A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers – Part 12

As you might guess from the title of this series, our focus is on false preachers and teachers. We’ve linked to previous articles at the bottom of this post. False preachers and teachers have done tremendous damage to churches, denominations, conferences, colleges, seminaries and other ministries.

One of the sad facts about the damage done by false preachers and teachers is how their words and actions have pulled tens of millions of unsuspecting people into their deceptive nets. What can and should Christians do when people in their churches fall into the trap of evil people?

Showing Mercy in Strength

We have many warnings in the New Testament about the dangers of false preachers and teachers. You will find much abut them in the teachings of Jesus and the writings of Paul, Peter, John and Jude. We learn how to test the spirits to see if preachers and teachers speak truth or error. We learn how to confront false preachers and teachers and what to do if they do not repent.

Paul wrote Titus how church elders were to deal with people speaking falsely in the local church. They were to “rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). But what if those people didn’t repent of their false speech? Paul wrote that we should “withdraw” ourselves from anyone who “teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lords Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

The Greek word translated “withdraw” is aphistémi and means “depart from, draw away from, take position away from.” It’s a strong word when you think about what Paul told Titus and Timothy to do and teach other Christians to do. The idea is staying away from someone you used to fellowship with and not having anything to do with them. Think about that. It might be someone in your own family, a dear friend, a mentor, a pastor. That’s not easy to do unless we really believe it’s what God is telling us to do.

You may remember what Paul wrote Christians in Corinth about how to deal with anyone named a brother who was sexually immoral, covetous, an idolater, reviler, drunkard or extortioner — “not even to eat with such a person” (1 Corinthians 5:11). Paul called that part of “judging” someone in the church. He went on to write — “Therefore ‘put away from yourselves the evil person” (1 Corinthians 5:12). We know that the person in question was well known in the church. Church members knew what the man had done and some were even proud of it in an arrogant way (meaning of the Greek word phusioó).

And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you … Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 1 Corinthians 5:2,6

This is how Paul told the Corinthians to deal with the man:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:4-5

Paul told them to gather together and with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.” Why? “… that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Paul wanted the church to demonstrate mercy to the man and to do it from a position of strength. What do we mean by that?

Keep in mind that God disciplines His people (Hebrews 12). Paul wrote later in the same letter to the Corinthians that some in the church were weak and sick and some had even died because they partook of the Lord’s Supper “in an unworthy manner.” Paul wrote that they ate and drank “judgment” to themselves, “not discerning the Lord’s body.” Paul wrote that “whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” Why would God do that to His own people? “But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:27-32). Good reason!

I think we Christians tend to forget who we are and to whom we belong. Jesus Christ purchased us with His own blood (Acts 20:28). We belong to Him and He has high expectations for us — what we believe, what we say, what we do. God disciplines those He loves and that discipline can be seemingly harsh when necessary. However, God disciplines us mercifully, especially as we submit humbly to His discipline.

We know that the Corinthians did what Paul told them to do and that the man who had committed sexual immorality with his father’s wife repented of his sin. Paul wrote a follow-up letter to the Corinthians encouraging them to forgive the repentant brother and receive him back into church fellowship (2 Corinthians 2). That’s a demonstration of how serious rebuke and withdrawal can be both merciful and helpful in restoring a brother or sister who has sinned against God.

You’ll find similar advice in a letter Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-9

We might not think of rebuking someone sharply and withdrawing from someone as being merciful, but it is. False teaching is not something Christians can or should ignore. It won’t just go away on its own. False teaching and practice have to be confronted seriously and humbly.

Showing Mercy in Humility

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. Galatians 6:1-5

No Christian is beyond being “overtaken in any trespass.” If that happened to you, how would you want other Christians to treat you? Would you want them to ignore your “trespass” (paraptóma – falling away, lapse, false step)? Would you want them to shun you without reaching out to help you first? I think the answer is “no.” We would want someone to come alongside of us an help “bear” our burden “and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Does that include a false preacher or teacher? Maybe. Here’s why I say that.

