Or maybe I answered your question already? Check out my article The Mailbag: Top 10 FAQs to see if your question has been answered and to get some helpful resources.
Would you say offending with the purpose to offend with the truth is the same as what you are saying? So should we ever purpose to offend when we speak the truth from the Bible?
Great question! (And let me take this opportunity to say to all of my readers and followers that if you’re ever unclear about something I’ve written or posted – especially if it seems unbiblical or out of character for me – please, please, please just ask me about it politely, like this reader did, and I will be happy to explain if I’m able. I would much rather you ask than attack me, jump to the wrong conclusion, or worse, assume I’ve apostatized. Genuine, polite questions are always welcome!)
Hon, when you say “purpose to offend,” I’m thinking of a person who gets out of bed in the morning with the primarygoal of offending people, making them angry, or upsetting them, not with the primarygoal of sharing the gospel or restoring someone from sin.
I’m not sure why a Christian would have the desire, goal, or motive of offending people, regardless of his reason for doing so. That goes against the grain of everything Scripture teaches us both about Christian character and the ineffectiveness of provoking people. The Bible says:
A brother offended is harder to win over than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a citadel. …if possible, so far as it depends on you, being at peace with all men…
Proverbs 18:19, Romans 12:18
Fathers are told not to provoke their children to anger. One of the qualifications for pastors and elders (which we’re to emulate) is that they not be pugnacious (i.e. “looking for a fight”), but peaceable and considerate. (If not, they’re disqualified from ministry.) We’re not to place a stumbling block or offense before anyone – saved or lost, in order to protect our ministry and so that people might be saved. You’ll recall that Paul devotes significant ink to the idea that if it would offend people for him to eat meat sacrificed to idols, he’ll never eat meat again. We’re told not to be quarrelsome, but kind, patient, and gentle in our teaching and correction so that people can be saved. Titus 3:2 reminds us “to slander no one, but to be peaceable, considerate, demonstrating all gentleness to all men”.
The Scriptures go on and on about this. We’re not only forbidden from trying to offend people, we’re instructed to bend over backwards trying not to offend people. The Bible is offensive enough all on its own. That’s more than enough offense for sinners to try to deal with without us making things harder and piling on personal offensiveness.
And that’s the whole point of my article. Not that we should intentionally be personally offensive in our demeanor, but that we shouldn’t refrain from kindly, yet firmly speaking the truth in love so that sinners might be saved, and saints might be sanctified, just because we’re afraid that biblical truth will offend them.
I drop in on the RNM website from time to time, and from what I can see, it’s almost all (if not all) false teachers.
Scripture is clear that churches shouldn’t support (financially or otherwise) false teachers, and certainly not those, like RNM, who profit from platforming them and spreading their false doctrine. In fact, if your pastor welcomes false teachers into the church – in person, through their books and materials, via video platforms like RNM, etc. – instead of rebuking them and their false doctrine, he is participating in their wickedness, he is disqualified from pastoral ministry, and he needs to be under church discipline.
Yeah, it’s that serious to God.
And from a stewardship point of view, even if there are a few doctrinally sound teachers sprinkled in at RNM, I don’t see how it could possibly be worth the monthly subscription price for whatever few good teachers they might* carry.
*Visiting the RNM site, I get the impression that they want your money before they give you access to the names of all the teachers they platform. I clicked on several pages, and the teachers they did disclose fell into two categories for me: people I know to be false teachers, and people I’ve never heard of. I didn’t see the name of anyone I know to be a doctrinally sound teacher.
Since it’s a subscription service, not a “pay for the specific video you’re using” kind of thing, there isn’t even the option for pastors to say something like, “We feel like this particular R.C. Sproul video is the best one available on the theology of shoelaces, but it’s only available from RNM. We are recommending ONLY this video at RNM. Avoid everything else.”. No, you’re either in (and paying for everything) or you’re out.
Because RNM is primarily a source of false doctrine and false teachers, and because your church’s offering money would be going to support that – in disobedience to the commands of Scripture – you should be very concerned if your church subscribes to RNM. I would recommend that you and/or your husband set up an appointment with the pastor to discuss it. There’s an underlying issue here in subscribing to RNM – either the pastor is not exercising proper oversight over whoever subscribed the church to RNM, or the pastor is not discerning or diligent enough to know that he’s unleashing false teachers on his sheep.
🚨FRIENDLY WARNING🙂: The following question is related to Calvinism/Reformed theology. Please be reminded that we do not do Calvinism vs. Arminianism arguments here, on any of my social media platforms, or via email. Argumentative comments and messages will be deleted. Please see my Statement of Faith tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page if you have any questions.
My wife and I just finished watching the taped version of your talk [from the Resolute Conference on Answers TV] and we both agreed that it was extremely helpful! Thank you for pouring your time and effort into what was a clearly well-researched message.
Thank you so much. Yes, some of the teaching sessions (including mine) from Answers in Genesis’ Answers for Women 2025 Conference, Resolute, have been posted to Answers TV. I’m sure the rest will be posted soon, so if you have a subscription, you can watch! If you don’t have a subscription, give it some consideration! It’s only $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, plus they offer a seven day free trial to get you started! If you’d like to watch my session on the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), here’s the handout that goes along with it.
I do have one question, however. During your gospel presentation you specifically said that Christ died for “you” (i.e., the listener). But if you are saying that to an unregenerate person who has not been predestined to eternal life (according to the “U” in TULIP), how does that work with limited atonement (“The atonement for sin that Christ made on the cross applies only to those who are, or will, in the future be, saved”)?
Respectfully, how could you truthfully say that Christ died for “you,” if that person hasn’t been elected for life? Considering that you [are Reformed] your presentation of the gospel seems to be inconsistent with the doctrine of limited atonement.
I’d like to get your thoughts on this apparent discrepancy between the two. Thank you for your time and consideration!
You’re welcome. I’m glad to explain. I was speaking to about 3000 people that week (plus however many will watch the video, now), the vast majority of whom were already saved. So it is true for those people – Jesus did die for them.
When I gave the gospel presentation, I was addressing it to the elect in the audience – to those who would listen and believe the gospel, either right then, or later in life. (So it was true for them, too. Jesus died for them.) I was not speaking to those who would reject the gospel for the rest of their lives and spend an eternity in Hell – those who aren’t elect (if there were any like that in the audience), even though they could also hear me.
The thing is -and I know I’m not telling you anything new, here – you and I don’t know who’s elect and who’s not. That’s above our pay grade and none of our business. That’s God’s purview. The only way we can know for sure that someone is elect is after she gets genuinely saved and perseveres to the end. If she’s genuinely saved, that means she’s elect. But we can’t know before someone gets saved whether or not she’s elect, so, like the sower, we scatter the seed of the gospel with wild abandon, trusting God’s sovereignty as to what kind of soil it lands on and leaving everything after our gospel presentation up to Him.
I would also appeal to Scripture:
In Peter’s sermon in Acts 3, he’s preaching an evangelistic sermon and says -without knowing whether or not any of his audience is elect:
For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.
Was everyone he was preaching to elect? Probably not.
