving Father. “It changed lives” we heard over and over. But that was wrong, it didn’t change lives. What The Shack did was change our theology.
Is this old news? Perhaps, but I find it helpful to go back sometimes and review the situation. Satan is subtle and he works incrementally. He chips a flake off the wall here and scoops a teaspoon of sand under the wall there and moves the theological touchdown line a foot and then another foot. If he can’t move it a foot satan will move it an inch. He is patient and invested for the long term.
Such incremental declines are initially hard to spot, which is why the Lord gave the Church believers with discernment. We can spot those inches and teaspoons. Therefore it is helpful to go back to already-identified discernment markers and stand on them and look ahead to where we are now and the decline becomes more obvious to those who are new in the faith or who do not possess as much discernment.
The 1963 movie The Great Escape is a good metaphor to use as an illustration of satan’s incremental work. The setting was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II housing imprisoned US and UK airmen. The POW camp was famous for two escapes. The prisoners dug tunnels inch by inch and subtly scattered the sand from their trouser pockets as they casually walked around the compound topside. It took a while, digging quietly, undermining the camp’s holding power, secretly scattering the sand sometimes a few teaspoons at a time. Over time though, the tunnels were built and the wall was breached. FMI here is a synopsis of the incident.
In 2009, Dr Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote an essay responding directly to The Shack’s onslaught, titled, The Shack- The Missing Art of Evangelical Discernment. He first put to bed the claim of Shack-supporters that “its just a novel” and doesn’t have anything real to do with Christian theology. Of course the book does. Mohler wrote,
In evaluating the book, it must be kept in mind that The Shack is a work of fiction. But it is also a sustained theological argument, and this simply cannot be denied. Any number of notable novels and works of literature have contained aberrant theology, and even heresy. The crucial question is whether the aberrant doctrines are features of the story or the message of the work. When it comes to The Shack, the really troubling fact is that so many readers are drawn to the theological message of the book, and fail to see how it conflicts with the Bible at so many crucial points.
Dear Sisters, many novels containing a heavy theological message are merely a disguise for the author’s agenda. In author Young’s case, it was his universalism. Just because a book is a novel doesn’t necessarily mean it is theologically neutral, or even safe. Be wary.
Dr Mohler concluded his 2010 article with this devastating prediction,
The Shack is a wake-up call for evangelical Christianity. An assessment like that offered by Timothy Beal is telling. The popularity of this book among evangelicals can only be explained by a lack of basic theological knowledge among us — a failure even to understand the Gospel of Christ. The tragedy that evangelicals have lost the art of biblical discernment must be traced to a disastrous loss of biblical knowledge. Discernment cannot survive without doctrine.
 |
| EPrata photo |
He turned out to be correct. Discernment as a regular practice among Christians seems to be at an all-time low, that is, until tomorrow, when it will be lower still. The onslaught didn’t begin nor did it end with The Shack, but only continued briskly apace. Discernment is not just for those having been given the Gift of Discernment, but should be practiced and sought by every Christian. It’s actually a command! (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
A diamond may look to have no flaws at first glance, but if we were to bring it to a jeweler, an appraiser someone who is trained to inspect it. He then takes out his magnifying glass to see how it was cut and find the flaws and imperfections. They have been trained to recognize what is not right. Thus a full examination is the safest course for a believer. Only those who are not teaching or practicing Christianity will object to being tested by the word. Darkness will always run from the light, never light from darkness. Source: (Let Us Reason)
Though the general situation today among the visible church seems bleak, in this sermon Pastor Don Green of Truth Community Church outlines how to develop Biblical Discernment. In this sermon, Green was preaching on the text from 1 John 4:1–6,
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Here in this recent essay Pastor Green gives us the Tests for Discernment, stating that the Bible gives us several tests for discerning true and false teachers. As for the sermon above, I took notes. Here are my notes from Pastor Green’s sermon:
There are four basic premises to understand before we begin,
1. Discernment is a command. (Romans 12:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, 1 Corinthians 14:29, 1 John 4:1).
2. God has given us the means to discern. The Holy Spirit helps us, (2 Timothy 3:16–17; Ephesians 6:10–19), and we exercise our discernment muscles. (Heb 5:13-14).
3. Understand that not everyone who claims to speak for God, does.
4. The false teachers do not “mean well”. They are trying to deceive you! (1 John 2:26)
There are three discernment tests the 1 John 4 text outlines. The tests are easily understood, being on the surface of scripture, but the challenge is not so much understanding them, but applying them. The absolute key to discernment is to overcome your natural human impulse to make excuses for them and to say “No! I’m called to test the spirits and this teacher doesn’t pass the test and their teaching isn’t from God.” Any Bible teacher should welcome scrutiny in life and in their doctrine. A teacher who says touch not God’s anointed is a person attempting to escape scrutiny. If they say “Touch not God’s anointed!” then run.
So, how can one tell the true from the false? How does the Bible advise how to examine a teacher?
