Everyone’s a false teacher except me
Tim Keller is a false teacher. John Macarthur is a false teacher. So are William Lane Craig, John Piper, Chuck Swindoll, Greg Laurie, and Bob Russell.
I have more.
Jonathan Edwards was a false teacher. As was Augustine, John Owens, Billy Graham, Norman Geisler, C. S. Lewis, and R. C. Sproul.
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The fact is, everyone’s a false teacher except me.
Now, to come clean, I will admit that according to a couple of articles that have been written about yours truly in past years and comments made in some of my posts here at CP, I have also been called a false teacher.
But I’m not. Trust me.
OK, how about we end the sarcasm (for now) and talk for real?
The fact is, over the years, I’ve quoted all the men listed above in one or more articles I’ve written and, invariably, someone will pipe up in the comments section saying “So-and-so is a false teacher”. My quoting them in approving fashion naturally makes me a false teacher also – you know, the whole guilty-by-association-thing and all.
Heavy sigh.
In hopes of reigning in the torches and pitchforks, die-you-false-teacher crowd, let’s take a brief biblical look at the subject and see if we can’t get some clarity on it.
Hopefully, you won’t label me a false teacher if I don’t nail it perfectly. Whoops, there I go again with the sarcasm thing. Sorry.
False teaching is a serious issue
So, getting genuine now: there’s no question that the Bible takes false teaching about God seriously. For example, 26 out of 27 books in the New Testament either explicitly alert us to or alludes to the subject.
And why is the specific kind of false teaching Scripture warns us about such a critical matter? Simply because eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong.
The most succinct and chilling statement made by Jesus underscoring this fact is found in Matthew when He says, referring to the Pharisees, “They are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matt. 15:14). Note how not just the deceiver goes down, but those they deceive do as well.
The Bible also warns that the end times will be pregnant with false teachers, with Christ informing us of that fact four times in His Olivet Discourse alone. So, I trust we have no debate about the gravity of false teaching that results in being eternally lost or its widespread nature.
Who is a false teacher?
That said, we need to be careful about accusing another Christian of being a false teacher.
There’s a distinction between being in honest error/not being fully educated on a biblical topic and being the kind of deadly, intentional false teacher Scripture warns about. Moreover, there is error that is tangential in nature (e.g., “God wants you rich”) that can no doubt cause issues, but then there’s the kind that the Bible capitalizes with respect to its damning effect.
Of course, in attempting to define the kind of dangerous false teacher Scripture cautions us about, I run the risk that someone will label me a false teacher for not defining it “correctly” (i.e., “the way that I do”), but I’ll take a stab at it anyway: a false teacher in the critical biblical sense proclaims lies that ultimately doom their adherents to Hell.
The destruction of their followers is the end result of the highlighted false teaching we’re alerted to in Scripture, which is why Jesus calls those espousing it “ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Literal wolves destroy their prey physically, but the wolves of false teaching destroy in an eternal fashion, spiritually.
If we accept this definition of a false teacher, then much of the finger-pointing that goes on about the subject drops off dramatically. Let me give you just one example.
I’ve been called a false teacher by those who don’t adhere to reformed theology as I do. Am I? Or in reality, is it the Arminian or Molinist theologians, which oppose reformed thought, who are the false teachers?
Answer: none of us are, at least in the way my definition applies.
I may not agree with John Wesley on Arminianism or William Lane Craig on Molinism, but all of us lock arms on the fact that Christians are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). We may disagree on certain soteriological constructs, but not on God’s overall plan of salvation.
As C.S. Lewis (a famous false teacher) says in Mere Christianity, these things “are not Christianity: they are explanations about how it works.” Do you see the difference?
In other words, you can be a Calvinist, Arminianist, or Molinist and be truly saved. Yes, you really can. For sure, someone’s right and someone’s wrong (or we’re all wrong), but believing in election, non-election, or middle knowledge won’t exclude you from spending eternity with God.
And no, neither will it prevent unsaved people who hear those doctrines or the differences between them. The whole “you’re scaring away/offending someone with that teaching” argument is weak tea. No one offended people more with His teaching than did our Savior, so cool your jets.
Let me end with a plea, especially for those who are quick to spray-paint someone a false teacher.
What if, instead of safely sitting behind your laptop, you were thrown into a pulpit or other role where you had to, week after week and year after year, expound on God’s Word, with your messages being broadcast to countless around the world. If you’re nervy, maybe you tackle some hard topics that aren’t universally agreed on with respect to their biblical interpretations.
And you really do your homework in terms of getting things right.
Should you do that long enough, it’s a fair bet that someone will disagree with you so much that they pridefully and happily hang a “false teacher” banner around your neck, even though in all likelihood you’re not. You could definitely be wrong on a matter that regards “how Christianity works” but not Christianity itself.
My point? If you fancy yourself as the watchman of Ezekiel 33 and are Quick Draw McGraw when it comes to labeling someone a false teacher, maybe ease back on the throttle a bit and ask whether what’s being said violates the core doctrines of the Christian faith and jeopardizes a person’s soul.
If it does, then by all means, call it out. But if you simply disagree with a particular non-salvific teaching, then have a little grace yourself knowing that all of us now “see in a mirror dimly” (1 Cor. 13:12).
And that’s all I have to say about that. Now go on and call me a false teacher. I double-dog dare you.
Robin Schumacher is an accomplished software executive and Christian apologist who has written many articles, authored and contributed to several Christian books, appeared on nationally syndicated radio programs, and presented at apologetic events. He holds a BS in Business, Master's in Christian apologetics and a Ph.D. in New Testament. His latest book is, A Confident Faith: Winning people to Christ with the apologetics of the Apostle Paul.