In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul hearkens back to the gospel he proclaimed to these brothers when they were lost and says he told them that “Christ died for our sins”. At the time he originally said that, he had no way of knowing whether or not everyone he was preaching to would believe.
But all of that being said, I did read back through all of the sermons in Acts and some other evangelistic encounters in Scripture (and also discussed this on Sunday with one of our {unofficial} lay elders at church), and the general approach seemed to be: You’re a sinner, here’s what Jesus did so salvation and the forgiveness of sin could take place, repent, believe it, and be saved. The personal appeal was placed on the “you must repent and believe” part, not on the “Jesus died” part.
So, sure, I’ll tweak things and try to pattern my gospel presentation more in the style of the Apostles, not because of Calvinism as a framework, but because, as Christians – all Christians – we do always want to be as closely aligned with Scripture as we can get. So, thanks for bringing that to my attention. I appreciate the sharpening.
But I’m not going to quibble with anyone who says, “Jesus died for you,” when she shares the gospel accurately with someone. If the person she’s talking to gets saved, it’s true. If the person she’s talking to doesn’t get saved, she’s technically made a good faith, optimistic mistake while earnestly appealing to him to repent and believe the gospel, but she hasn’t sinned, it doesn’t matter to that person, and she hasn’t sent that person to Hell by saying so. And … you know … she’s sharing the gospel.
If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.
If you are considering commenting or sending me an e-mail objecting to the fact that I warn against certain teachers, please click here and read this article first. Your objection is most likely answered here. I won’t be publishing comments or answering emails that are answered by this article.
This article is kept continuously updated as needed.
I get lots of questions about particular authors, pastors, and Bible teachers, and whether or not I recommend them. Some of the best known can be found above at my Popular False Teachers tab. The teacher below is someone I’ve been asked about recently, so I’ve done some research on her.
Generally speaking, in order for me to recommend a teacher, speaker, or author, he or she has to meet three criteria:
a) A female teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly preach to or teach men in violation of 1 Timothy 2:12. A male teacher or pastor cannot allow women to carry out this violation of Scripture in his ministry. The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be living in any other sin (for example, cohabiting with her boyfriend or living as a homosexual).
b) The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be partnering with or frequently appearing with false teachers. This is a violation of Scripture.
c) The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be teaching false doctrine.
In some cases, I am not very familiar with the teachers I’m asked about (there are so many out there!) and have not had the opportunity to examine their writings or hear them speak, so most of the research I do involves items a and b (although in order to partner with false teachers (b) it is reasonable to assume their doctrine is acceptable to the false teacher and that they are not teaching anything that would conflict with the false teacher’s doctrine). Partnering with false teachers and women preaching to men are each sufficient biblical reasons not to follow a pastor, teacher, or author, or use his/her materials.
Just to be clear, “not recommended” is a spectrum. On one end of this spectrum are people like Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth and Kay Arthur. These are people I would not label as false teachers because their doctrine is generally sound, but because of some red flags I’m seeing with them, you won’t find me proactively endorsing them or suggesting them as a good resource, either. There are better people you could be listening to. On the other end of the spectrum are people like Joyce Meyer and Rachel Held Evans- complete heretics whose teachings, if believed, might lead you to an eternity in Hell. Most of the teachers I review fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum (leaning toward the latter).
If you’d like to check out some pastors and teachers I heartily recommend, click the Recommended Bible Teachers tab at the top of this page.
Kristi is on the Ministry Leadership faculty at Williamson (screenshot), where she teaches classes in “Goals, Priorities, and Attitudes,” “The Life of Christ, the “Israel Biblical Study Program,” and “Living Free in Christ”. One can only presume that since Williamson is co-ed, the college is fine with her “preaching,” and the fact that she’s training students in “Ministry Leadership,” that she is helping train men for the pastorate.
…and the bestselling author of” several books and Bible studies. “Kristi teaches the Bible in its historical, cultural, geographic, and linguistic contexts. She encourages believers to be postured to receive what the living God is saying through communally experiencing Scripture. Kristi teaches about the goodness of God, often experienced through table fellowship, practicing hospitality, and collaborative wisdom.”
“…Kristi has taught and shepherded thousands…Kristi began leading biblical study trips to Israel in 2008. Her study trips to the biblical lands, along with her Pearls podcast and in-person and online courses, help Westerners discover and appreciate the Bible within the framework in which it was written. This new lens offers a deeper look into what the biblical characters meant by what they did, said, and wrote, inviting us to better experience the God who is constantly pursuing us. Kristi has a Masters in Christian Education from Dallas Theological Seminary and has dedicated her life to teaching people how to study the Bible.”
I’ve added bold italics to several words and phrases above to highlight some red flags. Often, you can surmise, with some level of accuracy, what are going to be the biblical issues with a teacher you’re not familiar with merely by reading the “about” page of her website.
You’ll notice the heavy emphasis on “experiencing” God rather than growing in Christ through the study and teaching of His written Word, prayer, and sound preaching and teaching at church.
The Bible doesn’t teach us to be “postured to receive what the living God is saying” (i.e. to me, personally, today, in a self-centered hermeneutic). This is another phrase that suggests extra-biblical revelation via personal, subjective experience rather than studying the text of Scripture to discover what God has already said.
In Scripture, “shepherding” is a term reserved for literal shepherds, Jesus, and pastors, not just anyone who leads or teaches in a church or parachurch ministry, and not for women who rebel against Scripture and unbiblically insert themselves into the position of pastor (as is the case with Kristi). You will not find this term implied or applied to women anywhere in the New Testament.
Kristi says she teaches “people” how to study the Bible. Not “women”. “People” – men and women.
When someone tells you who she is, believe her.
Kristi Is a Female “Pastor”
Kristi doesn’t merely preach to men at co-ed events like most of the other female teachers I write about, she has actually been on staff at a church for several years in the position of “Teaching Pastor”. This is a clear and direct violation of Scripture and constitutes ongoing, unrepentant sin.
Kristi preached her first recorded sermon at COTC on February 4, 2018. Up until at least April 27, 2025, Kristi held the position of “Teaching Pastor” at Church of the City in Franklin, Tennessee. Sometime between February 26, 2025, when I took this screenshot of the “Pastoral & Ministry Staff” page at COTC’s website…
…Kristi was removed from the “Pastoral & Ministry Staff” page. Her April 27, 2025 “sermon” is currently the most recent one at COTC’s YouTube channel, and it still introduces her as “Teaching Pastor”:
Whether Kristi has actually resigned her position or has merely been removed from the staff page to avoid being called to account for her sin remains to be seen.
Prior to working as a “pastor” at COTC, Kristi was on staff at Strong Tower Bible Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Though Kristi didn’t “carry the title of pastor,” p.3, of the October 2013 church newsletter is careful to tell us*, according to her LinkedIn page, she was the “Director of Women’s Ministry and Adult Christian Education [i.e. discipleship],” which, in addition to the fact that she was occasionally preaching the Sunday sermon at least as early as 2015, indicates that she was functioning in the role of a pastor, even without the title.1
*(Readers might find it interesting that STBC was careful to make clear that none of the women they referred to in 2013 were pastors, yet today, STBC’s female “pastors” are proudly listed on the church website and outnumber the lone male pastor three to one {the pastor’s wife is also the “Pastor of Belonging”}. This is what happens when a church begins allowing women to take on roles the Bible restricts to men.)
