HOW DO I RECOGNIZE FALSE TEACHING?
RECOGNIZING FALSE TEACHING, CONFUSION & CULTISH BEHAVIOR
By: Jack Guyler
False teaching has been prevalent in the Christian church since its inception. Sometimes false or error filled teachings have unintentionally made their way into the church because people either don’t know the Word of God or they are making statements based on what they have heard without doing proper research on either the content or those delivering the content. This often happens when people get caught up in religious traditions and focus more on tradition than on Christ. Other times false teachings and errors have been spread intentionally (much like the parable Jesus taught on the weeds and wheat in Matthew 13) by persons who are bent on their ideas, by persons who take creative license with scripture, by persons who want to manipulate scripture or use their position to abuse other people, or twist scripture for their own gain.
Much of the backdrop of New Testament letters has to do with false teachings and false doctrines influencing the early church. Look at just a few of the things mentioned by New Testament writers:
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
- 2 Timothy 4:2-4
“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work – which is by faith.”
- 1 Timothy 1:3-4
“…In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”
- Jude 18-19
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.”
- Galatians 1:6-7
These writers are responding to those trying to influence the early church with corrupt teachings. So the question for us today in the church is, how can we identify corrupt teachings that will throw us into confusion as Paul states and will keep our hearts and minds in turmoil and far from growing in Christ? The purpose of the church, scripture and the gifts God has given to the church (as outlined in Ephesians 4) are to build up people so they become unified in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God so they can become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. When persons grow up and become mature, it prevents them from becoming vulnerable to every teaching and “the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14).
I will address how to identify false teaching first and then talk about how to safeguard ourselves against it so we are able to think clearly and worship the One true and living God that Jesus came to reveal to us. First, let’s look at some ways that false teaching and errors enter the church, thus enter our minds and hearts.
FALSE AND INACCURATE SAYINGS
It is one thing to use expressions or sayings; it is another to use them as if you are quoting scripture. Here are a few examples of things you will hear in the church as scriptural truth, even though none of these come from scripture. Sometimes these are spoken from the pulpit and sometimes are passed around in the pew – but they are still misleading regardless of the source.
“God helps those who help themselves”
“Cleanliness is next to godliness”
“God will never give you more than you can handle”
“Money is the root of all evil”
“You can’t out give God”
“Everything happens for a reason”
TRUSTING IN EXPERIENCE OVER SCRIPTURE
While some church traditions such as Pentecostals and Charismatics rely heavily on emotion, feelings and experience while other traditions of Christianity rely more on a quieter or reserved style of worship, neither is wrong. However, when experience and emotion over takes the truth of scripture in your life, you become prone and vulnerable to every wave of doctrine and false teaching. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church movement, used four points to examine the Christian faith – reason, tradition, experience and scripture. Scripture was the primary source of truth for Wesley of what would later be named the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. The point here is, each of these sources are valid for looking at the Christian faith and your own life, but scripture, when there is conflict among the others, must be the final authority as to what is right and true. Scripture is the constitution of Christianity.
Relying on experience and emotion over scripture can lead you down paths that are full of errors. Relying on a feeling is not going to produce consistent and Godly growth in your life. For example, if I want to be fit but only go to the gym when I “feel like it”, I won’t get there very often. But if I commit to going to the gym whether I feel like it or not because I know the truth is, going to the gym will help me get fit, then I will go more consistently. If I rely on feelings to worship God rather than the Word, then there may be many Sundays when I don’t feel God or can’t worship unless I experience certain conditions. But when I rely on the Word, I have the truth that God is God and that He is faithful whether I feel it or not. The Word of God should be the filter of our experiences rather than filtering the Word of God through our experiences which can be very unreliable and faulty.
DON’T ASK QUESTIONS
In some churches where false doctrines run rampant, the unwritten code and the underlining message is, “Don’t ask questions, just shut up and follow what is taught and obey the rules.” You see this in some of the big ministries and churches that have fallen over the past years. These churches were ruled by a few very strong leaders who ruled liked dictators that were unapproachable and didn’t allow anyone to question them. They were the “anointed ones” who couldn’t be wrong and couldn’t be questioned. If you find yourself in a church or small group where this is the code, you will do well to run! This is a sure sign that abusive leadership is taking place and they are using false doctrine to keep people in line.
A CLOSED SYSTEM
Another sign of false teaching is when you find a church that is closed off. These churches tend to separate themselves from other churches and the body of Christ so they can “be more pure and holy.” The problem in these churches is that pride and arrogance overtakes them. And the more they cut off from the body, the more they go off on a tangent from the truth of scripture. Their initial purpose of cutting off from the body of Christ was to get away from the sin of the church as a whole; but becoming isolated only reinforced their false teachings and beliefs about themselves. When you have a church that cuts itself off from other churches and requires the people who go there to only follow the teachings of the leaders in that church, you have a closed system. A closed system is an unhealthy system because it becomes like a one-way body of water where water flows into it but cannot leave. Over time, it becomes polluted and overrun with bacteria and there is no way for it to get out. This is how cults emerge. You have leaders who think they have the only angle on truth combined with people who believe them in a closed system where all the unhealthiness of the church is locked inside and can’t get out. At the same time, any healthy or liberating teaching can’t get in. Dysfunctional families can operate this way and so can local churches. You need to be aware of the way your church operates. If it is closed as I have described here, this is a big hint that you are getting false teaching and bad doctrine.