1. Examine their manner of life. Do they live an ungodly lifestyle, or have an unloving disposition?
2. Examine their view of Christ. Because their teaching about Christ is an acid test of whether they speak for God or not. (1 John 4:2-3).
3. Examine their view of scripture and look at their submission to apostolic teaching, and not just lip service affirmation.
False teachers are not innocent teachers who are mistaken. False teachers give voice to demonic teaching. They are a mouthpiece for satan. This is not to be underestimated. It is the spirit of antichrist, and is full opposition to Christ and His kingdom.
Of course I recommend the entire sermon.
Discernment is critical for every Christian to practice. Yes the Gift of Discernment is given to some (1 Corinthians 12:10) but those who are mature and have long practiced discernment find they wield the sword of truth pretty well, too. (Hebrews 5:14).
Our Lord Jesus Christ is worth the practice. He is unique, glorious, and His doctrines are worth protecting. You can do your part by praying for wisdom, reading the Word diligently, and worshiping under a solid pastor. We do this until Jesus comes again.
—————————–
Further reading
Al Mohler updated his older article on biblical illiteracy, a few weeks ago.
The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy: It’s Our Problem
MacArthur: What is biblical discernment and why is it important?
Challies: The Discipline of Biblical Discernment
"Be Careful Who You Post on Facebook"
I’d written recently that there were pros and cons to using social media as a Christian. It’s useful for staying in touch with distant family or friends, to learn of new pastors & ministries, or to share the Gospel. It’s not useful when we publicly sin or cause a stumbling block to a weaker brother, or in trying to tighten up time management. There are a lot of temptations on social media, that’s definitely a con.
One thing that is also a con but is part of the reality of life as a Christian anyway (i.e. there’s no escaping this) is the weak Christian who posts or repeats quotes and tidbits from ministries that are run by a false teacher. We agonize over our brethren who are embroiled in the snares of the devil and who prove it by unidscerningly following them, and by repeating the lies the ministry puts out there.
A pastor named Jordan Hall wrote a heartfelt warning about this and I re-post it here. In my opinion they are good words well stated. I use most of the discernment ministries Pastor Hall mentioned, and I’d also suggest my own The End Time blog, Sharon Lareau at Chapter 3 Ministries, Erin Benziger at Do Not Be Surprised, Sunny Shell at Abandoned to Christ, and Aimee Byrd at Mortification of Spin (The Housewife Theologian), DebbieLynne Kespert at The Outspoken Tulip, and already mentioned in the essay, Amy Spreeman at The Berean Examiner.
His warning:
———————————-
By Jordan Hall
Not too long to read: My friends, from a pastor’s heart, we must be careful who we quote on Facebook and whose material we share. Please take the time, before you do either, to spend just a single minute to research the individual or ministries you’re promoting by sharing their material. Before you quote or post a meme from Beth Moore, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Andy Stanley, Steven Furtick or other popular ‘Christian’ leaders or organizations, please search the web with their name and the word ‘discernment.’ You’ll find the information you need in no time flat, and you’ll avoid causing your Facebook friends to stumble by introducing them to chaff and tares.
Why do that, you ask? Do that because Romans 16:17 tells us to “Mark those that cause divisions and create obstacles that are contrary to the doctrine taught [in Scripture].” That instruction is two fold (A) Mark them – that means to qualify, characterize and typify them as dangerous as a warning to others and (B) avoid them. When you post something from TD Jakes or Andy Stanley you are marking them as trustworthy. You are then exposing your friends and loved ones to their false teachings.
It is here that some say, “Well, I liked the quote. I’m not endorsing the person.” Well, I get that. Really, I do. I’m sure Charles Finney or Adolf Hitler might have said something at some point I might agree with. But, we shouldn’t go around quoting Hitler or Finney. Whether you like it or not, it IS an endorsement, and you might turn people onto ministries that are spiritually toxic.
Likewise, be careful when you “like” statuses that repeat the words of false teachers. I know you like the person who posted it. I know you liked their good intentions. But for the love of Jesus (literally), do not ‘like’ the words that proceed from the mouth of those who masquerade as shepherds but are inwardly wolves. Do not give the impression to your friend that you like it that they appreciate false teachers. Rather, you ought rather to mourn and warn them.
Here’s a tip for your convenience if you think, “Good grief, am I supposed to research every pastor or ministry I post or ‘like’ on Facebook” (the answer is YES, by the way). As stated above, google “person/ministry’s name” and “discernment.” You’ll find a wealth of resources from polemicists (those who specialize in errant teachings) like Chris Rosebrough, the late Ken Silva, Amy Spreeman, Michelle Lesley, Jeff Maples, Pulpit & Pen and more. Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and God has gifted people with discernment to edify and equip the church.
Finally, this is the information age. This does not require going to the library and looking up handwritten sermon manuscripts on the microfiche. A discerning Christian, through just a little bit of research (literally, just minutes) can determine wolf from lamb in short order. For the love of Jesus and his church, please be careful with what you post.
 |
| EPrata photo |
the-end-time.org 