A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers – Part 9

This special series is designed to help you and other Christians to be able to identify false preachers and teachers in your church, your denomination, conferences and concerts you attend, and online, radio and television programs you read, hear and watch. As we’ve been documenting in the series, false preachers are everywhere and into everything Christian.

If this is the first time you’ve seen our series, please search for previous articles. We are using the Layman’s Guide to False Preachers and Teachers (the Bible) for our study. We’ll also include reference materials and videos for you to read and watch, but the Bible is our primary source for the truth concerning false preachers and teachers.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 JOHN 4:1

As we mentioned in an earlier part of this series, testing the spirits in the context of John’s letter has to do with what kind of spirit is behind the preaching and teaching in their churches. Is it from God or the devil? If it’s from the devil, we need to remember why the Son of God (Jesus Christ) was revealed –

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
1 JOHN 3:8

Testing the spirits is something for individual Christians to do as well as for Christian leaders. As we saw in our last two studies (here and here), the four steps of testing preachers and teachers are –

What do they believe?
What do they preach and teach?
How do they live?
How do they lead?

If you use this four-step testing process and discover that preachers or teachers in your church, denomination, Bible college or seminary, or conference are false preachers and teachers, what do you do? Do you stand up in the middle of a church service and yell out FALSE PREACHER at the top of your lungs? Do you run out of the service never to return to your church again? Or might there be other ways to address the problem?

Let’s see what the Layman’s Guide to False Preachers and Teachers instructs us to do.

Shining A Light

Testing the spirits is just the first part in discovering the identity of false preachers and teachers. The next part is shining a light on them. That means pointing them out publicly (if private conversations didn’t lead to the proper resolution of repentance on the part of the false preacher or teacher) so others can see that they are false and not true preachers and teachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As difficult as that may seem, shining a light on false preachers and teachers is not as hard as you might think. Jesus and His apostles have already done the heavy lifting. That’s why we depend on the Layman’s Guide to False Preachers and Teachers to guide us in our quest.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-4

Jesus is Life and Light. He is also Truth. Jesus, the Light, shines in the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it. We will discover the path for exposing false preachers and teachers as we follow the teachings of Christ. Here are some examples we can use in developing our theology for shining a light on false preaching and teaching in our churches, denominations, schools and conferences.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

He answered and said to them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Matthew 13:37-43

Jesus has called His followers, His disciples, to be a light in the world and to let their light shine in a way that other people will see their good works and glorify their Father in Heaven. Christians are not supposed to be silent and unseen in the world, which includes their churches and denominations. Christians are lights among other believers and should be heard and seen on important topics like the truth or falsity of preaching and teaching in churches and denominations.

The Apostle Paul wrote something similar to the Christians in Philippi:

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Philippians 2:14-16

False preachers and teachers are part of that crooked and perverse generation and true Christians need to shine as lights in their churches and denominations. They do that by holding fast the Word of life (truth of the Bible) and shining their light so what they know will be known by others.

How important is it that we “hold fast” the Word of life? Here’s how the Apostle Peter answered that:

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. 2 Peter 1:16 – 2:3

Peter was near death and knew that false preachers and teachers were among Christians secretly bringing in destructive heresies. That’s exactly what we have going on in our churches, denominations, schools and conferences today. What did Peter point to as the way Christians could deal with false preachers and teachers? He points to “the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place.”

If you want to shine a light on false preachers and teachers in your church, you need to heed the prophetic word confirmed. That means turning to God’s Word and paying attention to it. That’s the meaning of the Greek word prosechó. It directs us to give full attention to God’s Word and set our course and stick to it. Once we shine the light of Truth on false preaching and teaching in our church we can’t back away from it. Heed the prophetic Word confirmed, shine your light and stay on that path.

Let me say at this point that I’m not telling you to do something I haven’t done myself. Shining the light on false preaching and teaching is not academic for me. I’ve done it in the real world and will tell you it’s not easy .. or safe. Turning on a Truth Light in a church can get you into trouble, even when you follow the biblical pattern of speaking with the person privately followed by including one or more witnesses. Many Christians, including church leaders, like it best when the lights are off or at least turned down low. Shining a bright light on false preachers and teachers may make you unpopular among friends and family, especially if the false preacher/teacher is popular in the church or denomination. Confronting them and their false preaching is definitely not for the faint of heart. If you don’t want to deal with the kind of backlash Jesus, the apostles and many other Christians have experienced through the centuries, you may want to rethink your desire to to expose false preachers and teachers.

I’m not suggesting that you don’t move forward with your plans to shine a light on false preaching and teaching in your church. What I am suggesting is that you go into it with your eyes wide open. Depend on the power of the prophetic word confirmed and the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you. The Word of God and Spirit of God are powerful weapons that we read about in such classics as Ephesians 6:10-17. Be sure to put on the whole armor of God before entering the arena of false preachers and teachers. They can be vicious.

Next Time

We’ll share some specific ways to shine a powerful light on false preachers and teachers in your church, denomination or Christian organization in the next part of our special series, A Layman’s Guide to False Preachers and Teachers.

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 1

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 2

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 3

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 4

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 5

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 6

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 7

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 8