Many times, after publishing
an article that disputes the claims of someone's published
work, I am asked if I had talked to the person privately.
There are those who claim that debating ideas in the public
arena should not happen unless there was a prior Matthew 18
process of adjudication. It is my position that Matthew 18
does not apply to the public interaction of theological
ideas. In this paper, I shall examine various New Testament
passages that explain what we must and must not judge.
It is not surprising that
people are confused about the matter of passing judgment
because some scriptures tell us we must make judgments and
discern, and others warn us not to judge. We will see that
Scripture provides straightforward, objective guidelines
concerning making judgments and that both the commands to
judge and the commands not to judge are understandable - and
they are to be obeyed.
Do Not
Judge - Matthew 7
The following teaching from
the Sermon on the Mount warns us not to judge:
"Do not judge lest you be
judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged;
and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to
you. And why do you look at the speck that is in your
brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your
own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me
take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is
in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out
of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take
the speck out of your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)
Before we interpret those
verses we must look at the sermon in Matthew that preceded
it. The Sermon on the Mount concerns motives and sin. For
example, the hypocrite prays to be "seen of men" (Matthew
6:5). Jesus' sermon contains warnings against anger (Matthew
5:22), lust (Matthew 5:28), a command to love one's enemies
(Matthew 5:44) and a warning against loving money (Matthew
6:24). Jesus addresses many sin issues in a manner that
would show everyone their sinfulness and need for the
Gospel. Jesus said, "For I say to you, that unless your
righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20).
This statement would have shocked Jesus' hearers because the
scribes and Pharisees were fastidious in keeping the law of
external rules. A righteousness greater than theirs could
only be the imputed righteousness of Christ that changes the
heart. Without Christ's righteousness we cannot enter the
kingdom.
Given this context, what is
the meaning of Matthew 7:1-5? The answer is that we are
warned against judging how righteous others are in
comparison to ourselves. This passage is a warning against
self righteousness. As sinners, we tend to minimize or
rationalize our own transgressions and magnify what we see
wrong in others. Jesus warns about this because
self-righteousness like that of the hypocritical Pharisees
will keep a person out of the kingdom of God. It is the poor
in spirit and the persecuted who will "inherit the kingdom
of God" (Matthew 5:3, 10). These humbled people know they
need a savior.
So does Matthew 7:1-5 teach
that Christians should accept all teachers and teachings
without discrimination? No. This passage concerns peoples'
motivations and the degree of their internal righteousness.
These matters we are not to judge. Other passages, which we
will examine later, are concerned with judging the content
of a person's teaching. Before we study those texts, let us
examine other passages that are used to suggest that false
teachers should not be corrected publicly.
Go to
Your Brother in Private Matthew 18
As mentioned earlier, the
admonition in Matthew 18 to go to your brother in private if
he has sinned is often used to suggest that public teachings
should be adjudicated privately. However, Matthew 18 does
not address debate about the orthodoxy of someone's public
teaching but how to deal with one of Christ's sheep who have
strayed into sin. Let us examine the passage in context.
Matthew 18 begins with the
disciples discussing who would be the greatest in the
kingdom. Jesus saw a danger in their attitude that could be
very harmful to the church. The rest of Matthew 18 deals
with relationships in the church, particularly how the
"little ones" (meaning believers not young children -
Matthew 18:6) are treated. The problem Jesus foresees in the
discussion of who is greatest, is that "little ones"
(believers who may appear unimportant to those concerned
about their own "greatness") would be mistreated by those
whose motives are wrong. Matthew 18 contains teachings to
insure that every believer is seen as important and every
effort is put forth to preserve their spiritual well-being.
In this context, we read
this:
"And if your brother sins,
go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you
have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you,
take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of
two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. And
if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church;
and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him
be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer." (Matthew
18:15-17)
At issue is a "little one"
who has become a straying sheep (Matthew 18:12). The
tendency is for people who are seeking greatness in the
kingdom to allow the sinner to wander off and perish rather
than put forth the effort to preserve him or her. Jesus
said, "Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in
heaven that one of these little ones perish" (Matthew
18:14). As we have seen, the little ones are believers, and
it is not God's will that a believer perishes. So the "lost
sheep" that is rescued is a straying believer.
Given the immediate context,
reproving in private someone who sins shows a willingness to
take steps to keep one of the Lord's flock from perishing.
It is not specified what particular sin may be at issue, but
rather what the motives of the church members (i.e.,
disciples of Jesus Christ) are. They are to care about the
well being of the little ones who may not appear important
to others, but who are important to God.