This is probably overstating the obvious since I’ve already mentioned that, as a member of the “Ministry Leadership” faculty at Williamson College, Kristi helps train men for the pastorate, and, that as a “pastor” on staff at two different churches, she obviously preached to men, so I won’t belabor the point, but we will press on.
Kristi regularly and unrepentantly violates Scripture by preaching to and instructing men in the Scriptures. Here are just a few of the scores of examples available:
Church of the City
(Obviously, in each example, there are men in the audience since these are all sermons during the church worship service.)
Below is a partial listing of the sermon archives at the COTC website for Kristi’s many “sermons” – nearly 70 of them at this time. Kristi has also taught – also nearly 70 times – COTC Daily, a church-wide daily Bible teaching video.
Kristi’s earliest recorded “sermon” at the COTC website: February 4, 2018…
Mother’s Day, May 9, 2021– 54:51: In case you still aren’t convinced Kristi preaches to men, she is happy to settle that for you once and for all. “This teaching is not just for women. So can I just hear some noise from all the men in the room to let me know that you’re here?”
The Lord’s Supper
Perhaps one of the most viscerally vile aspects of a woman pillaging the pulpit is the stomach-turning scene of her desecrating the Lord’s Table by presiding over it. Kristi has administered the Lord’s Supper numerous times at COTC. here are just a few examples:
July 17, 2022 124:59: COTC apparently practices open communion (anyone present is invited to participate regardless of whether or not the person is saved). The elements have already been placed at everyone’s seat, and Kristi says nothing to fence the table (i.e. at a bare minimum, explain that only those who are Believers should partake). There’s also no explanation of the gospel or a call to repent and believe it.
Although I haven’t run across any photos or video of Kristi performing baptisms at COTC, it’s reasonable to assume that she has or that she at least would be allowed to if she wanted to, because there’s plenty of video of other female “pastors” of COTC performing baptisms, and Kristi certainly performs baptisms in other venues.
Baptism, like the Lord’s Supper, is an ordinance of the local church, not an individualized personal activity, and should be presided over within the parameters of the church by pastors and elders. What you see below is neither.
A Weekend with Kristi McLelland at Discovery Church, Newton, North Carolina. The first night was “a co-ed event where both men and women are able to learn a new way to look a (sic) scripture (sic).”
A few different “sermons” at Journey Church in Brentwood, TN. Here’s one where she’s introduced by Journey’s “Pastor Susie”:
Feast is the branding for Kristi’s Lifeway Women conference tour, this year in Denver, Ft. Worth, and Atlanta. At the FAQ page, a frequently asked question is “Can men attend this event?”. Answer: “Men are more than welcome to attend…”.2
Cruise with Kristi McLelland: Voyage Through the New Testament World is coming up in April 2026. Since the Lifeway info. page doesn’t specify that this event is limited to women (and since they use the “Kristi teaches people” {rather than women} phraseology at least twice), I emailed and asked, point blank, if the cruise is open to men and if men are allowed to attend Kristi’s teaching sessions.2
The Bible commands us over and over not to associate ourselves or have anything to do with false teachers or those who claim to be Christians, yet live in willful unrepentant sin (persistent false teaching, including the false teaching of women “pastoring” or “preaching to men3, being one of those sins). In fact, to associate with false teachers and fail to rebuke them for their false doctrine disqualifies pastors from ministry. Dare we expect any less from female teachers?
Unfortunately, unrepentantly yoking with other false teachers is another sin Kristi unrepentantly engages in. Teachers are under a stricter judgment, and this is another disqualifying sin.
By her own choice, Kristi’s life and ministry are absolutely saturated with false and problematic teachers, virtually to the exclusion of doctrinally sound teachers. But even if she wanted to partner with doctrinally sound teachers, she wouldn’t be able to find one who would be willing. Doctrinally sound teachers don’t partner with women who unrepentantly rebel against Scripture by becoming “pastors”.
There are so many examples of Kristi partnering with other false teachers that it would be impossible to cite them all, but here is a sampling:
Kristi is a frequent guest on TBN’s Better Together. If you’re not familiar, it’s a little bit like a “Christian” version of The View without the studio audience. A group of several (varying) women’s “Bible” study celebrities discuss life issues and biblical topics. And, par for the course for TBN, they’re all problematic at best, raging heretics at worst. (There’s a reason TBN is often wryly dubbed the “Total Blasphemy Network”.)
To date, Kristi has appeared on at least 46 episodes of Better Together (you can watch excerpts here) with false teachers including:
And more episodes are upcoming. Here’s Kristi’s Instagram reel from April 9 on the set where she, Lisa Harper, Toni Collier, and others are about to film more episodes.
Lifeway Women is the women’s division of Lifeway, and an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention (like our seminaries, mission boards, etc., are entities). It is the online platform for all things women’s ministry – Bible studies, women’s conferences, a blog, a podcast, and so on – for use and purchase by individuals and churches.
I’ve researched and written articles on about 2/3 of the women Lifeway Women platforms, enough to tell you that the prototypical women’s author/speaker they seek out – to to write their women’s “Bible” studies, speak at their women’s conferences and so on – preaches to men, teaches false doctrine, and yokes with other false teachers, all of which violates Scripture. Additionally, some are woke (like Jackie Hill Perry) and at least one identifies as a “same sex attracted Christian” (Rebecca McLaughlin). I recommend that women use Lifeway Women’s endorsement as a litmus test of who to avoid.
Kristi’s earliest appearance at Lifeway Women seems to have been a July 2, 2019 blog article called Creating Space for Sabbath. This was probably around the time Lifeway Women signed her as a women’s “Bible” study author, as Lifeway staff confirmed to me that they published her first study, Jesus & Women in “early 2020”.
As I mentioned previously, Kristi was preaching to men and functioning as a “pastor” at least as early as 2015. In this February 2023 video, she says (39:12) that she’s “in my 6th year” of being on the teaching staff of COTC Franklin, which would mean she was hired there in 2018, before Lifeway Women brought her on board.
What does that mean, my fellow Southern Baptists, and why should you care? That means that Lifeway Women knewKristi was currently working as a “pastor” when they decided to platform her. And despite our crystal clear statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message, which states unequivocally that only biblically qualified men may be pastors, they went ahead and hired her to teach and disciple Southern Baptist (and other) women anyway, and have continued to employ and platform her, knowing she’s a “pastor,” for the past 6-7 years.2
(If you’re not already outraged over all of that, I would encourage you to spend some time pondering this high-handed, flagrant, and audacious slap-in-the-face sin against Almighty God and every Southern Baptist on the planet, and ask the Lord to stir up in you a good, holy, righteous, zealous fury in this matter for the glory of His name and His Word, and the sake of His precious daughters. This is spiritual abuse, and we’ve been played.)
Of course, as a Lifeway Women platformed author/speaker, Kristi has been a guest on numerous episodes of Marked and other Lifeway Women productions. Most recently, Kristi did a seven week stint on Marked teaching her study, The Gospel on the Ground.
