A recent caller on my radio
program criticized me for saying that Charles Stanley and Billy Graham are
false teachers. He thought it was wrong to do that, even if they were
misleading people. Was the caller correct in his criticism?
Jesus and the apostles did
not shy away from exposing false teachers. For instance, Paul warned,
"Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth,
saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the
faith of some" (2 Timothy 2:17-18). Notice that he identified the
teachers and their teaching.
Paul referred to false
teachers as "deceitful workmen" (2 Corinthians 11:13), "false
brothers" (Galatians 2:4) and "dogs" (Philippians 3:2). He even
wished they would "emasculate themselves" (Galatians 5:12). Peter
was equally militant in 2 Peter 2. He went on a "righteous tirade"
against certain false teachers. Should we act any differently?
According to tradition, John
once hurried out of a public bath in Ephesus when a false teacher entered,
exclaiming, "Let us fly, lest even the bath house fall down, for
Cerinthus, the enemy of truth is within!" And who can forget the way Paul
rebuked Elymas the magician in Acts 13? He said, "You son of the devil,
you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not
stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord" (v. 10)? He then
blinded him for a time.
The apostles did not hesitate
to expose individuals (2 Timothy 2:17) groups (Titus 1:10), or doctrines
(Revelation 2:14-15). They knew this was a necessary part of "contending
for the faith" (Jude 3).
False teachers are
"enemies of the cross of Christ" (Philippians 3:18). They are not
only harming themselves, they are harming those who hear them. Therefore, they
need to be exposed.