The entire process outlined
in Matthew 18 is about preserving church members from
perishing. If the process does not result in the person
repenting, they are to be assumed to be a lost sinner (a
Gentile and a tax-gatherer). Lost sinners are the subject of
gospel preaching. Any true Christian who has been confronted
by this process will seek repentance and restoration. Those
who claim a right to sin however they see fit show no
evidence of regeneration. They are not "little ones" but
targets for the gospel.
So, does this passage tell us
that public false teaching should never be corrected or
judged without first gaining the permission of the false
teacher? No. As we shall see in many other passages, false
teaching cannot be allowed into the church for precisely the
reason Jesus tells us to care for the flock. The spiritual
well-being of His "little ones" is more important than that
aspirations of those who deem themselves "greatest in the
kingdom." The flock must be protected and preserved.
Allowing wolves into the congregation under the guise of
Matthew 18 would be a horrible abuse of the passage.
Notice that verse 16 says
that two or three witnesses should confirm "every fact."
This is important, because someone could falsely accuse
another of sin. What is being confirmed by the witnesses is
that the person in question is guilty of the sin and refuses
to change. In the case of publicly broadcast and published
teachings, there is no need for this process because the
"facts" are already public knowledge. What is needed is to
compare the teachings to Scripture, not determine if the
person is committing a sin and hiding it. At issue in public
teaching is the integrity of the faith once for all
delivered to the saints, not sin in the local fellowship.
Do Not
Pass Judgment - 1 Corinthians 4
Paul warns the Corinthians
about wrongly passing judgment: "Therefore do not go on
passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord
comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the
darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then
each man's praise will come to him from God" (1Corinthians
4:5). This passage indicates that there are some things
we will not know until God's future judgment. One of
these things is mentioned in this passage: "the motives
of men's hearts." We should avoid judging what we do not
know. People's motives are often hidden from us, but their
teachings are public information.
Consider what Paul said in
Philippians:
"Some, to be sure, are
preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some
also from good will; the latter do it out of love,
knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the
gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish
ambition, rather than from pure motives, thinking to
cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only
that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth,
Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I
will rejoice." (Philippians 1:15-18)
It is not clear how Paul knew
about these bad motives, but it is instructive to see his
response. Because the content of their message was the true
gospel, Paul rejoiced. This is in clear contrast to what he
said elsewhere when the content of the message was wrong:
"But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach
to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to
you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). It is safe to
assume that an angel from heaven would be a nice person with
good motives. But a false gospel is damning and still must
be rejected. There are many "nice people" with damnable
false teachings....
You
Will Know Them by Their Fruits - Matthew 7
Jesus' teaching that, "You
will know them by their fruits," is well known and often
repeated. What is amazing, however, is that most of the time
people come to conclusions about what this means that have
nothing to do with the issues Jesus raises in Matthew 7.
They often think of "fruits" as being character qualities,
popularity, or the ability to do supernatural signs. I will
discuss each of these ideas and then show what Jesus did
mean.
Let us examine the passage.
In Matthew 7 Jesus warned about false prophets:
"Beware of the false
prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by
their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes,
nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good
tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad
fruit." (Matthew 7:15-17)
First, personality traits
are not fruits. On the outside, false prophets look
like sheep. They are often very nice people who are
kind, endearing, disarming, affable, winsome, and possess
many other wonderful qualities. The false idea that these
qualities are what Jesus means by "fruits" causes many
people to be misled by false prophets. What they fail to
realize is that the Dalai Lama has such qualities and he is
hardly a Christian. Having a charming exterior is often the
"sheep's clothing."
The number of one's
followers is not fruit. Many assume that popularity is a
sign of good fruit. But the context shows something entirely
different: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide,
and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are
those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is
narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it"
(Matthew 7:13, 14). The false religious leaders of Israel
had more followers than Jesus did. This can hardly be what
Jesus meant by "fruit."
And signs and wonders are
not fruits. Again we must consult the context:
"So then, you will know them
by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does
the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to
Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your
name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name
perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them,
'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:20-23)
People who call Jesus "Lord,"
come in His name, and do works of power are false prophets
if they refused to abide within God-given boundaries. This
is an important concept. This is lawlessness.
The boundaries are those
that God's ordained spokespersons set. For us, they are
the teachings of Christ and His apostles (See Hebrews 1:1,
2; 2:3, 4). Jesus was the prophet that Moses predicted and
to whom we must listen (Deuteronomy 18:15; Mark 9:2-7; John
5:46, 47; et. al.). The book of Hebrews contains this
warning: "Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies
without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who
has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as
unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews
10:18, 19). Lawlessness disregards the terms of the
covenant. Jesus has revealed the terms and boundaries of
legal belief and practice under the new covenant, like Moses
did under the old. John warned about this in his second
epistle: "Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the
teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in
the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son" (2John
1:9).
