Standing Against False Doctrine

Q: I was just looking at your website and I don't understand why Christians can write such hateful speech about other Christians who might disagree or struggle to believe their point of view. As a Christian, I would never even think about describing my fellow Christians in such a way. How can I trust a fellow Christian who would speak of other saved individuals like that?

A: Although I expect to receive criticism for the stands we make on the site, I have to admit that the content of the criticism sometimes surprises me. Your comments fall into this category. This attitude is certainly puzzling to me. It seems to call light darkness and darkness light.

You then close your post with this statement: "How can I trust a fellow Christian who would speak of other saved individuals like that!"

Where actually do you get this concept? You do not get it from the history of Christianity. You do not get it from John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, John Knox, or Martin Luther. They all strongly criticized fellow believers and multitudes trusted them. 

Neither do you get this concept from the Apostle Paul. Here are some excerpts from statements he made about "other saved individuals." 

1Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 

1Corinthians 5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 

1Corinthians 6:5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? 

Galatians 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 

Hebrews 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 

This is only a small sampling of the hard things that Paul said to fellow believers. Perhaps you have not considered where you got this concept of yours. It not come from Paul, but neither did it come from Jesus. Consider a sampling of His statements to the disciples and others. 

Matthew 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 

Mark 16:14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.  

Luke 24:25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 

Neither did this concept come from the Apostle John, who is known as the beloved disciple. He wrote the book of Revelation and chapters two and three are written to the churches of Asia Minor. Consider what he said to the Laodiceans:

Revelation 3:15-19 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 

John obviously criticizes fellow Christians. Where then did this concept of never being able to criticize fellow Christians come from? It did not come from the teaching of the Bible. Yes, we are to love one another as Christ loved us. But this love often comes in the form of correction. If you are going the wrong way, it is an act of love for me to tell you and warn you of its consequences. Paul calls this "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). We are told to "consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works" (Hebrews 10:24). To provoke means to stir up to action; to anger or irritate into action. In the passage above in Revelation, Jesus declares that those He loves, He rebukes and chastens (Revelation 3:19). 

I made the statement you quoted to show men the serious danger of lightly attacking God's word. Instead of thanking me for defending God's word, you defend those who would attack it and declared that they should never be criticized (though it is obviously alright to criticize God's word and also to criticize those like me who sound the alarm). Paul, also, was treated as the enemy because he told the truth. In Galatians 4:16, he asked, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" I might ask you the same question.

You state as a principle that you base your ability to accept arguments in favor of God's word on the sweetness of the messenger. You indicate that it is this sweetness that convinces you and not the truth of the argument. This, I fear, is where "christianity" has come to today. Many have learned to feign sweetness and are therefore accepted as truthful messengers. Paul warns of those who "by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple" (Romans 16:18) and who "beguile you with enticing words" (Colossians 2:4). As we get further and further away from the word of God and closer to the end of the age, we see more and more of this deception by sweetness. I pray you will reconsider the underlying principles of your post. Or have I become you enemy because I tell you the truth?

Till He comes,

Pastor David Reagan