Blog Posts, But What Does Scripture Say About It?, Faith Journey Reflection

It Bugs People… Let’s Talk About It

Robin

I post a lot about false teachers and prophets and doctrines, and I know that it bothers a lot of you that I do it. I’m not posting to annoy you. I promise. I am posting to put a pebble in your shoe. So, if you find it annoying, pause and ponder why. I was deceived for a very long time in my walk. It took multiple people multiple times of putting pebbles in my shoe before one of them made me stumble in my erroneous beliefs and ask myself and more importantly, God, if I was wrong. I was annoyed with those people. Until their motives and love for truth became evident. They weren’t trying to annoy me. They were trying to advance the truth by getting me to consider the annoying pebbles in my shoes.

I’m aware that ultimately it won’t be my pebbles or my logic or my convincing anyone that gets them to change their mind. It will be the Holy Spirit who will soften hearts, convict and reveal the truth and the deception. However, much like evangelism to an unbeliever, we don’t know what He will use to soften people to the truth or completely uncover it. And we are warned numerous times about false gospels and told to test everything. We’re warned so many times in the Bible about these things that I wouldn’t even know where to start if I were to try to post all of the references, but here’s a few: 

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:24
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:6-10
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, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Matthew 7:15-20
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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 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. 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. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 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.
1 John 4:1-6

I was recently told by someone that I should not try to correct believers in this way because I might be “tampering with how others receive Jesus” and that I should “re-evaluate who’s (sic) giving [me] that unction” by having “a divine encounter with God that will cause [me] to be more sensitive to others and their own personal walk with Jesus praying God’s will for their lives (sic).” I’ve been warned to back off when sending biblical teachings to professing Christians. I’ve been called a false teacher. I’ve been accused of overthinking theological and doctrinal details. I’ve been unfriended and blocked. I’ve been compared to a pharisee. I could go on and on, but the point isn’t to have a pity party or anything of the sort (which is actually not how I feel about these experiences at all). My point is that just because someone says they are a Christian, that does not mean they have a true biblical worldview.

As a result, my question is this: will God ever encounter us in a way that’s not biblical? The answer is no. No, He will not, and we know this because of all of the scripture that talks about His immutability and the sufficiency of His completed Word. We live in a day and age when subjective experiences seem to trump God’s objective truth. Even within the Church. I understand that most people would say that “God will reveal truth to them in His own timing” and “it’s important to let people come to the truth in their own time”, but I have some concerns with this live-and-let-live attitude.

  • First is that we have example after example of Paul exhorting and correcting the first century church regarding false teachings and beliefs. Without these examples in the New Testament, just imagine how much shorter the latter part of the Bible would be! We are facing the same false teachings and beliefs now… just worded slightly differently. If there are so many examples of exhorting and correcting this within the church body in scripture, why wouldn’t we follow them?
  • The second problem I have is that we not only have examples in scripture, but we are directly told that, “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Doesn’t it follow, then, that we would use it as such with our fellow believers?? Not to beat them up, but to lovingly hold up the Word of God in a way that encourages repentance and returning to truth? -Keep in mind that the world’s version of love today and biblical love are vastly different.
  • Third, it seems to me that we use the “God’s timing” reason as an excuse to shirk our uncomfortable responsibilities sometimes. Not all the time, but possibly more than we should. Just because something will inevitably only happen in God’s timing doesn’t mean we have no responsibility to share truth, whether it be exhorting a brother or sister in Christ or evangelizing to the lost world around us. Afterall, how do we know that our sharing won’t be used in God’s timing? Will we always be visibly fruitful in our efforts? No, of course not, but we will sow seeds. We cannot be the Holy Spirit in someone else’s life, but we do still have a responsibility to lovingly teach and exhort.

I’m not outright telling anyone else what to do or not to do in this blog post, but I wanted to 1) clear up some of the confusion about why I post and share what I do, and 2) encourage others to hopefully start doing some of the same with my reasons. I know that it makes a lot of people uncomfortable… heck, sometimes it makes me uncomfortable. But I don’t want my kids to grow up in a world where they can’t share the truth because I didn’t when I could. I think we all (in the faith) have a responsibility to the next generation in that regard. And we ought to know the intricacies of our own theology and doctrine in order to be able to properly teach it to them. That includes all of the nuances and understanding why certain beliefs are not biblical, but others are. That also includes occasionally pointing those unbiblical beliefs are. It is the loving thing to do.