Understood in this way, false
prophets are those who teach and practice lawlessness.
They do not abide within the once-for-all determined
boundaries of New Testament teaching. We can see this as
we continue in our Matthew 7 passage:
"Therefore everyone who
hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may
be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the
rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it
did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And
everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act
upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his
house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that
house; and it fell, and great was its fall." (Matthew
7:24-27)
The lawless ones do not abide
by the teachings of Christ. They are the false prophets. The fruits by which they are known are their teachings, not
their personalities, the number of their followers, or their
miracles.
To underscore how important
judging teaching is, we will examine Paul's address to the
elders in Jerusalem. We will see that guarding the flock is
a key duty of pastors and elders.
Church
Leaders and Wolves
Paul's address to the
Ephesian elders in Acts 20 instructs about the duty of
Christian leaders to proclaim the truth and to guard the
flock against wolves. First Paul recalled his previous
practice in Ephesus:
"How I did not shrink
from declaring to you anything that was profitable,
and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of
repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ." (Acts 20:20, 21)
Preaching that people should
repent and believe is an important theme in Luke/Acts (Luke
24:47; Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30, 31; Acts 26:17-20; et al).
Paul's preaching resulted in the formation of a church in
Ephesus. Elders were appointed, and these were addressed by
Paul as he headed to Jerusalem. What he said to them reveals
what is truly important for all churches.
"And now, behold, I know
that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the
kingdom, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify
to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all
men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the
whole purpose of God." (Acts 20:27)
Notice, first of all, that
the phrase "preaching the kingdom" is synonymously
parallel with his description of his preaching in verse 21,
"repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ."
The message of the kingdom was not some message like the
social gospel as some claim today, but the gospel of the
kingdom is repentance and faith (see Mark 1:14, 15). These
are the terms of entrance into the kingdom.
Secondly, notice that Paul
claimed innocence from bloodguiltiness. This means that had he not proclaimed both the terms of entrance into the
kingdom, and the whole of what God has revealed of His
purposes, Paul would have imperiled their souls, failed
his sacred mission, and brought guilt upon himself for
failing to warn them of coming judgment (see Ezekiel 33:6).
These same responsibilities apply to pastors and other
church leaders today. This is so very important because the flock must be equipped to withstand the onslaught of the
inevitable wolves who will arise.
These wolves are the subject
of Paul's warning to the church leaders:
"Be on guard for yourselves
and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which
He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my
departure savage wolves will come in among you, not
sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men
will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the
disciples after them." (Acts 20:28-30)
It is important to see that
the wolves come from two sources: outside and inside the
church. Wolves are always inimical to the well-being of
sheep. It is the responsibility of shepherds to make sure
the sheep are safe from the wolves. To do this, the wolves must be identified. The way they are identified
is through their teachings. Paul described the
practice of the wolves: "speaking perverse things."
The word "perverse" means "twisted" or "distorted." Their
teachings are a distortion of the authoritative teachings of
Christ and His apostles. Anyone is a wolf who purposely
gives distorted teaching and refuses to repent when shown
his error from the Scriptures. The elders must guard the
flock against such people.
Notice what happens through
the teachings of the wolves: they "draw away the
disciples after them." False teachers and prophets have
a message that comes from themselves, not from the whole
counsel of God. The reason these wolves draw disciples
away after themselves is that they are the only source of
this teaching. If the church is proclaiming the true terms
of the covenant and the whole counsel of God, whatever
"perverse" doctrine is being promoted by wolves will not be
heard from the faithful pastors and elders. Perverse
doctrine cannot be found through valid implications from
authoritative Scripture. Therefore, if the wolves
succeed in giving some of the sheep an appetite for what
they are offering, the sheep will have to follow the wolves
to get that appetite fed. Since this is not from God, they
are being drawn away from the true sheepfold and into
spiritual peril and perhaps damnation.
This is a very serious
situation. In John 10 Jesus uses a sheepfold analogy to show
that robbers do not go through the true door: "Truly, truly,
I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the
fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a
thief and a robber" (John 10:1). Jesus is the door of the
sheep (John 10:7). Jesus has ascended bodily into heaven.