Lifeway Women Live 2020
Lifeway Women Live 2021. Photo courtesy of Lifeway Newsroom. Seated L-R: Jackie Hill Perry, Angie Smith, Kristi McLelland, and Ruth Chou Simons
2022- Kristi speaks at the Kerygma Summit women’s conference with false teachers Christine Caine and Lisa Harper, founder of the conference. In the Greek, “kerygma” means to preach the good news. And considering the fact that Kristi is a “pastor” and Christine and Lisa both preach to men, I’m sure the emphasis of the conference is on “preach” rather than “good news”.
2023- Speaking again with Christine Caine and Lisa Harper at Grace Family Church in Tampa, Florida (another church with women “pastors”) at The Beautiful Conference.
Spent the weekend in Rochester, MN at a conference with Kelly Minter. I’ve lost 2 good friends over the last few weeks – Gabe Patillo and Mandisa. It’s hard to go out when you’re grieving, but Kelly and these women were a GIFT to me. We are better together. pic.twitter.com/iENDeyePCz
Kristi on Lisa Harper’s podcast in 2022. Part of the transcript of Lisa’s introduction of Kristi reads: “I first met Kristi…goodness gracious, I think 30 years ago…I’ve been a huge fan ever since last couple of years…By the mercy of God, we’ve gotten to do a lot of life together. Currently, she is not only one of my favorite professors, she’s teaching me how to play pickleball…”
Golf the Mac, “A world class weekend of golf, music, & purpose,” co-ed, no doubt, is coming up in September with Toby Mac*.
*Toby Mac isn’t doctrinally sound. He’s got lots of connections with Bethel, he’s obviously fine with Kristi being a “pastor,” yoking with false teachers, and teaching false doctrine, and there are other issues.
Kristi Teaches False Doctrine
I’ve cited a couple of instances of Kristi’s unbiblical teaching above. Let’s look at a few more.
Extra-Biblical Revelation
The Bible does not teach us that we’re supposed to “hear God speaking to us” outside the pages of Scripture. It teaches us that God’s Word is sufficient. Kristi, however, employs various methods of “hearing from God”.
God supposedly spoke to Kristi as she explains in this December 23, 2018 “sermon” at COTC- (101:50) “I was on a rooftop in India one night watching the sun go down and I had been in a season of prayer about what was next in my life when I heard the Lord, clear as a bell just tell me, “Kristi, it’s time for you to go to seminary.”. And I believe that I heard, in part, because I was postured to receive. I was creating space for the living God to come in and say what He wanted to say, to do what He wanted to do.”
Most Christians have heard the old joke about the guy who wanted God to speak to him. He let his Bible fall open to a random page, closed his eyes and pointed to a verse on the page. He opened his eyes and found his finger on Matthew 27:5: “Judas went out and hanged himself.”. “Well,” he thought to himself, “that couldn’t possibly be God speaking to me. I’ll try again.”. He repeated the process, only to find that this time his finger landed on Luke 10:37: “Go and do thou likewise.”.
The fact that we joke about this points to how silly it is to think God communicates with us this way.
But in an interview and article on The 700 Club on CBN, Taking a Fresh Look at the Holy Land, Kristi explains how she actually used this method and believed it was God speaking to her about a life decision. This is a Bible scholar?
Desperate to hear from the Lord, Kristi opened the Bible and said, “Okay God, I need you to speak to me.” She randomly laid her finger on a scripture, (sic) and it landed on Psalms 78:19 which reads, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?” Kristi knew she was hearing from the Lord. Reading how God provided manna from Heaven for His children during their “wilderness” experience comforted her. God was letting her know that He would take care of her if she would only trust Him.
The Enneagram
Though its ubiquity seems to be waning and it will probably soon be relegated to the dust bin along with The Prayer of Jabez and WWJD bracelets, the Enneagram has been a popular fad for the past several years among the divangelista4 set. Unfortunately, the Enneagram is steeped in unbiblical mysticism and undermines the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture.
…but in this “sermon” at Journey Church, Faith to Let Go (27:00), Kristi says she’s an Enneagram 6.
I didn’t know Enneagram numbers were fluid, but…OK.
Mysticism and Spiritual Formation
Silence. Solitude. Those are words that should make your ears perk up if you hear them in the context of a Bible study or sermon, because they often indicate that you’re being taught some form of Spiritual Formation or unbiblical mysticism. And that’s just what Kristi gives us the tiniest whiff of in this January 26, 2020 “sermon” at COTC, Practicing the Way:
You’ll notice from the beginning that Kristi is not exegeting or expositing a text of Scripture. This is all about personal experience and what people do. In the first 4 1/2 minutes of this “sermon” she asks the audience three or four times to raise their hands if they think X or do Y.
7:52- Kristi actually reads two verses of Scripture, John 5:1-2. They have nothing to do with silence and solitude, and she is basically using them as a springboard to talk about what she really wants to talk about, the geography, archaeology, and architecture related to the passage.
11:43- Kristi does the same thing with John 5:3-6. She uses it as a means to transition into talking about Middle Eastern culture and history.
16:00- Halfway through a 32 minute “sermon” on silence and solitude, Kristi has taught nothing about silence and solitude, she has cited no Scripture that teaches about silence and solitude, and she has taught only architecture, history and culture – and zero exposition of spiritual principles – from John 5:1-6.
16:25- Kristi begins eisegeting her own ideas about wellness and healing into the text:
“‘You know how to live lame. Are you ready to know yourself at full speed? Are you ready to steward the wellness, the healing that I can bring you, and what that’s going to mean for you in your life?’ I think this question finds us often in times of silence and solitude…”
None of that has anything to do with the meaning of John 5:1-6, but Kristi isn’t interested in teaching what this passage actually means (if she were, she would have finished the passage, and would have handled it accurately), she wants to teach her own thoughts, ideas, and stories.
Also, “questions” do not “find you”. Questions are thoughts that you form in your mind by thinking. They are not animate, sentient objects outside yourself that hunt you down. This is part of the mysticism Kristi is foisting upon her audience.
17:30- Kristi exegetes two back to back personal anecdotes. She spends much more time on these than she did on actual Scripture; Scripture she did not, in fact, teach.
26:55- With about five minutes left in her “sermon,” Kristi talks for a few seconds about practicing the “rhythm” (another buzzword to be aware of) of silence and solitude. This is time, she says, for the audience to sit in silence so God can “meet with them”. She doesn’t instruct them to pray, which would be the biblical thing to do, but to “sit in silence”. No mention of what’s supposed to be happening or what it will look like if God “meets with them” while they’re “sitting in silence”. But that’s what they do for the next five minutes (until Kristi, once again, desecrates the Lord’s Table by presiding over it as a “pastor”).
Kristi has not taught the audience what silence and solitude mean, what Scripture says about it, or why they should practice it. She hasn’t properly taught Scripture, nor has she even done more than touch on the false doctrine her “sermon” was supposed to be about. It was just thirty two minutes of paid talk therapy for Kristi.