MIX & MATCHING THE OT & NT
This type of false teaching is usually the result of teachers and pastors not being educated in the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The results can be harmful, but most often, it is not by malicious intent, but rather out of ignorance. The Old Testament is primarily built around the Mosaic covenant between Israel and God. It was a covenant requiring the Jewish people to do specific things to be in good standing with God. There are many wonderful principles found in the Old Testament (which is a record of the covenant between Israel and God) such as God as creator, life lessons found in Proverbs, great prayers found in the Psalms and some of the most authentic expressions of feelings, brokenness and anguish with God can be found here. However, in much faulty teaching today, the Old Testament and its laws and how God related to a specific group of people are pushed into the New Testament. The New Testament is a record of the new covenant between God (the same God found in the OT) and all persons – not just a specific nation or group of people. John 3:16 makes it clear that Jesus came for all persons. Jesus states in Luke 22:20 that He was establishing a new covenant or agreement with all people and people groups. This is evident throughout His teachings, especially when reading through the Sermon on the Mount.
The book of Acts and the letters to the churches wrestled with the distinction between the new covenant and still following many of the Jewish laws. In Acts 15, it was made clear at the first church council that the Gentiles coming to Christ didn’t have to follow Jewish laws and customs, especially circumcision. This forever separated being Jewish from being Christian. Though they share the same God and Jesus Himself was Jewish, He came to establish a new covenant and agreement with all persons based on the shedding of His blood and resurrection.
False teaching occurs when teachers mix and match concepts from the OT and apply them to NT teaching. The OT can serve as a backdrop for the NT story, but what is old is old and what is new is new. When the two are mixed up, it creates a lot of confusion for people trying to follow Jesus. Paul opposed the Judaizers who required the Gentiles to follow the Mosaic law if they were going to become Christians. When people are required to follow OT laws as a follower of Jesus, it sends the mixed message that these things are required for salvation. That observing OT laws and rituals are as much about the person’s salvation as trusting in Christ. This is a very dangerous slope and as we see through the NT, it must be avoided. False teaching is always Jesus + something else that you have to do or being dependent on someone else. The NT is clear that what Jesus has done for us is the foundation of our faith and salvation. As Luther came to see in leading the Protestant Reformation, “it was Christ alone.”
Finally, I point you to Hebrews 8:13 that says, “By calling this covenant ‘new’, Jesus has made the first one obsolete and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.” The laws and rituals of the OT have no bearing on your NT salvation. Make sure you guard your heart and focus on Christ rather than false teachings of mixing and matching the OT with the NT.
GOING ON WHAT YOU’VE HEARD
This can be a great source of false teaching and errors in local churches when people simply repeat what they have heard other people say in church, on social media or other places. It sounded good so they are telling it to you like it were the gospel truth. They never really thought through what they heard. They really never checked it out to see if it lined up with scripture. And they never took the time to check out the source of the teaching or statement they are passing onto you. Don’t make the same mistake they have done by simply repeating to yourself and others what they told you. People do that all the time on social media or by forwarding emails without giving careful thought as to whether it is true and whether it will damage others or build them up. So make sure you are careful what you hear, what you believe and what you take in.
PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF FALSE TEACHING
In our world where even avid church goers don’t often read the Word of God let alone study it, it is easy to fool people with false doctrines and teachings. With less and less people knowing what the bible really teaches, they have become susceptible to secularism, progressive Christianity, and false teachings within Christianity. Further, people surfing the internet for information will come across all types of beliefs and versions of Christianity. And without a biblical foundation, they will not have a proper filter to discern truth from error.
Here are four steps to follow if you want to be able to discern truth from error as you follow Christ:
1Don’t just read the bible, study it in its proper historical context. You can do this on your own with the aid of a study bible or commentary. You don’t need to be a Greek or Hebrew scholar, but you do need to be committed to studying what the bible really says so you understand the OT from the NT, the various types of writing found in the bible, the basic context and purpose of the various books and to understand the difference between essential (timeless truths) doctrines and non-essential (based on a particular situation for a period of time) doctrines.
Don’t just follow one person, teacher or source of information. In other words, don’t just listen to one bible teacher on the internet or radio. Don’t just listen to your pastor. Hear a variety of teachers and use a variety of sources. To confine yourself to only one or two teachers or sources leads you down a very narrow understanding of what God is saying to you through His word.
Do your own thinking! Don’t just swallow what your pastor or favorite teacher tells you. Make sure you study the bible yourself after hearing something, even from a trusted teacher. Ask questions. Wrestle with God’s word. Better to take a few verses, study them in context and wrestle to understand their meaning and how they apply to your life than just trying to read chapters to say you read the bible. Allow yourself opportunity to take in and digest what you are reading.
Spend time with other people who are committed to studying the Word of God. This could be a group of friends (hopefully a mix of people who attend different churches), a small group that is open and receptive to dialogue and questions or even a good Christian counselor who will have an “outsiders” perspective to help you think through what you are taking in and how it applies to your life.
Over time, these four steps will help you internalize scripture and help you hear more clearly the voice of the Spirit rather than the voices of false teachers and false doctrines. You will grow in maturity and become the person that Paul describes in Ephesians 4 who “becomes mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
