Tuesday, 24 January 2012
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Of Friends and False Teachers: How Do We Respond?
As I read through the epistles, I'm surprised how many times Paul mentions false teachers. He is concerned about them. He warns his readers to beware of them. John and Jude also share Paul's worries about Christians who don't preach the gospel.However, for those of us who live today and are not pastors, I wonder what our role is. We want our friends to grow closer to God under good teaching. However, our friends sometimes get involved with churches that we disagree with.
If my friend is getting closer to God, but is not attending a church that I consider orthodox, what do I do? How can I explain to a friend that he should not attend a certain church because of that church's beliefs in the Trinity? I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.
Have you ever been in a similar situation? What do you say to a friend who you feel is following false teaching? How do we know when a church is preaching a false gospel?
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- From: gsw
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Comments (8)
You last question is really the first.
First, know thy "enemy". Make a study of the perceived false teachings concerned and grade them into what is essential to discard and what is permissible. Of course, you will have also compared teash such teaching with the orthodox teachings as accepted by main-line denominations. You may find the "false" teaching is rather another reputable interpretation. I think of the "conflict" between Arminianism and Calvinism as an example. My point is that to do this seriously, you must be fully informed as to what you are talking about before making judgement calls to the friend.
I would just have a conversation with him first about the doctrine of the church he's attending. Then do your research on it. You guys can even pray together for discernment and check both of your beliefs against what the bible says. Then, you're both involved with the process of figuring it out. Also, my mom used to say that the church as a body shouldn't argue about things that aren't necessary for salvation. But, if you disagree on the trinity, that's kind of essential to salvation, especially if they don't believe that Christ is the God made flesh.
This was kind of disjointed, but my main point was to talk it out with him and test everything with scripture.
Lay off him. We're all going to the same place when our existence ceases anyway, so chill
It's none of my business which church someone goes to. I love it that people choose to go to church and worship the one true God.
Nevertheless, I am a Catholic and believe that all Protestant churches teach heresy and that the division and factionalism built into Protestantism is destroying Christianity.
So am I to cause more division and strife by badgering people for having a religion that I don't approve of? There's such a thing as living in the real world and trying to make the best of it.
I would say that if you have the grace necessary to endure attending such a church's service with your friend and you have no fear of being tempted by false or erroneous doctrine I would, for love of your friend, go to church with them if/when you are invited. Being present at another Christian service does not necessarily mean you agree with them or are participating in full communion. However if there are moments during the service that are intended for those in full communion only--for example Eucharist at a Catholic or Orthodox Church, and some Anglican/Episcopalian as well--then it would be best to refrain.
Now if you do not feel you could patiently endure attending such a service then hopefully your friendship is such that politely declining an invitation to go to church will not jeopardize it. Perhaps after a time your friend would want to talk about why you never want to come and then, hopefully, you'll have had time to think and pray about what you would want them to know. Be careful not to enter into a debate, but endeavor instead to dialogue. Share your thoughts and reasons without challenging outright or criticizing their own, unless it is necessary and you believe your friendship strong enough to withstand such tension.
It all depends on the kind of friend I suppose, the value you have on your friendship and how different your churches are. If being friends with them and the constant presence and challenge of their differing beliefs is distracting you or misleading you away from Christ as you feel in your heart you must go to Him, then it may be for His sake that the friendship must change or even end.
Whatever the circumstance, though, whenever you are in doubt as to what is best always do what you believe to be the most genuinely loving, even if it is a bit sacrificial, and all for the sake of Christ and His glory.
This has been something that I have been faced with a lot as of late, and I can tell you that the "answers" are much, much easier said than done.
It begins with understanding what teachings you hold explicitly come from the Word of God and which ones are extrapolations that man has made. The trinity, for example, has its origins in the Bible, but the whole "kit-n-cabutle" that comes in the "Trinity" teaching is not found in the scriptures entirely.
So, you have to start with stripping away the theologies that are not found in the Bible. You might, for example, retain the doctrines that say Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are one (which are found in the Bible), but be willing to let go of the portions that would say that Jesus existed in fleshly form from the beginning (which is not stated in the Bible).
The point of this is to say that you need to get a very firm grasp on what the "essentials" are. I come from a background that does not worship with instrumental music- I accept this in my own personal opinion as the purest form of worship, but I reject it as the only acceptable form of worship before God. There are other people who feel very awkward worshipping in unaccompanied fashion, and I think it is better to submit to the "weaker brother" (in that instance) than to try and force an opinion on them.
The trickiest part comes when you have a pretty solid idea about what "essentials" the Bible teaches and your friend is now participating in a church that denies, rejects, or twists one of those essentials as clearly as a false teacher.
The Bible does lay out for us what we are supposed to do in those cases: we need to come to him with love and gentleness to rebuke him. Our rebuke needs to be from the word of God and for the purpose of instruction and leading to repentance (if a sin is involved).
One of the tricky points comes when someone has done one of two things: 1) they are aware of the false teaching but have justified it in some way that they are comfortable residing alongside it, or 2) they have believed the false teachings.
My encouragement to you, based on the seriousness of this situation (a soul is at stake in these cases), is that you now go to the Word of God and search with great intensity for wisdom, both in identifying essential doctrines, and in handling these situations when the arise. Blessings,
Whatever you do has to be done with love. Know what bothers you. Know what the Bible says about it. Be able to show it to your friend in the Bible. Just start by saying something like, "I have a question about..." or "Can you tell me why...." or "I read this in the Bible and need to talk to you about it." One thing you really need to do first is make sure your friend agrees that the Bible is the one and only word of God and that it is THE "guide book" to Heaven.
in Heaven looking at the souls in Hell.
He was saying to them, “Ha, ha, ha!
Look where I am and look at where you are. Ha, ha, ha!” Somehow, I can’t feature a real Christian
taunting like that. I most certainly can’t picture Jesus saying such. I can see
Jesus crying over the lost. “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked
should die? says the Lord God, and not
that he should turn from his ways and live?”(Ezekiel 18:23) One of the biggest
frauds may well be that false ‘feel good’ gospel proclaimed by TV preachers. “If
anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into
your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his devil deeds”(2
John 10-11). Is not the TV set a giant front door?