Secular Humanistic Therapy Philosophy and Standpoint Epistemology
In this November 14, 2021 “sermon,” The Fire of Jesus (109:40) Kristi says: “I am back in therapy, and you can only teach from where you’re at, so probably my next 500 teachings are going to somehow be connected with my therapy…And I’m reading the Bible with different eyes because my soul is being stirred in a different way. There is a work of God – a deep work of God – going on in my life right now…but story reads story, and that’s the way it’s meant to be. You’re meant to read the Bible in your story.”
Secular “trauma therapy” is another fad that’s popular among evangelical celebrities right now. Here’s an excerpt from my article on Tara-Leigh Cobble, who’s a champion of this unbiblical practice:
And since she brought it up in this post, I’d like to address another issue here. Tara-Leigh refers to her own “therapist” and also says, “I can’t think of a teacher/preacher I respect (in modern times) who hasn’t openly talked about seeing a licensed therapist…I believe in it so much that I’ve even paid for therapy for my team members. It’s VITAL.”
While everyone faces difficulties from time to time, and some of those difficulties are intense enough that a time of pastoral or biblical counseling is needed, routine or ongoing “therapy” from a “licensed therapist” (which, in the common vernacular, and at “trauma” events like this one, usually refers to a secular psychiatrist, psychologist, or other mental health professional) is no more “VITAL,” or even indicated, for normal, healthy individuals – even for non-Christians – than a weekly trip to the doctor for someone who isn’t sick.
The idea that Christians, across the board, need to be in therapy on a regular basis as though that’s normal or vital is found nowhere in Scripture, and undermines the Bible’s teaching that Scripture alone is sufficient for life and godliness.
Secular therapists (and even most “Christian counselors/therapists”) use humanistic, unbiblical methods and paradigms. (And I ought to know. I have a BA in psychology and did my Master’s work in {secular} marriage and family counseling.) When Christians have problems, the biblical thing to do is to turn to Christ and His Word, not worldly worldviews and coping mechanisms.
And this “story reads story,” read yourself into Scripture idea? Sounds great on the surface, but it’s completely unbiblical. The theological terms for this are eisegesis and standpoint epistemology – in a nutshell, reading yourself into Scripture and interpreting Scripture based on what it means to you through the lens of your personal life and experiences.
Over the past few years, several of my followers have sent me (unsolicited) their impressions of Kristi’s teaching:
Follower 1: My church women’s group did the Kristie Mclleland (sic) Luke in the Land study. In the book, on almost every page, she drove this point about “bringing God’s Kingdom to Empire” and “bringing Kingdom to earth” over and over and over. This was the central point of the book, that we must strive to bring Kingdom to earth.
Then, in the very last chapter, on the last page or two of the book was her agenda finally revealed….she introduced this Jewish concept called Tikkum Olam which means “to repair the world” and said we should adopt this. We must go out and fix the world of its problems.
No talk of sin or how it’s not our job as Christians to repair the consequences of sin in the world. No talk of how Jesus took care of this on the cross. This woman is a deceiver.
Here is the exact quote from the book Luke In The Land study (on page 148-149), very last pages of the text.
“The Jewish people have a phrase that has captured my heart and attention over the last year. It’s the tikkun olam – the “repair of the world” or the “fixing of the world.” For the Jews, the invitation is to engage the world, not retreat from it. The Jewish people are living out the mandate given to their ancestors Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18:19– to do what is just (mishpat) and right (tzedakah). They are engaging the world to heal it, to better it, to embody the work of tikkun olam.”
Then, in the participation questions, she asks “How can you engage and embody the work of tikkun olam in your everyday life?” This is how the study ends, this is the culminating message that she has worked up to in every chapter.
I believe it’s deception to give that people the idea that they can repair the world, even if they’re working in the Holy Spirit. That’s not what Jesus told us to do. I’m not sure if this is NAR or Dominionism or what, but it’s unbiblical.
Follower 2: [In the] Jesus and Women Bible study she uses a quote from Russell Moore in the introduction on page 5. The study itself also seems to engage the reader or student in more self focus than Christ focused.
Follower 3: From the couple of hours I spent reading and listening to her content, she is very Me centered and into emotionalism. She rarely quotes the Bible, or gives any evidence for her beliefs other than ” I Felt that God was leading me”.
Follower 4: I’ve watched the first session video of Jesus and Women, 3 sermons, and 2 interviews. This woman reads little Scripture then proceeds to “pontificate” for the next hour. She’s made statements “our pain moves God to action” “we create or destroy worlds with our words” “the fire of Jesus is actually healing and not punitive” “we are meant to read the Bible according to our story.” “Prayer is meant to be this subversive presence in the earth by which the Kingdom of God is entering the restoration, renewal, and repair of all things into this broken world because we are an Easter people living in a Good Friday world.” “We are being invited (by God) to round up.” ??? She announced to the congregation last November during a sermon that she was “back in therapy.”
I wanted to share this with you so that other women can be forewarned. I too was deceived at a time in my life and I pray – NO MORE! Sola Scriptura. (I watched [COTC sermons] “Prayer is Subversive”, “Let it go, lay it down” and the first session of Jesus and Women.)
I wanted to take a closer look at Kristi’s writing and theology, so I went through Lifeway’s sample of her book Luke in the Land. My notes below include page numbers if you’d like to follow along. The text starts on p. 13.
Right off the bat, the pre-study questions lead the reader to focus narcissistically on self / self as authority:
p. 13- Me, me, me and my feelings
p. 16- I could get a really good sense of who you are, whom you love, what you care about, and the world that has shaped you and your worldview simply by looking at your photo albums and your snapshots—the snapshots you chose to keep along the way. What are some of your favorite snapshots or stories in your own life? Who’s in your photo albums? What places are in your photo albums?
p. 17- What are some of your favorite “snapshots” from Scripture? From Jesus’s life?
p. 17- Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Luke recorded the exact stories the living God wanted us to have. This makes me want to EAT my Bible and carry it around inside me. I want to see the snapshots He wants me to have, to hold, to carry within me as I live, move, and have my being in this life... What began in Luke would see fulfillment throughout Acts and on and on until this very moment you and I find ourselves in. We too are part of this story.
Me, me, me. The Bible is about me.
Kristi also muddies the waters on the theopneustos of Scripture:
p. 17- “Prompted by the Holy Spirit,” p. 19- “Led by the Holy Spirit”.
Evangelicals often describe themselves as being prompted or led by the Spirit. The inspiration of Scripture is more than that, plus she heavily emphasizes that Luke interviewed people and collected their stories, making it sound like he was merely a human biographer rather than a writer of God-breathed Scripture.
p. 20- Within these difficult stories of harsh domination by cruel pharaohs, kings, and caesars, there are stories of light in the darkness, hope in the midst of despair, and of salvation and deliverance. These biblical stories teach us to look for light in our own darkness, to reach for hope in our own despair, and to courageously cry out for salvation and deliverance in our own lives.
No, they don’t. Relief from, or solutions to personal problems is not the purpose of these passages. Their purpose is to display God’s glory in the grand narrative of Scripture and the story of redemption.
p. 21- Jesus, the King of kings, came all the way to the lowest circle of humanity, found the lost, the sick, and the marginalized, and prioritized them.
