Having been in the ministry of pointing out false teachers and their false teachings for close to a year now (most of it is on my old blog which I am hoping to port over soon), I have come across some pretty standard responses in the comments of those who say I, and others like myself, have no business doing so.
So I thought, why not do up a Top 10 list of the most common responses to our posts on these false teachers and their teachings? My wife thought it was a good idea, and I’ve also mentioned this to Carol and a new friend I made, John, just this morning over Skype. I hope we can get together to compile our responses to these accusations soon.
Anyhow, since our response to their allegations will be some time coming, here’s my Top 10 list in the meantime. This list is by no means exhaustive, so please feel free to add yours from your experience in dealing with such comments.
10. Touch not God’s anointed! Pastor so-and-so is very much anointed by God!
09. And how many souls did you yourself save this week? Pastor so-and-so had 2,000 conversions just last weekend. Have you ever been able to reach that many yourself?!
08. Quit criticizing preachers and pastors. Get a life with God, man!
07. You’re nothing but a Pharisee/Sadducee.
06. Who are you to judge?! Judge not lest you be judged!
05. Are you a pastor yourself? Any theological training? If not, how dare you think you are interpreting the Bible correctly?
04. Hey! Don’t quench the Spirit!
03. No church or pastor or congregation is perfect, so why nitpick?
02. God wants to bless us financially, with good health and a great life. If you yourself aren’t claiming these promises, don’t be jealous of others!
And the number one response…
Can’t we all just agree to disagree and get along?
Similar Posts:
- Ray Comfort, Sir, You Had the Microphone
- The Popularity of False Teachers Explained
- Short Takes — False Teachers
- Biblical Reasons to Reject the Lakeland Revival
- Breaking the Silence
Tags: Blog, Comments, False Teachers, False Teachings, List, Responses, Skype, Top 10
17 comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link
http://wordnverse.com/2008/05/30/top-10-responses-to-anyone-daring-to-point-out-false-teachers-and-teachings/trackback/
May 30, 2008 at 6:25
Phil Naessens
Isaiah,
11). You need to be more loving to your brother….
12). God will sort it out….
13). Stop slandering and gossipping and pray for this brother….
14). Have you gone to your brother and pointed this out to him in private…its biblical you know……
15). When you point a finger….three more are pointing back at you….
That’s about all I can add….maybe after the 50 or so comments I receive everyday someone will toss in a new gem….I’ll let ya know if it happens
Keep up the good work over here Brother!!!!
May 30, 2008 at 14:05
Vincent Chia
Isaiah,
LOL!!!
Number 3 is very familiar … very familiar indeed. It happens even when “orthodox” teachers are queried over their teachings/management.
And to Phil’s 11-15, I will add the big 16th:
This is YOUR interpretation, and that is MINE. All interpretation are just that - interpretations. We all believe in the Bible, so let’s not criticize my interpretation. (The budding postmodern-”reformed” pastor in the making).
17th - this is from experience!!! In response to why certain CLEAR biblical injunctions are not followed by the leaders’ families (and by the leader himself):
Answer - “Jia jia you ben nan nian de jing” (Chinese Idiom)
Translation - Every home has its own difficulties (meaning, I’m entitled to NOT follow these biblical injunctions because they are inconvenient for me and my family).
May 30, 2008 at 14:21
Scott771
18th “only those with spiritual minds can understand these these things”
19th “You’re a gray coat, I’m a blue coat”
20th “Jesus said, “Greater works shall ye do” that’s what’s happening in Lakeland, “Greater works!”
21th “If we ask ask him for His Spirit, He promised to give it to us, so, the spirit manifested in Lakeland has to be of God, right?”
May 30, 2008 at 14:45
Isaiah
Phil:
Thank you for your contributions! I’ve personally been accused of number 13 as well. Looking forward to some of those “gems”.
May 30, 2008 at 14:47
Isaiah
Vincent:
Number 17 is so very true. People aren’t intent on feeding on the Word anymore but it’s all about the experience, the feelings, etc. It’s sort of like wanting to experience a rock concert and getting that high that one gets immediately after if you ask me.