His teachings as given in the New Testament delineate the
boundaries of the sheepfold. The elders of the church are
responsible to uphold the true words of Christ and His
apostles. They are responsible to identify those robbers
who will not abide in the teachings of Christ. False
teachers refuse to do this job: "He who is a hireling, and
not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds
the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the
wolf snatches them, and scatters them. He flees because he
is a hireling, and is not concerned about the sheep" (John
10:12, 13). Jesus is the true Shepherd, and the
under-shepherds (the term "pastor" is from the word
"shepherd") are to feed the sheep the pure words of God and
guard them from perverted words. Those who refuse to do so
are hirelings.
Paul's
Warning Comes True
Timothy became a key church
leader in Ephesus where Paul had warned the elders about
wolves. Paul's warning came true. We learn from the epistles
to Timothy that false teachers did arise, some of
them likely were elders themselves. This provides the
background for Paul's admonitions in Timothy about
correcting error, upholding the standard of sound doctrine,
and the qualifications of true elders.
Paul specified to Timothy who
the false teachers were by name:
"This command I entrust to
you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies
previously made concerning you, that by them you may
fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good
conscience, which some have rejected and suffered
shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are
Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to
Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme."
(1Timothy 1:18-20)
The reason false teachers
are dealt with publicly is that their teaching is public.
One does not need two or three witnesses or a private
meeting to determine if a public teaching is Biblical or
not. Everyone who heard them knows what they believe and
teach. At issue is whether the teaching is Biblical. False
teaching damages the church, and it cannot be tolerated. In
the Greek, it says they made shipwreck "in regard to the
faith." The definite article indicates that it was the
content of their teaching that was wrong. It was not in
accordance with "the faith which was once for all delivered
to the saints" (Jude 1:3).
Paul, after giving
instructions about the qualifications of elders, reminds
Timothy of the key role of the church: "but in case I am
delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to
conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church
of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth"
(1Timothy 3:15). ...
Paul predicts that in the
later times people will give heed to "deceitful spirits and
doctrines of demons" (1Timothy 4:1). Paul urges Timothy to
instruct the church about this important matter of warning
against false teachings and promoting the truth: "In
pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a
good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the
words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have
been following" (1Timothy 4:6).
Today many despise the
very term doctrine and accuse those of being wrongly
motivated who think it is important to correct false
doctrine and espouse true doctrine. This is not at all what
Paul told Timothy: "Pay close attention to yourself and to
your teaching; persevere in these things; for as you do this
you will insure salvation both for yourself and for those
who hear you" (1Timothy 4:16). Teachings have
consequences--eternal consequences. If false teaching is
allowed into the church, peoples' salvation is in jeopardy.
The duty of elders and
pastors to protect the flock from false teaching, and to
nourish the flock with sound teaching always has been
foremost. But in the last days, the battle intensifies. We
are living in an age of delusion and apostasy. So now, more
than ever, we must confront false teaching and not allow it
into the church. Paul made this admonition and prediction:
"I solemnly charge you in
the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge
the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His
kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience
and instruction. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have
their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves
teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will
turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside
to myths." (2Timothy 4:1-4)
If people do not want to hear
sound doctrine because of end time delusion, preach sound
doctrine to them! The ability and willingness to do so is a
requirement for elders: "[H]olding fast the faithful word
which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be
able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those
who contradict." (Titus 1:9)
The duties of pastors and
elders are very clear in Acts 20 and the Pastoral Epistles.
They are to teach true doctrine, correct false doctrine, and
protect the flock from the wolves. Sadly, those who do so
today are often accused of being divisive or sinning
because they have "judged" when Jesus told us not to judge.
This is a category error. We are not to judge motives or
relative degrees of righteousness, but we must judge public
teaching.
Paul
Publicly Rebukes Peter
In Galatians 2, Paul recounts
an incident where he publicly corrected Peter:
"But when Cephas came to
Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood
condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from
James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they
came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof,
fearing the party of the circumcision. And the rest of
the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that
even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But
when I saw that they were not straightforward about the
truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of
all, 'If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and
not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the
Gentiles to live like Jews'?" (Galatians 2:11-14)
Paul publicly rebuked Peter
for publicly denying in action what Paul knew Peter
privately believed. Paul called Peter's actions, "[being]
not straightforward about the truth of the gospel."
Peter's actions implied that Gentile Christians were still
"unclean" unless they submitted to Jewish food laws. This is
a denial of what was decided at the Jerusalem council in
Acts 15. They had determined there to not require that the
Gentiles follow the Law of Moses.
The irony is that Peter
himself was the spokesman who convinced the church that this
was right:
"And after there had been
much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, 'Brethren,
you know that in the early days God made a choice among
you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word
of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart,
bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just
as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between
us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now
therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon
the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our
fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe
that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus,
in the same way as they also are.' "(Acts 15:7-11)
Paul knew that he and Peter
believed the same thing; they had both agreed to the
decision of the council. There was no reason to go to Peter
privately to correct his belief. Paul immediately dealt
with the issue publicly, "in the presence of all."