No, He didn’t. God is no respecter of persons. He does not show favoritism. Jesus preached the gospel to everyone who would listen and welcomed any who were repentant and believed.
p. 25- Throughout both the Sermon on the Mount and in His teaching and ministry as a Rabbi of Israel, He continually proclaimed one theme. What was that theme? LOOK UP MATTHEW 4:17,23-25; LUKE 4:43; LUKE 10:1-9; ACTS 1:1-3. What was Jesus proclaiming in all these verses?
How can the reader possibly know? This is the introduction to Luke. The reader hasn’t yet studied the book of Luke to glean the answer to all of this.
p. 26- Simply put, the kingdom of God is God’s reign over the universe. He is sovereign and has dominion over everything in and under heaven. It’s a term that’s used in the Old Testament, but “arises more specifically from Jesus’ proclamation of the inbreaking of God’s rule.” And what is God’s rule breaking in on? The empire. Jesus’s world in Luke, and our world today, was and is anchored in the way of the empire.
1. “God’s rule” has been there from eternity past. It’s not “breaking in” like this world is our place and He’s an unwanted intruder.
2. God has been ruling His people since Creation.
3. The kingdom of God is salvation and the gospel. It’s coming to save people -spiritually- not defeat worldly “empires”.
4. What is “the way of empire”? That’s not a phrase used in Scripture, it’s a phrase Kristi came up with and she just throws it out there without explaining it.
p. 27- This chart makes no sense whatsoever. The example she’s given seems to be backwards according to what little she’s said about the Kingdom of God vs. “Empire”. Shouldn’t “striving” be under “Empire,” and “Sabbath/Rest” be under “Kingdom”? (And what does any of this have to do with the text of Luke 1 or 2, which is where she should be starting a study of the book of Luke?)
This concept of the inbreaking of God’s rule was central to Jesus’s teaching,
Then why doesn’t the text of Luke (or any of the other gospels) say anything about that?
p. 29- READ ISAIAH 9:6-7. Which of these names and promises about Jesus do you think the people of the time were most excited about? What do you think they were looking for in the promised Messiah?
1. What difference does it make what they were excited about?
2. This is speculation, not study. What does the text say?
Which of the promises about the Messiah from Isaiah 9:6-7 brings you the most comfort?
And now we’re back to narcissistic navel-gazing.
Cell phones came out when I was a sophomore in college…
Personal anecdote.
Have you had a similar experience of being really lost? What did you feel when you realized you were lost?
Personal experience and feelings. What about the text of Luke?
p. 30- LOOK AT GENESIS 3:8-10 AGAIN. What was the first question God asked of man? These three words in English are one word in Hebrew—ayeka. When you read this, how do you imagine hearing the tone in His voice? In your imagination, does he sound angry? Disappointed? Sad? Frantic? Why do you imagine his voice and tone sounding that way?
Imagination? Tone of voice? Feelings? Why are we speculating and using our imaginations (about a passage in Genesis) instead of studying the text of Luke?
p. 31- Compassion is not so much an emotion that we feel. Compassion is a location- we are compassionate when we locate ourselves with someone in his or her pain. The Lord looked for Adam and Eve in the garden to meet them in their pain. Most of all, I imagine ayeka with a tone of compassion.
Their pain? They had sinned and rebelled against the holy God of the universe and they were ashamed and guilty. The remainder of Genesis 3 is God meting out the judgment and punishment of their sin. “Their pain”? This is an ungodly way of softening sin and its consequences (because now, when you sin, you’re in “pain” and God “meets you in your pain” with “compassion”), and it is not biblical regardless of how Kristi “imagines” it.
Throughout the Gospel of Luke, we will see Jesus practicing compassion—locating Himself with people right in the middle of their pain. He sought out and found the lost and offered to bring them home. He does the same today. Jesus is not afraid of our sin or our pain; He meets us there and offers to bring us home.
What would it look like for you to invite God to locate Himself with you in your pain today? Take a moment and praise God for His presence. Ask to feel His presence and compassion in your pain,
Me, me, me, and my feelings. This sounds really cozy, but where’s the repentance?
Once again, Kristi is softening sin and its consequences. Yes, Jesus was compassionate to repentant, believing sinners. But He didn’t “locate Himself with people right in the middle of their pain,” or “find the lost and offer to bring them home” (whatever that means). Jesus called sinners to repentance and to believe the gospel. He does the same today.
This “study” is quite disjointed. Kristi skips around all over the place, and at the end of the first 33 pages, the reader still hasn’t read any significant portion of Luke.
It’s like she’s using various verses from Luke (and other Scriptures) to support her historical theories. Kristi cherry picks a few verses here and there from Luke but never instructs the reader to sit down and read the opening chapters of Luke in their entirety. This is a history lesson supported by the Bible, not a Bible lesson informed by historical context.
And don’t get me wrong, historical context is fine, but this is a lot more history than Bible. It feels like what Kristi would really rather be doing is teaching Middle Eastern history and culture than the precepts of Scripture. Where a Lisa Harper or Beth Moore “study” would be largely personal anecdotes with a few out of context Bible verses sprinkled in to bolster whatever ideas they’re trying to teach, Kristi’s study is largely academic: etymology and historical/cultural anecdotes with a few out of context Bible verses sprinkled in to bolster the ideas she’s trying to teach.
And don’t be fooled by the academics. Every time Kristi cites a Greek word or relates a story from history or explains a Middle Eastern cultural concept, it boosts her stature and credibility in the eyes of the reader. “Wow! She really knows her Bible! What a great teacher! We’d better listen to her!”. But if you’ve ever taken a college level history or language class, you know that any pagan with an education can tell you what a word means or who was king two thousand years ago, and what he did.
Knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and Middle Eastern history and culture is not the same thing as knowing Christ and His Word. Kristi demonstrates that with the fruit of her life: stealing the position of “pastor,” preaching to men, exercising authority over men, administering the Lord’s Supper and baptizing, yoking with false teachers, and teaching false doctrine. Jesus didn’t say, “by their degrees and education you will know them,” He said, “by their fruit you will know them”:
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:15-23
Kristi’s book learning and eloquence demands that you regard her as a mature, knowledgeable Christian and excellent teacher. But God says:
And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 2:3-6
Are you going to believe Kristi or are you going to believe God?
Kristi seems like a very nice person. She’s obviously smart and well educated. She’s charming and personable. But she’s not teaching the truth of Scripture, and the fruit of her life is rebellion against Scripture. She says in numerous “sermons” and interviews that she loves the Bible and that the only thing she ever wanted to do in life was to teach the Bible. But she rejects the Bible at every turn, whether it’s disobeying what the Bible says about the role of women in the church, or spending most of her writing or teaching time talking about things besides the Bible. For all of these reasons, with sadness, it is my recommendation that you obey Scripture and stay away from Kristi McLelland and all of her materials and resources.
