WHAT IS A “FALSE TEACHER”? The other day I noticed a “friend” on facebook who complained because some former friends had evidently chosen not to interact with him. To him, they deserved to be castigated for rejecting the truth of God when they rejected him (which gives you some idea of his opinion of himself), and by innuendo and “evil surmising” (some had been intimidated by their peers, and some evidently felt that showing him respect might cost them their jobs—for which not a shred of evidence was offered) he showed how willing he was to demean the very ones who HE had considered good friends (with “friends” like that, who needs enemies?). Part of his diatribe was that he was now being considered as a “false teacher”, and strongly implied an unfair conspiracy against him. What IS a “false teacher”? (Jesus called them “false prophets”—Matt 7).. Well, one thing we know – they don’t always admit it! Indeed they may come “in sheep’s clothing”. Paul said they may appear “as an angel of light”..(2 Cor 11:13-15). John in 1 John 4:1-6 shows us how to identify them—if they will not listen to the apostles, we should “not receive them”. Jesus says, “by their FRUITS ye shall know them” (because that “sheep’s clothing” thing may throw you off). When a man supports an expansion of fellowship to include those who ignore the silence of God, when he trashes CENI as the fundamental common sense approach to Bible study, when he stands on the other side of virtually every effort to strike a balance between “love”, “faith”, and “works”, when he himself “likes” those who promote a “better way” than determining propositional truth based on “book, chapter and verse” – when that is the “fruit” produced on facebook, what kind of teacher is that? On a personal note, while many who stand with him have defriended me, I have not defriended any of them on that basis, and even now am willing for him to take part in any discussion (within the limits of fairness and courtesy) on my wall which addresses these things – which he has quit doing, incidentally. I wonder if that means he is part of a conspiracy against me? Frankly, I don’t EXPECT people to come on my wall unless they agree with me or undertake to correct me – both are welcome—in either case, it is their choice, and I do not criticize those who do not, or delve into their motives. I am not insulted if that happens (I know I can improve as a communicator), and certainly do not make their choice critical to my attitude toward them. I still believe I have to earn their respect every day! (acb)
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 12:01:54 +0000
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