This past Sunday at Bethany, I concluded our fall sermon series studying the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. This week, we studied the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 7:13-20 in which he teachers on the Wide and Narrow Gates and his warning to beware of false teachers. I’ve had a few people ask me to summarize some of the thoughts I shared about false teaching in the church – and decided to blog that brief summary here.

It is interesting to note how Jesus describes false prophets and teachers… they are “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” In other words, they are not only dangerous to the sheep but they are also deceiving to the sheep. They aren’t immediately recognizable. We often have the idea that false teachers and prophets are going to be obvious – preaching from the Book of Mormon or handling snakes or talking about comets that are going to take us to heaven. Those are wolves in wolves’ clothing. “Wolves in sheep’s clothing” are ones who quote and teach from the same Bible that we do, who have degrees from prestigious divinity schools, who are popular and appear successful – both in life and in ministry. So how do we recognize false teachers… Jesus says that we need to examine their fruit. It might not show up immediately – but there is a law in the natural world that also shows up in the spiritual world. There is a definite connection between the tree (the teacher) and the fruit. We can’t look at the heart of the person, ,what is unseen to us – but we can look at the fruit, that which is visible, and determine whether this is a teacher or prophet that we ought to listen to. What might this fruit be that Jesus is talking about?

• Their character – do we see the “fruit of the Spirit” in their lives?
• Their conduct – how do they live and does it line up with the kind of conduct that the Lord expects of leaders in the Kingdom?
• Their teaching – does their teaching line up with Scripture? I don’t believe that Scripture is exhaustive of all of the revelation and truth that God could give… but it should serve as the standard by which all other claims of truth or revelation are evaluated. Is there anything in Scripture that contradicts this teaching or revelation.
• Their impact – what is the fruit of their lives, teaching, and ministry? Are those who are under its influence inspired to love God more and to love others more deeply?

If these false teachers are “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” I believe it also the responsibility of leaders in the Body of Christ (under-Shepherds) to help protect the sheep from these false teachers. For my part, there are four areas that I am very cautious with respect to so-called teachers/prophets in the Church today. I would encourage you to be cautious of those teachers who have a tendency to focus on their own “hobby-horse” theology or spiritual emphasis – and fail to teach the full counsel of God’s Word. What might that look like? Specifically, I’d encourage you to be be cautious of the following:

1. Those who minimize or outright deny the holiness of God and the promise of His judgment on sin. This is very common in what I call the “Christian motivational speakers” circuit – so called pastors and teachers who will focus on God’s love and His acceptance and fail to mention the conditions of His acceptance. It reminds me of the prophetic message of Jeremiah 23…  ¹⁶Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. ¹⁷They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’ ¹⁸For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?… ²¹ “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. ²²But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.

2. Those who minimize or deny the authority and the supremacy of Scripture as the standard for truth, life, and for conduct. We begin to see this tendency creeping in some liberal and/or emergent circles in the church… In fact, many of the problems that we see arising in the Episcopal Church or the ELCA began years ago with a distorted view of the rule and the authority of Scripture in our generation and in our culture.

3. Those who point people to the material and temporal blessings of this age – and undermine their ability to embrace difficulty and hardship in this age for the promise of eternal reward and blessing in the age to come. We obviously see a lot of this in the prosperity circles within the church today. I think it’s high time to have another “church council” of old and declare this teaching what it is… good old fashioned “heresy.”

4. Finally, those who respond to the people above (or another others) – and there is no hint of grace, mercy, or humility in their tone – only anger and self-righteousness. They purport to be full of wisdom – but their wisdom is unspiritual, of the devil because of what James says in James 3:13-18. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

Just some thoughts… give me  yours…