1A special note to my fellow Southern Baptists: We have heard the SBC platform minimize numerous times in recent years the problem of SBC churches with women in the position of “pastor”. It’s supposedly such a non-existent problem that in May 2025, Keven Ezell, head of NAMB, said during a podcast interview that he would give $10K to anyone who could show him a NAMB church plant with a woman pastor. Now, COTC may not have been a NAMB church plant, but they certainly were (and still are as of the release date of this article) listed on the church finder at the SBC website the whole time Kristi (and other women “pastors” who are still on staff) was listed on COTC’s website as a “Teaching Pastor”.
2Again, Southern Baptists, let that sink in. For the past several years we’ve been told by SBC leadership that there’s virtually no issue with women pastors in the SBC. The Law/Sanchez amendment (to require that churches in friendly cooperation with the SBC must have only male pastors) to our constitution has failed to pass for three years in a row. And Lifeway – one of your Southern Baptist entities – welcomes men to be taught by a female “pastor”.
3Women who “pastor” or “preach” to men are false teachers because they teach via their behavior, example, and often their words, the false doctrine that you’re free to ignore and disobey any command of Scripture you don’t like, such as the commands forbidding women from pastoring, preaching, instructing men in the Scriptures, and holding authority over men in the gathering of the Body.
4“Divangelista” is just a slang term I coined because the phrase “popular women’s ‘Bible’ study authors” is too long and cumbersome for writing. It’s a combination of the words “diva” and “evangelical” and rhymes with “Sandinista” (if you’re old enough to remember them) for no particular reason.
Listen in as Dave and I discuss discipleship in the church today, and those who are undermining it with progressivism, like LifeWay Women featured author and speaker Rebecca McLaughlin, Russell Moore, and others.
Be sure to check out Dave’s website, Servants of Grace, where you’ll find an abundance of great teaching, podcasts, and materials, as well as his social media links- and give Dave a follow!
Got a podcast of your own or have a podcasting friend who needs a guest? Need a speaker for a women’s conference or church event? Click the “Speaking Engagements” tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page, drop me an e-mail, and let’s chat!
This was a reader’s recent response to one of my articles warning about a false teacher, and I thought I’d share and expand on my response to her here, because I know many of you, when you’ve said or posted things about false doctrine or false teachers, have had someone pridefully and self-righteously attempt to shame you and shut you up with a worldly twisting of these precious words of our Lord Jesus…
Some pridefully and self-righteously attempt to shame Christians and shut us up with a worldly twisting of these precious words of our Lord Jesus: “Judge not.”
You know, Matthew 7:1 is a great verse, but it’s currently probably the most twisted and abused Bible verse there is. And this is one common abuse of it – defending false teachers.
If you weren’t sitting under false teachers like the one you’re defending, you might have an accurate and biblical understanding of what that verse actually means. Instead, you’re believing and using the world’s twisted version of it.
Matthew 7:1 does not mean Christians shouldn’t warn against false teachers.
Matthew 7:1 does not mean Christians shouldn’t warn against false teachers.
If that’s what Jesus meant when He said that, He would have been contradicting Scripture, because there are many, many passages of Scripture that command us – and pastors in particular – to warn against false teachers and eradicate them from the church.
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Titus 1:9
Titus 1:9 is the final requirement in the list of qualifications for pastors/elders in Titus 1. If a pastor does not rebuke and warn against those who contradict sound doctrine (i.e. false teachers) he is biblically disqualified from the pastorate.
But now I am writing to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or greedy, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Are you not to judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God will judge. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
1 Corinthians 5:11-13
False teachers – who claim to be brothers and sisters in Christ – are idolators (some of them are sexually immoral, greedy, revilers, drunkards, and swindlers as well) because they create a god according to their own liking, steal biblical names (like God or Jesus) for it, and teach people to worship their false god instead of the one true God Scripture reveals to us. Scripture clearly commands us to judge them and remove them from the church.
And the idea that Jesus would have contradicted Scripture is just silly and ridiculous. We know God doesn’t contradict Himself, or He would be a liar and would cease to be God.
The idea that Jesus would have contradicted Scripture is just silly and ridiculous.
in the hope of eternal life, which the God who cannot lie promised from all eternity,
Titus 1:2
Furthermore, the Jesus who said “Do not judge,” in Matthew 7 is the same Jesus who tells us that we are to “judge with righteous judgment” in John 7.
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.
John 7:24
In Matthew 7:1, as you can plainly see by reading verses 1-5,…
“Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:1-5
…Jesus is telling us not to judge unrighteously (in juxtaposition to his admonition in John’s account to judge righteously) or hypocritically – in other words…
We’re not to judge others when we’re equally guilty of unrepentant sin.
We’re not to judge others for doing something we’re currently guilty of ourselves.
We’re not to judge others for doing something that’s actually biblical just because it offends our worldly, fleshly sensibilities.
Kind of like what you’re doing by unrighteously, unbiblically, and hypocritically judging me for warning against false teachers, which, again, is actually commanded and demonstrated by God in Scripture. How could I be doing something wrong when I’m doing what Scripture tells me to do?
When you chide a doctrinally sound Christian for warning against false teachers, you are the one who is unrighteously, unbiblically, and hypocritically judging.
You might also notice that in the same chapter (Matthew 7) in which Jesus says “Do not judge,” in verse 1, He goes on to warn against – and judge – false teachers:
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:15-23
And that’s not the only time Jesus warned against, rebuked, or judged false teachers…
…beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16:11b-12
And perhaps Jesus’ lengthiest, most scathing warning about and rebuke of false teachers is found in Matthew 23:1-36. Just a few choice excerpts since this is a long passage – here’s the warning to the hearers:
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men;
Matthew 23:1-5a
“They say things and do not do them…they do all their deeds to be noticed by men…” Huh. There’s that hypocrisy Jesus was talking about back in chapter 7.
Here’s the rebuke to the false teachers themselves:
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in…you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves…You blind guides…For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence….you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. In this way, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness…You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?…I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth…
Excerpted from Matthew 23:13-35
I’ve never warned against or rebuked a false teacher this sharply, but Jesus did. And we know He was right in doing so. But if you’re going to judge, criticize, and condemn someone like me who merely points out, in a matter of fact tone, how false teachers deviate from Scripture, and urges you, therefore, to obey God’s commands to have nothing to do with them, my goodness, what in the world are you going to say to Jesus about the way He warned against and rebuked false teachers?
If I’m wrong for saying, Teacher X is a false teacher because she preaches to men, teaches false doctrine, and yokes with other false teachers, and, therefore, I would not recommend you follow her, is Jesus wrong for calling false teachers “blind guides,” “whitewashed tombs,” and “brood of vipers”?
You’d best think on that lest you be hypocritical in your judgment.
The world has taken Matthew 7:1 and blasphemously twisted it into a club with which to pummel Christians who stand unwaveringly on the truth of God’s Word and, with Spirit-empowered courage, love sinners enough to call them to repent and believe the gospel, and love God, the church, and professing Christians enough to warn them against harmful false teachers and false doctrine.
The world has taken Matthew 7:1 and blasphemously twisted it into a club with which to pummel Christians, and, sadly, many professing Christians have followed the world’s example.