Peter's public practice negated his private confession.
Being "straightforward about the gospel" means that what we
preach and practice in public must be the same as the
beliefs we hold privately. The New Testament calls any
disjuncture between the two, "hypocrisy."
What happens often today is
that public teachers proclaim false doctrines. When
confronted about this, they point to an orthodox statement
of faith. But what they teach publicly is damaging to
those who hear them. Whatever they may claim to believe,
their public false teaching needs to be publicly confronted.
What We
Can and Cannot Judge
We have seen that we are
not to judge motives. We are not to judge relative
degrees of personal piety. What these have in common is the
factor that they are unknown. Motives are hidden. Only God
knows the heart. We do not know who is more righteous or
pious than whom.
We are not to accuse
someone of sin without two or three witnesses. The
criterion for two or three witnesses exists to keep one
person from bringing false witness against another and
having them wrongly come under church discipline. But if
there are witnesses, the facts are considered "known" and
judgment can be made. In every situation, the hope is for
repentance and restoration of the individual....
There is another issue about
wrong judgment. According to Romans 14 we are not
to judge matters of conscience that are not universal
commands. Here is what Paul wrote:
"Now accept the one who is
weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing
judgment on his opinions. One man has faith that he may
eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
Let not him who eats regard with contempt him who does
not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who
eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the
servant of another? To his own master he stands or
falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make
him stand." (Romans 14:1-4)
Later in this chapter of
Romans Paul warns against judging one's brother on matters
that fall under the category of Christian liberty - food and
the observance of certain days (Romans 14:4-10). It would be
wrong to exclude a weaker brother from fellowship because he
has a more active conscience in certain areas where the
Bible legitimately allows liberty. But, if that weaker
brother demanded that his scruples be followed by everyone
else as a condition of fellowship, he would become an
illegitimate lawgiver and should be withstood and
ultimately, if he remained unrepentant, expelled from
fellowship.
What is wrong with
illegitimate law-givers is that they are claiming to know
that someone is sinning when they are not. This is
tantamount to making one's self God's lawgiver. To judge
like this is to claim to know (that some certain action of
another person is sin) what one does not know.
However we can judge what is
true or false, sinful or righteous, based on what has been
revealed in Scripture. Publicly proclaimed teachings can be
judged to be false and should be publicly refuted. Paul did
this. Paul told Timothy to do this. Paul gave all elders the
responsibility to do this. The church must be warned about
wolves when they arise, whether from inside the church or
without. Likewise prophecy must be judged by the objective
criteria of the Bible (1Corinthians 14:29; 1Thessalonians
5:21).
There is important action to
be taken: We can and we must judge what we can know
objectively, but we must not judge what we cannot know
objectively. Ask yourself when you make a judgment, "can I
know this with certainty"? If the answer is no, we cannot
judge. If the answer is yes and the issue concerns Biblical
doctrine or sin, we not only may judge; we must judge.
Publicly proclaimed teaching falls into this category.
Conclusion
Too often people wrongly
claim that if an author writes a book, or a preacher
preaches a sermon, that no one is permitted to make
judgments about the contents of these teachings without
first asking the author's or preacher's permission. Paul did
not ask Peter's permission to publicly rebuke him nor did he
ask Hymenaeus' and Alexander's permission to rebuke them for
teaching false doctrine. Claiming that false teachers have
the right to spread their teachings throughout the body of
Christ until such time that a Matthew 18 procedure is set up
and implemented is a category error. Matthew 18 concerns the
accusation of sin brought by one member of a congregation
against another. This requires two or three witness if
personal confrontation is ineffective.
Teachings that are
published far and wide do not need two or three witnesses;
everyone can see what is being taught for themselves. These teachings must be judged to be biblical or unbiblical.
Those who bring false teaching should be publicly corrected.
If they continue to bring false teaching and disregard the
faith once for all delivered to the saints, they should be
considered wolves and the flock must be guarded from them.
Today the teachings of the
wolves come by way of the TV, radio, internet, books,
seminars and any other media that is available. No pastor
could discuss each of these specific heresies with their
authors, nor is it required. What is required is that
pastors and elders refute the heresies with sound doctrine,
and warn the flock about their pernicious influence. The sad
truth is that very few elders or pastors are willing to do
this. Many take it as a badge of honor that they correct no
one, and glibly allow the wolves to devour the flock under
the guise of humility and unity. If we refuse to judge false
teaching, we have neglected our God-given
responsibilities....
