We want to oppose false teachers because they do not teach things that are true. But if in our attempts to defeat them we play fast and loose with the truth, by attributing to them things that they don’t in fact teach and if we don’t really care whether we have it exactly right or not then we have become false teachers: teachers of untruths!
I suggest this as a rule of thumb: focus on false teachings rather than on false teachers. When we concentrate on opposing false teachers we tend to think about defeating people which can lead to all kinds of dangers. When we concentrate on the careful examination of false teachings we are more aware of the need to speak truthfully.
HT:TB
1 comment:
And here is where the conversation gets dicey. What teachings are substantive enough to warrant the "false teachings" label? Prophecy? Israel? Women preachers? Gifts of the Spirit? Amriminianism? Calvinism?
You see, there is a need to adjust our sphere of issues about which we attach the moniker "false teachings" or the dreaded "false teacher" or even the "false prophet" which gives it a little medieval flavor.
And then we arrive at nuclear fusion - APOSTATE.
Case in point. Some say Rick Warren is a false teacher. Some up the ante with false prophet. And some label him an apostate. (We'll discount the anti-christ crowd)
So without some legitimate parameters every man labels that which is right in his own eyes. One man's false teaching is another man's creed. What a mess!
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