May 30, 2008 at 14:48
Isaiah
Shalom, Scott:
Thank you for dropping by and sharing, brother.
Hm, I think I sure can see a few number 18’s in the comments that I have received!
God bless, and Shalom.
May 30, 2008 at 15:38
yongchun
Isaiah,
This one came from a good friend of mine (who is a fervent attendee of CHC) after I pointed out the false teachings. It went something like this:
“Well, you said that the elect are the sheep who know His voice and follow Him. Don’t worry about me because I’m a Christian and I am following Him. I do believe in Jesus and repent of my sins. Besides, at the end of the day, it’s all about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”
arggghhh!!!!
May 30, 2008 at 16:07
Isaiah
Yongchun:
Ha ha, while I don’t deny that we need a relationship with Jesus, it’s not one where He’s your homeboy or the cool dude on the street corner and we His pals.
Though the Lord calls us friends if we obey and do what He has commanded, He is nevertheless God, the Lord of lords and King of kings. That’s a perspective that many seem to have abandoned!
Who is Jesus Christ first and foremost? Paul reminds us well when he wrote in Colossians 1:15-20 –
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”
Amen!
May 30, 2008 at 16:12
Isaiah
Libby just reminded me of this great one over at DefCon where this post has been cross-posted:
“Don’t put God in your small theological box!”
How did I miss that?!
May 30, 2008 at 16:49
yongchun
Isaiah:
Amen to that!
I forgot to add a footnote to make it clearer. This same friend of mine told me not to worry about her attending CHC because she was a Christian and therefore one of the elect — who cannot be deceived. That was a year or two ago.
Today, she is still at CHC and even signed up for their “theology” school! Alamak!
May 30, 2008 at 17:09
Isaiah
Going by her reasoning, don’t those who are being deceived also acknowledge themselves to be Christians? There are many who call themselves Christians, but continue to buy into the falsehoods of men while disregarding the warnings and teachings contained in the Word of God; such are not only deceiving themselves, but others as well.
I hope many read the verses before and after Matthew 7:23 where Jesus shall say to those that He never knew them — especially Matthew 7:15-20 and Matthew 7:24-27, for therein lies what our Lord requires of us.
June 1, 2008 at 6:31
Carol
How about this…
‘Jesus didn’t condemn the adulteress woman, so why should you? You should love him/her as Jesus loved him/her.”
Here’s one where they use Scripture to dissuade you from exposing false teachers - “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
This one is used for any negative comment against their pet preachers…
“Pull the log out of your own eye.”
They view exposing of false teachers as accusatory and will call you…
“Accuser of the brethren.” So what they are REALLY saying is that you have the character of Satan.
Then you get those people who will believe absolutely every swindler and charlatan out there as long as they agree that Jesus is the Son of God. They believe this alone is an accurate gauge to detecting false teachers.
I’m sure there’s more but you’ve got a good starting point.
June 2, 2008 at 4:09
Isaiah
Great additions, Carol! Thank you for your contributions.
It seems that these folks only know three or four passages from Scripture — “Judge not”, “Log outta Eye”, “First Stone”, and of course, the ubiquitous “LOVE”.
I think much of the world has lost the true meaning of love. It’s now this rainbow-colored (oops, did I just sound like Todd Bentley?) myriad of all-good emotions that doesn’t come with some “downsides” like chastisement, trial-by-fire, etc. It sure sounds like “love” nowadays just means saying the nicest, oft-times untrue things so that people continue to love you, and not that you really love them enough to warn or chastise.
In which case, it’s not love, but hypocrisy at its worst!
June 18, 2008 at 8:38
Yomi Adegboye
Isaiah,
Well said! That’s no love at all.
June 18, 2008 at 8:43
Isaiah
@Yomi Adegboye -
Thank you, Yomi.
How have you been? It’s been some time since we last caught up.
June 18, 2008 at 9:02
Yomi Adegboye
Dear brother, I am fine, as I hope and wish you are (thankfully, you are not WoF or you would take that to mean that to mean that God is saying you will always be well
)
Keep up preaching the word!
June 18, 2008 at 9:10
Isaiah
@Yomi Adegboye -
It’s great to hear that, Yomi.
LOL, you’re funny!