There’s a first time for everything and that includes the first time someone preaches or teaches false doctrine. One of the reasons Christians need to know Scripture well is so they can recognize false teaching. False teaching can come from any Christian in a teaching position in a church. It might be a small group leader, a Sunday school teacher, a youth leader or pastor. Those are the people who should be trained to spot false teaching in a church, but they sometimes do the false teaching.

So, how do we help someone the first time we hear them teach something we recognize as false? Start by talking with them privately. Ask questions about their teaching. Ask them how they came to that understanding of Scripture? Was it from something they studied on their own or from something they read or someone they heard? Knowing the genesis of false teaching can sometimes help you determine the best way to talk with a teacher. They may have come under the influence of a false teacher and not realize that what they learned was false doctrine. Once you point it out to them, they may thank you for your kindness and ask you to help them understand the correct teaching.

Talking with a false teacher often doesn’t go well. They can become defensive or even aggressive. What next? You may need to move from talking to rebuking. As Paul wrote Titus, “rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). I recommend you take someone to with you when you rebuke a teacher in your church. Here’s Paul’s advice for rebuking an elder:

Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. 1 Timothy 5:19-20

But what if those people don’t repent of their false teaching even after you talk with them privately and rebuke them sharply with witnesses present?

The next step is to withdraw from them. Remember that withdrawing from someone means departing from them and taking a position away from them. That’s a serious step. It means you won’t have anything to do with them. You actually take a position that is “away” from them.

Here are the steps for dealing with a false teacher in your church:

Talk privately
Rebuke sharply with witnesses
Withdraw and take a position away from

Why Maybe?

In answer to the question – “Does that include a false preacher or teacher?” – I answered “Maybe.” Why?

Each situation of false teaching is unique. If it’s the first time you’ve heard a person in your church teach something that is clearly false teaching, I recommend you follow the steps listed above. If you’ve gone through those steps and the false teacher continues teaching falsely, you are under no biblical directive to do any more with them.

However, if a known false preacher or teacher is invited to speak at your church and you know that other Christians have addressed the false preaching/teaching with them I don’t believe you under a biblical directive to talk with that person when they speak at the church. What I would recommend is that you have a serious talk with your pastor or youth leader or whoever invited the false preacher/teacher to speak at your church. Follow the steps above: talk privately with them, rebuke them sharply with witnesses, withdraw and take a position away from them. If a pastor or elder won’t listen to a warning about having a false preacher/teacher in their church, it may be time to literally withdraw from the church.

Inviting a false preacher/teacher to speak at a church is just about as bad as being one. Unfortunately, we see a lot of that in evangelical churches and denominations. Pastors who should know better are allowing known false preachers/teachers to speak to the congregation God has given them to protect. Someone needs to approach the pastor and church leaders and ask why they’re inviting a false preacher/teacher to speak. If they don’t want to listen to you or disagree with you and cannot support their position from the Bible, then it may be time for you to take a position away from them.

The same is true for denominations and denominational schools and conferences. It amazes me to see how denominational leaders continue to allow false preaching and teaching to flourish in their churches. If you are in a position of leadership in a denomination, follow the same steps for churches. Talk privately with other leaders. If they won’t hear you, rebuke them sharply with witnesses. If they won’t repent, withdraw and take a position away from them.

The fact that some denominations argue for decades about things that are so clearly false teaching is certainly displeasing to God. God gave gifted leaders to churches “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13). God also gave church leaders great direction for how to deal with false teaching. He gave us the tools to test the spirits:

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. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 1 John 4:1-3

God also warned what would happen when false teachers get their hooks into His people. Their evil intent is to divide the flock of God through their false teaching and take some of the people to follow them instead of Christ:

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Acts 20:29-30

These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. Jude 1:19

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. 2 Peter 2:1

Who will stop them? You and me. May I suggest that each of us do what we can where we are using what we have to declare the Word of God and uncover the evil deeds of false preachers and teachers in our churches and denominations.