What to do about False Teachers
They Looked Good
I once bought a beautiful pair of honey-coloured, leather-soled, western riding boots at a second-hand store. I was a poor college student who wanted to impress her boyfriend who also happened to own a trail-riding business!
They Didn’t Line Up
After wearing them at school all day (to break them in, of course), I proudly showed my future husband the boots when he came over to visit that evening. While he was looking them over, he asked me how they fit. I told him that, for the most part, they fit fine, but I had gotten a blister on the inside of my foot. I thought was an odd place for a blister, but chalked it up to the boots needing to conform to my feet. The leather was somewhat stiff.
As he was looking at the second boot, my boyfriend asked me which foot had blistered. When I told him, he showed me the bottom of the boot. The sole and heel didn’t line up with the rest of the boot. No wonder I had a blister!
Bad Theology Hurts People
Have you ever heard the phrase “bad theology hurts people”? I don’t know who coined it, but I’ve heard different preachers say it. Likewise, I have seen how bad theology really does hurt people. Sometimes an error in interpreting and applying a Bible passage can leave people confused and conflicted or even raw and wounded. Sometimes the error can be so serious that it causes people to follow other gods when they think they are following Jesus.
Over the last few weeks I have been watching the documentaries American Gospel: Christ Alone (here on Netflix) and American: Christ Crucified (here on Amazon). If you haven’t streamed them, do it! I promise you, it will be worth your time.
In each of these documentaries, various popular teachers’ theologies are held up against what the Bible actually says. I was horrified by the lies that these people believe and teach! Sadly, I know people who are convinced that these teachers are correct.
True Teachers Teach Truth
Remember my post about studying the book of Titus? (No? You can read it here.) I said that Titus is always relevant. Paul had a lot to say about false teachers. In Titus 1:6-9, Paul tells Titus what an elder (or pastor) needs to be like. He finishes his list of qualities with this:
“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” Titus 1:9 (New International Version, NIV).
So how did Titus know if the potential elder knew the “trustworthy message”? He knew it himself!
The apostle Paul called Titus “my true son” in the faith (Titus 1:4), and, elsewhere, he calls Titus his “partner and co-worker”. If those were the words Paul uses to describe his relationship to Titus, how well do you suppose Titus knew the “trustworthy message”?
False Teachers Teach Lies
The only way we can recognize when someone is teaching a lie (a false teacher), is to know the truth for ourselves. We can only know the truth by knowing God’s word. In fact, if we want to be faithful to God and His word, we need to take everything that pastors, preachers, and teachers say to us and see if it lines up with scripture! Anything that contradicts what God 
teaches is a lie (Titus 1:9-10).
When the apostle Paul was teaching his way through northern Greece, he came to a town called Berea (Acts 17:10-15). He shared the good news about Jesus to the Jews in a synagogue there. Those people were excited about what they had heard, but when they went home they opened up the Old Testament (the only part of God’s Word they had). When they saw that Paul’s teaching lined up with what God had said, they believed!
Later, when Jews from another city came to discredit Paul and turn the Bereans against him, the Bereans helped Paul to escape the trouble. Nowhere are we told that they gave up on their new faith. They were convinced by the proof of God’s word.
False Teachers Stir Up Trouble
In Titus 1 we read that the false teachers were rebellious, full of meaningless talk and deception. They claimed to know God but denied Him by their actions. Paul even goes so far to say that, “They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” Titus 1:16b He also said that the ones in Crete (where Titus was working) were “disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.” Titus 1:11b.
What was that dishonest gain? The passage doesn’t say. At the very least, I think it is safe to say, that by teaching a lie they were stealing God’s glory for themselves. They wanted people to trust their authority over God’s. (See for yourself, what Jesus had to say about that in John 7:16-18.)
Whatever their reasons, the false teachers were definitely hurting other people. Whole households were being disrupted. There was probably some division being caused in the congregation, too. I say this because in Titus 3:10-11, Paul tells Titus to warn a divisive person twice and then have nothing more to do with that person. Strong words!
Living in the Truth
So now that you can recognize a false teacher, how do you deal with one? Well, Titus gives us two ways. First, and foremost, a faithful Christ-follower must live in the truth.
Remember what I said about knowing the truth for yourself? That’s where we need to start. Again, knowing the truth helps us to recognize the lie, but the truth needs to be applied to our lives. If false teachers deny God by what they do, then a believer’s actions must show that they know God.
Titus 2 gives us some insight to that. Here’s a sampling:
- Teach what is well-grounded in Scripture (vs 1). In other words, not take the Bible out of context or try to make it fit to our own ideas or opinions.
- Be self-controlled. (vs 2, 3, 5, 6, 12 *verse 3 doesn’t actually use the word self-controlled, but describes self-controlled habits)
- Live in such a way that “no one will malign the word of God” (vs 5); those who oppose us “may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us” (vs 8); and that, in every way, “make the teaching about God our Savior attractive” (vs 10).
Exposing the Lie
If that’s just a sample of what Titus 2 says (and there’s more in the next chapter!), then living the truth is a lot of work! But we must also expose the false teacher’s lies.
Remember when we looked at Titus 1:9 where elders were to “hold firmly to the trustworthy message”? Those men were to hold firmly to God’s Word so that they could teach the truth and “refute those who oppose it”. The man who refutes a false teacher, rebukes sinful behaviour (vs 12-13), and warns divisive individuals (3:10-11), does so by the authority of being an elder or pastor.
So how are we women supposed to expose the lie? Titus 3 gives us the answer. We can be wise in our conversations, carefully abstaining from gossip or slander, and gently correct those who follow false teachers (vs 1-2). Remember, there was a time when we didn’t follow the truth, either (vs 3).
Likewise, all believers are to avoid foolish controversies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because they are “unprofitable and useless” (vs 9). Women can be peace makers when those useless arguments arise. Or, better yet, steer the arguers towards working together in something good for God (vs 8).
Point People to Jesus
Ultimately, we are to point everyone to Christ. If people want to serve Him, the Holy Spirit will work in their hearts conform them to the truth, just like He worked in us to save us.
“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.” Titus 3:4-7, NIV.
Additional resources:
3 Ways to Handle False Teaching and False Teachers – Matthew Harmon| Biblestudytools.com
How to Spot a False Teacher – Nathan Finn| Thegospelcoalition.org
How to Deal with a False Teacher in Your Church – Sarah Geringer |Sarahgeringer.com
