False Teachers
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False Teachers
Titus 1:10-16
Psalm 52
1 John 4:1-6
Titus 3:3-11
I don’t know if there has ever been a time in our history that we have had to be so careful with the teachers we are listening too. Maybe this has always been so to some extent but I am not sure that it has been ever to the extent that it is now. We not only need to be careful of what is being taught in the Church but also what is being taught in schools and to the public. Both secular and religious sides of the world are full of false teachers. The question is how do we distinguish between what is false and what is true. It is my hope that we can all learn a little bit about that today.
In Paul’s letter to Titus he addresses certain false teachers who fail to do good. They claim to have good intentions but in reality, they just deceive and cause more disruption and confusion. In particularly at that time there was this circumcision group that was causing trouble for Paul and his ministry to the Gentiles. They would give a false teaching requiring gentiles to become Jewish in religion in order to be saved through Christ. They claimed that the messiah came only for the Jews and that if they would want to circumcise themselves and become Jewish in body and nature then they would be saved. They would claim a promise to salvation only through Jewish tradition and laws. The other problem was that this group of people would also preach in a way to dishonestly profit from their teachings. Essentially, salvation was for sale.
We have a modern-day version of such a group that Paul was talking about today. These such preachers disrupt who families and or individuals by teaching concepts and theories that almost sound biblical and yet they are things that they “ought not to teach.” Like the circumcision group they teach for “the sake of dishonest gain.” We have so called “ministers or prophets of the Lord” that preach a message that we can all receive and prosper in anything we want and that God wants us all to prosper and be rich and all we have to do is give these so called prophets large and regular chunks of our wealth or lack thereof wealth and God will multiply whatever they give back to them. Many will do this by taking Malachi 3 out of context. It says, in regards to tithing in verses10b-12, “‘Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord Almighty.” They say that God says it so it must be true. However, they neglect to mention that just before this God is saying that the people are robbing from him their tithes and offerings. The tithe, 10 percent of your production, belongs to God. Malachi suggests here that there is a difference between giving and tithing. When we give, we give generously outside of our tithe. However, the tithe itself belongs to God and when we do not give our tithe then it is called stealing and that is stealing from God. Isn’t there a commandment that says thou shall not steal? The problem is that such prophets and ministers are not asking for tithes. They are asking beyond the tithe and claiming that they will receive back double or triple what they have given. However, it seems that the only one who actually prospers in this so-called seed giving is the prophet or minister who is giving the false teaching. We see this defined for us through two words, private jet.
When I was in Bible College it was suggested that a pastor’s salary should reflect the average income of the entire congregation. This means that if the congregation members all average $50,000 a year then it would be appropriate for that pastor to make around $50,000 a year. If the pastor served in a larger church or mega church in a wealthier community that averages $100,000 or more per year in income per member then it would not be out of the question for that pastor to be paid $100,000 plus a year. However, unless everyone in their church is a millionaire then there is no possible way that a pastor, prophet, or evangelist should be making enough from their ministry to be able to afford a private jet. What is happening is that they are preaching a false gospel for dishonest gain. They are so focused on prosperity through giving that they neglect to preach the true gospel message that can save our very soul. Our souls will not be saved if we pay large amounts of money to these prophets and televangelists. We can only be saved through our faith in and surrender to Jesus Christ. The tithe is just what we owe God for his blessing over us. His promise is that if we are faithful to give back what belongs to him then he will continue to allow us to be productive and care for all our needs.
Now don’t hear me wrong, I am not saying that it is wrong for anyone to be wealthy and I am not saying that outside of ministry that a pastor cannot be wealthy. I do believe though that pastors should not be exploiting their ministry to build their wealth though. However, if a bi-vocational minister does well for himself in his or her secular vocation then great and if they are paying their tithe out of that wealth as well that is also great. This is how it should be. However, when a pastor is making millions of dollars a year through this prosperity message and neglecting to preach that Jesus died for our sins and if we have faith in him then we will be saved then this is a false teacher seeking dishonest gain.
1 John chapter 4 describes such false teachers as the antichrist. John warns us to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. This means that we should be testing the prophets, teachers, and ministers whom we listen to and whether their message actually comes from God. John also describes how we are to recognize the difference. “Every Spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from god, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” This is very simple rule of thumb and if they are not from God then they are preaching in the spirit of the antichrist. They are from the world and speak from the viewpoint of the world and therefore preach a message that the world desires. They preach a message the tickles our ears and entices us to desire selfish gain. This message is not from God.
Unfortunately, there are even pastors in our world today that may not be preaching a false message for dishonest gain but instead are just preaching a false message because this is what they have come to believe. These pastors preach a message from a view point of the world and not a view point of scripture. From this all kinds of pagan and new age style teachings and beliefs come through in the teachings of the church. It is from such viewpoints that some denominations say that same sex attraction and marriage is acceptable to God. It is from such worldly viewpoints that some ministers even teach that abortion is acceptable to God. It is from such worldly viewpoints that some pastors are breeding racism in the Church by choosing to distinguish between race and so called “educate” on race tensions. I believe that instead of choosing sides of race or the race awareness movement going on now pastors should be more focused on the only message that can truly cure the racism going on in this country and that is the message of Jesus Christ. God created one man and one woman and through that we have one human race made up of multiple ethnic groups. From one man and woman we have Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, and the list goes on. Just because the pigment of our skin varies the enemy that is Satan has tried to divide the human race from God by exploiting these differences. However, Jesus Christ died for the entire human race and no matter what pigment of brown we are and no matter what facial and body features we have we are still all one human race and God loved all of us so much that He was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for us. This is the message from scripture that unites while the message that is spreading out in our country and world today is causing an increase of violence and division.
Paul addresses this solution to this false teaching issue in Titus chapter 3. “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” Does this sound familiar? He goes one to summarize the gospel message. “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” This is the gospel message. This is good teaching that is profitable for everyone, not just the so-called prophet.
Paul also tells us what is not profitable and what the church should avoid. “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.”
We need to be careful about the messages that we hear and from whom we are hearing them from. We need to discern the spirit of such teachings. We also need to discern what such teachings may lead to. There are all kinds of movements in our world today to distort the Character of God. Using even language to feminize God and give Him a gender different than that of what He calls himself. Using scripture out of context or also even using language to somehow coexist with the viewpoint of the world and culture today such as creation though evolution and millions of years. The only reason why so-called scientists are saying millions of years is because they must somehow explain how everything came to be without a creator. However, this so-called scientific explanation is not based on actual science. Yet this teaching is taught and accepted in our schools as if it is truth. False teaching is everywhere people.
There is a battle in our world today for truth. There is a battle in our churches for truth. This not issue with just certain denominations either. It is becoming and issue in individual pastors and teachers in all denominations and I am sure even in some individuals in the Church of the Nazarene. Be careful when you hear a message or a “sermon” from a pastor who does not read from the scriptures. I have seen messages from some churches or denominations that will preach what sounds like wonderful theories and concepts for our lives yet they never open the Word to share it. Such churches are big and popular with a great following of people. People follow them because they make them feel good and they don’t threaten their worldly view. However, I believe that scripture threatens the worldly view and if you are listening to message that does not challenge your worldview or the worldview of others around you then I am not sure that it is a message that you should be trusting or hearing.
I urge you friends if you are listening to other messages and preaching outside of your regular Sunday services please be careful at what you are listening to. Make sure you are testing the spirit of which that message is coming from. Also be careful not to engage yourself in controversies that do not profit anyone. Such things exist to only distract us from the message of salvation. It is my hope and prayer that you will be better equipped today to discern from what is true and what is just more “fake news.”