To the world, “Judge not,” means, “Don’t you ever dare say anything that’s not 100% affirming of me, my beliefs, or my sin of choice. Always be nice. Never say anything that could, in any way, be construed as negative. If you do, you’ll suffer the consequences.”. And, sadly, professing Christians discipled by the world and false teachers have adopted this worldly definition of “judging” and wield it like a weapon to shame and shut up Christians who are obeying Scripture.
But as genuinely regenerated Believers, accurately handling the Word of truth and having it illumined to us by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we know that Matthew 7:1 cannot possibly mean that we are not to warn against false teachers, because…
Jesus didn’t contradict Scripture, and Scripture commands us to warn against, rebuke, and judge false doctrine and false teachers.
Jesus didn’t contradict Himself during His earthly ministry, saying “Don’t judge,” in Matthew and “Do judge,” in John and other passages.
Jesus Himself warned against, rebuked, and judged false doctrine and false teachers.
We know that Matthew 7:1 doesn’t mean, “Don’t warn against false teachers,” because: Jesus didn’t contradict Scripture, Jesus didn’t contradict Himself, and Jesus Himself warned against, rebuked, and judged false teachers.
If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.
Ladies, do you believe in woman’s intuition? Do you have it? I’m not talking about premonitions– having a feeling that some future event is going to take place- I mean intuition. Being able, for example, to sense from a friend’s tone of voice that she’s having a bad day, noticing from the body language of two people who are “just friends” that romance is brewing beneath the surface, or discerning the tension between two people who are seemingly cordial to one another.
Maybe men have this “super power” too, but I’ve noticed it more with women. I believe it might have something to do with the way God has hard wired us. Nothing against men here (y’all are awesome in your own masculine way), but we women generally tend to be more sensitive to and concerned about other people’s feelings, we listen “between the lines,” and we hear and analyze tone of voice more. It’s one of the great things about the way God has created us that helps us as we nurture, comfort, and care for others.
But lately, I’m noticing that this “super power” of ours can also be a super problem.
Our sensitivity to tone (of voice, of writing, someone’s demeanor, etc.) is a hindrance rather than a help to us when we refuse to evaluate the content of what someone is saying to us simply because his manner of speaking, writing, or behavior has offended our sensibilities. This is especially harmful when that content is biblical truth.
Our sensitivity to tone is a hindrance rather than a help to us when we refuse to evaluate the *content* of what someone is saying simply because his manner of speaking, writing, or behavior has offended our sensibilities.
I have recently observed several instances of this, all involving women who, at best, found it difficult (with some outright refusing) to put aside their feelings of offense at the writer’s or speaker’s tone in order to compare the content of his speech or writing to Scripture to see if it might be true. (And, by the way, the speech and writing I’m referring to here are sermons, commentary, and articles, not someone writing or speaking to these women personally.) I can sympathize. It’s happened to me plenty of times.
Often, when we hear a fellow Christian put biblical truth bluntly in black and white and it rubs us the wrong way, our first reaction is to quote part of Ephesians 4:15 and chastise him for failing to “speak the truth in love.” But is that the only point of Ephesians 4? Let’s take a look at it in context:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (emphasis mine)
When I was in elementary school, one of the reading comprehension tasks we were often assigned was to find the “main idea” of a piece of writing. So, what is the “main idea” of this passage in Ephesians 4? I’ll even make it multiple choice (my favorite!).
Is the main idea of the passage:
a) Teachers and preachers should speak the truth in love so that they will not offend anyone.
b) A discussion of the different types of leadership roles in the church.
c) Christian leaders are to equip church members to grow to spiritual maturity which builds spiritually healthy and unified churches.
While the passage touches on some of the ideas in a and b, the main point is c. We’re to grow up. We are to listen to preachers, teachers, and writers who rightly handle God’s word, even if we come across one every now and then who steps on our toes with his demeanor or tone.
And it’s important to remember that just because our feelings are hurt doesn’t necessarily mean the other person sinned or did anything wrong. Sometimes you and I take things the wrong way because we’re not listening, we’re not understanding, or because we’re incorrectly reading our own hurts and past experiences into what the other person is saying. And none of that is her fault.
Sometimes the reason we’re offended is because the other person is speaking or writing simply and directly without wrapping her words in fourteen pillows of feelings-coddling. (Believe it or not, this is the way people used to speak all the time before feelings became such an idol in our culture. You could just say things without all the caveats.) We’ve grown so used to everyone walking on egg shells and tiptoeing around everyone’s feelings when we write and speak, lest anyone be “triggered,” that when someone simply says what she has to say without beating around the bush, we take offense that she hasn’t bent over backwards in her wording to make sure our feelings haven’t been hurt. And that’s not her fault, either.
And finally, sometimes we think -or claim– our feelings have been hurt by the other person’s tone, when, really what’s happening is that the Holy Spirit is convicting us, or we know she’s right in what she’s saying but we’re too proud to admit it. And those things aren’t her fault, either.
Just because someone says something and you get offended doesn’t automatically mean she’s at fault. Sometimes the fault is yours.
Just because someone says something and you get offended doesn’t automatically mean she’s at fault. Sometimes the fault is yours.
Look, I know it’s hard. There are people out there who offend me sometimes, too, but persevering through the offense will grow us into mature women of Christ and make our churches healthier.
Statistically speaking, more women regularly attend church these days than men. And when I say “more,” I mean 61% women to 39% men. Can you imagine the impact it would have on the health of our churches if all of those women were pursuing spiritual maturity through biblical truth and sound doctrine?
Instead, we are often like a little girl in a burning building. The fireman is vehemently insisting that the little girl come with him to escape, and she refuses to move because he hasn’t said it nicely enough.
We are often like a little girl in a burning building. The fireman is vehemently insisting that the little girl come with him to escape, and she refuses to move because he hasn’t said it nicely enough.
Ladies, I say this to all of us (including me) in love, because true love is desiring what’s best for someone:
It’s time for us to grow up. It’s time to stop taking our dollies and stomping home from the playground in a huff every time somebody speaks or writes strenuously. It’s time to stop crying about our hurt feelings, put on our big girl panties and be women.
It’s time to stop taking our dollies and stomping home from the playground in a huff every time somebody speaks or writes strenuously. It’s time to stop crying about our hurt feelings, put on our big girl panties and be *women*.
Discerning women. Berean women. Women of God’s word. Women who can handle having our feathers ruffled and come out on the other side stronger for it.
Too often, we make the mistake of equating a soft tone of voice and a sweet disposition with “love”. But many of the people who speak with this kind of “love” are not speaking the truth. They are smooth talking, charismatic con men selling snake oil for our souls.
Too often, we make the mistake of equating a soft tone of voice and a sweet disposition with “love”. But many of the people who speak with this kind of “love” are not speaking the truth.
If we’re not careful, we can become people who “will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4), or “weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:6b-7), or even “children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord; who say…“Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions,” (Isaiah 30:9-11).
We forget that our Master, the perfect embodiment of love, didn’t always speak softly and act politely when the gospel was at stake. Because there are things out there that are much more important than our feelings, and biblical truth is one of them.
There are things out there that are much more important than our feelings, and biblical truth is one of them.