Now that I listed the reasoning behind what I post, I want to share just two of the erroneous beliefs I used to hold and the scriptures that contradict those beliefs as examples:

  • I thought that God would speak to me daily in a still, small voice. I even taught this from a stage on occasion. (Something I am not proud of, and if you were among those I taught this to, I sincerely apologize and hope you will forgive me.) I thought that the passage in 1 Kings 19 about Elijah hearing from God was something we could glean a doctrine from to hear from God ourselves. That He would speak to me (internally) in a small, quiet voice if I just tuned in enough. Whatever that means… what it likely actually meant in my case was listening to my own imagination or internal voice. Sadly, this one in particular seems to be extremely common, and it’s possible that for some people, they’re hearing from the demonic rather than, or as well as, their own thoughts. However, 1 Kings 19 is not a prescription, and even if it was, it’s critical that we realize that God didn’t speak to Elijah in an internal, mysterious voice, but an external, audible voice and there was no mistaking or guessing at what God said.
    • “There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,’ he replied, ‘but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.’ Then the LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.’ And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,’ he replied, ‘but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.’ Then the LORD said to him, ‘Go back by the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. You are also to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet. Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.'”
      1 Kings 19:9-18 (BSB)

  • I thought that our words and actions had creative power like God’s (but on a much smaller scale). Since we were created in the image of God according to Genesis 1, I was taught and believed without question, that we could do the same. That we were made in the image of God does not mean that we are identical to God, though, or that we have ALL of His attributes. While He did give us a small measure of some of His attributes (love, justice, mercy, wisdom, etc.), there are certain attributes that He did not give us, such as His sovereignty (supremacy), immutability (unchanging nature), omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), omnipresence (present everywhere at once), He is Spirit (unseen), etc. We do not have the ability to create something out of nothing as God does. That is not an attribute we were given when we were created in God’s image. He is the Creator. We are the creation, meant to worship and glorify the Creator. Now, we can be creative, but we cannot create out of nothing as God did. This is a very popular prosperity gospel and Word of Faith teaching that is borrowed from the new age (or Gnosticism). The creation does not get to declare, decree, confess, believe or proclaim things into existence. If it’s not true, it’s not true, and it’s a lie to say otherwise. If, however, we just want to have a positive attitude even in the midst of negative circumstances, we can worship, pray, petition, and glorify God despite those circumstances and expect to experience the peace and joy of the Lord internally, knowing that our suffering is temporary.
    • “I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Nevertheless, you have done well to share in my affliction. And as you Philippians know, in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church but you partnered with me in the matter of giving and receiving. For even while I was in Thessalonica, you provided for my needs again and again. Not that I am seeking a gift, but I am looking for the fruit that may be credited to your account. I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
      Philippians 4:11-19 (BSB)
    • “And one of the scribes came to Him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.’ Another of His disciples requested, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus told him, ‘Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’
      Matthew 8:19-22 (BSB)
    • “So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
      2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (BSB)

I’m still learning. I still get things wrong. But I’m willing to be wrong and to be challenged and corrected. If someone else understands something that I don’t and is able to provide a biblical case for why I’m wrong, I want to hear them out. Now, I’m not going to argue for any and every doctrinal difference that I have with other believers because some are secondary and not as critical. However, on the doctrines and theologies that I used to believe and that I see as primary or dangerous to the core of the gospel message, I believe it’s too important not to speak up. And, when it comes to big name teachers who regularly preach and teach things that are in error, I will occasionally speak up about them, too. I find it truly disheartening that our western Christian culture has come to such a point that we don’t test people if they claim the name of Jesus or Christianity. Instead, we simply assume they are preaching some accurate form of truth because we like them, or they seem genuine. I’m not the first to say it, but it is possible to be likeable and genuine and wrong. 

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
Acts 17:10-15

I hope this post has put a pebble in your shoe that inspires you to dig deeper in scripture and seek out and share the truth. Even if the only people you’re pouring into are your kids, it will make a difference. Be willing to be wrong in front of them. Be willing to say you aren’t sure and dig through scripture with them. Read commentaries with them. Let them hear you asking the hard questions when you hear something that you don’t understand or doesn’t line up with scripture. Give them the confidence to stand up for the truth when they are confronted with lies. That is ultimately why I do what I do.

Blessings,
Robin 💜

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