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Title: Unmasking False Teaching
One of the reasons I’m not fond of the concept of political correctness in the Church is because I think it muddies the waters of what should be our priorities. Let me explain visually what I mean by this:
What Christianity has become:
- Love and acceptance of others
- Missional work
- Teaching Truth (sin, responsibility, redemption)
What Christianity is:
- Teaching Truth
- Love and acceptance of others
- Missional work.
Notice, I’m not leaving love and acceptance of others off the list. But when we place that higher on the list than truth, which we often do in the Church, it can come at the detriment of teaching the full counsel of the scriptures.
And remember from what we studied last week: What is love? Obeying the father. So you can’t even know what love is, or how to “love and accept others” if you don’t know what the scriptures say. It seems like a simple modification, but, trust me, it can have huge implications in your theology and practice.
Let me give you one very relevant example. How many of you are at least familiar with the Emergent Church? The emergent church is a movement that has, seemingly intentionally, placed Loving others and missional work so much higher on the list than truth teaching, that the main complaint from orthodox churches is: do you tell people they are sinners? In your quest to “act more like Jesus” how do you know who he is if you are not putting an emphasis on knowing what the scriptures say.
I’m not here to offer a sermon breaking down the ills of the emergent church this morning, but rather to use that situation to illustrate that as John says “many deceivers have gone out into the world” is still a relevant issue in Christianity today, and it is one we must be on guard against.
If any of you are wanting to know more about the emergent movement, what it is, how it is perceived to be very dangerous by many Christians, my greatest encouragement would be to start by reading “Why Were Not Emergent (By two guys who should be.)” By Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. It is a very good read, very fair, very informative, and very eye-opening.
I. “Gone out into the world”
We will be comparing what John has written in our passage today with what he writes in I John 2:18-19, so let us look there quickly. (read)
We see in verse 19 that John writes “They went out from us, but they were not of us.” Again, what is John stressing here?
These false teachers arose from within the Church. They came from within Christianity.
We must remember that the most dangerous enemy to the Church is the one from within. The enemy from within can do do more damage because:
- They can lead believers astray because they are already trusted.
- They can entice seekers who are on the fence by presenting a less threatening version of Christ and truth.
- They can splinter churches and denominations. (A house divided against itself can not stand.)
- “This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”
Again, comparing this to what John says in I John 2:18-19, we see that John signifies there are “antichrists” (lower case, plural) that are false teachers who will rise up from within the Churches, and there is also one final “Antichrist” (capital, singular) who is spoken of in the N.T., most namely Revelation.
John clarifies, without hesitation, that one who teachers that Jesus was not flesh (a docetist) is absolutely a false teacher, and therefore, an antichrist.
Getting back to the opening statement, if we put the priority of “loving and accepting people” BEFORE “teaching truth” we are more likely to miss, or minimize false teaching because we don’t want to offend anyone.
And what is a false teaching?
A teaching that goes against a clearly stated truth of scripture.
For John in this passage: The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus had to be flesh, otherwise, he could not be a sacrifice FOR flesh.
For our opening example of the Emergent Church: The Bible clearly teaches the reality of sin an our personal debt to a righteous judge, and that God reveals himself to us through his scriptures. Therefore, any teaching, any system of thought that minimizes the reality of sin, or does not emphasize the Scriptures is also false teaching.
If you are listening to my voice right now and are a little uncomfortable with what I’m saying, if you feel like you are thinking the language of calling another potential believer a false teacher is a bit too strong, I just want to ask you, “Why do you think you feel that way?”
I think, at least in part, the sad answer to that question is because we have become so programmed to not offend each other, that we are afraid to challenge someone else’s position, even if that position sounds suspicious to our theological ear.
We are so afraid to call others out on their theology that we giving false teaching a foothold in our churches.
I guess my point is that I’d rather run the risk of offending someone and get to the truth of the matter, than risk letting a false teacher have influence over a group of people.
I tell you the other thing that I’m saying: Don’t give me any free passes. Don’t let your love for me make you deaf to any false teaching that may come from my lips. If something sounds suspicious to your theological ear, make that be known. I’ll go one step further, make it known publicly. If you perceive that I’ve stopped teaching Biblically, get me out of this pulpit, get me out of any position of influence and authority, because I wouldn’t belong here. And neither does anyone else who does not teach the full counsel of the Scriptures.
Now, I know you all know this, but I’m saying it as a disclaimer: When you think there is a dispute to be had, act as Christ would. With compassion, empathy, respect, and patience, knowing that your goal is not to “win” the argument, but rather to “turn a sinner from the error of his way” as James says in chapter 5 of his book.
So act in humility. But, by God, act!
What is the danger?
As we draw to a close this morning, I want you to be fully aware of what John offers as a warning if we don’t call out these false teachers from within our midst: John tell us if we don’t defend the Truth we will “lose those things that we have worked for”
What do we stand to lose if we allow false doctrines and teachings in our congregations?
The blessings of God. He will not endure our false teaching. He will not bless our church. He will not bless our families. We will not have assurance. We will not have peace.
Now, I also want to be perfectly clear this morning: I’m not saying that you have to have 100% of your theology worked out perfectly to enter into heaven. God is not a Rubik’s Cube to be solved in a defined amount of time.
He is a relational God that wants your trust. There are very complex issues in scripture, to be sure, and we will spend ample amounts of time debating them in humility to come up with sound answers. But the main in issues in scripture are not complex, and the two examples we’ve looked a today are not complex.
For John and docetism: It is an absolute essential belief that Jesus Christ was fully human and fully God.
For us and the Emergent Church: it is absolutely essential that Scripture and the reality of personal sin be taught, otherwise Jesus loses his importance as “savior.”
Am I advocating that everyone in an emerging or emergent congregation is a false teacher? No. But I do think their theology is a very slippery slope, and my point is this: I’m not afraid to say that. And you should not be either.
If we stop dialoging about of differences, we open the floodgates to false teachers, and that is exactly what John is warning us against here today.
Pray.