The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth,2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting,11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
12 Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
1. Which genre of biblical literature (epistle, prophecy, history, etc.) is the book of 2 John? Who wrote this book, and to whom was it written? What are two major topics this book deals with in verses 5-6 and in verses 7-11?
2. How many times does the word “truth” appear in this passage? In light of the topic of verses 7-11, why does John place so much emphasis on truth in verses 1-4? Which word, used twice in verse 7, stands in direct contrast to the word “truth” and serves as a pivot point into the topic of verses 7-11?
3. What is the “commandment” in verses 5-6? How does verse 6 say that we demonstrate our love for God? What can we learn about obedience to God from these verses? Can you think of any ways you have shown your love for God today by obeying Him?
4. Which false teaching was John speaking against in verse 7? What does verse 9 say about people who “go on ahead” of what the Bible says Christianity is and believe (or teach) false doctrine? Are they saved? Compare verse 9 to Galatians 1:6-9.
5. What does verse 10 say we should not do when we come across a false teacher? Why? (11) Think about how verses 10-11 might apply today with regard to attending conferences headlined by, or using materials written by, false teachers, following false teachers on social media, re-posting or retweeting false teachers, etc. How is this giving a “greeting” to false teachers and taking part in their wicked works?
Often, when someone is told she’s following a false teacher, she will say, “But she says some good things, too! I just chew up the meat and spit out the bones.” Is this line of thinking supported by verses 10-11 and passages such as Romans 16:17?
Over the last few months, there’s been a lot of talk about the possibility of future U.S. military drafts including young women in addition to young men. I’ve admired godly male friends who have spoken out vehemently against this and expressed concern about the government trying to press their daughters or wives into service. Some even vowed to lay their lives down protecting their women from having to face the horrors and dangers of war.
But I wonder if these men – husbands, fathers, pastors, elders – know that many of their wives, daughters, and sisters in Christ are already in the trenches fighting off the enemy with every ounce of our strength and every weapon at our disposal.
It’s not a war for territory or political control or freedom from dictatorial tyranny.
It’s a battle for the purity of the Bride. And the souls of our sisters.
Daily. Weekly. At church. On line. In our families. We strap on our Swords, march out to the front and engage in hand to hand combat with the Enemy.
His troops: false teachers.
His weapon of mass destruction: false doctrine.
Sometimes we stand as a shield between grenade-lobbing grunts and weak sisters who don’t know how to fight, or even that they’re in a war. Who want nothing more than to knock us down into the mud as they desert our King and join our foes.
Sometimes we infiltrate the enemy camp to bring back intelligence on his troops to our commanders and generals, only to be ignored, reprimanded, or dishonorably discharged from the unit.
Sometimes we stand as guards at the walls of our churches, watching the adversary advance, sounding the alarm, and standing in stunned disbelief as our commanding officers smilingly welcome the enemy troops through the gate.
Why? Why, in a field of pink, are there so few Green Berets? Why is it that so many women are out on the front lines battling this insidious rival while most of our brothers in arms seem to be AWOL?
And to that I respond with a hearty amen. But with much love and respect to Brother Steve, I would add:
Give us some men who will DEFEND the truth.
And the weak women the enemy seeks to capture.
And the strong women who should be protected, working safely away from the line of fire to support the troops and nurse the casualties back to health.
Give us men who will…
…thoroughly vet any curricula, books, or materials used by their church’s Bible study classes.
…train all of their church’s teachers to properly handle and exegete the word of God.
…take a close look at the authors of the books and blogs their wives or church members are reading and the speakers at the conferences and retreats they’re attending.
…examine the doctrine of the singers their daughters or youth listen to and the leaders of the youth camps they attend.
…speak out with godly boldness (not jerkiness- godly boldness) against false doctrine and false teachers on social media, in Sunday School, in the sanctuary, in their homes, and in every arena in which they have influence.
…join the few brave brothers who are already standing in the gap to present a united front to ward off the enemy.
Godly men on active duty in their churches, homes, and in the public square are out there. I’m privileged to know several. But they need a bigger band of brothers to join them in fighting the good fight.
We need men who will gird up, gear up, and stand up. Because some women in combat are wounded, battle fatigued, and in need of some R&R. And we can’t keep fighting this battle without a few more good men.
If you are considering commenting or sending me an e-mail objecting to the fact that I warn against false 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.
Christine Caine is “an Australian born, Greek blooded, lover of Jesus, a sought-after international speaker, author and activist. Known for her ability to effectively communicate a message of hope, Christine has a heart for reaching the lost, strengthening leadership, and championing the cause of justice.” Over the last several years, Christine has become a popular conference speaker, a prolific author, a podcaster, and a social media darling.
This is due, in no small part to Christine’s engaging personality. A native of Sydney, Australia, her charming accent, quick wit, and lovely smile immediately capture the attention, and her love and devotion to her husband and children are obvious and endearingly sincere. Unlike some of her over-made, over-coiffed, and overdressed peers, Christine radiates a natural, simple, unpretentious beauty that makes “middle aged” look good, and is a tacit encouragement to distinctly unglamourous women like me.
Admirably, Christine seems to have a true desire to impact the world beyond merely achieving fame and selling books, again, setting her apart from (and, in my opinion, above) many of her cohorts in evangelicalism. She and her husband have formed several different organizations for helping others both inside and outside the church world, such as Zoe Church (church planting in Europe) and Propel Women (success-building for women). But the helping organization Christine is best known for is The A21 Campaign, “an anti-human trafficking organization dedicated to abolishing injustice in the 21st century.” Human trafficking is a horrific evil, and I deeply appreciate Christine’s desire to right this wrong.
I like Christine a lot, as a person. She says she loves Jesus. She has a passion for fighting injustice, and seems like a genuine, down to earth, nice woman who would make a great friend and would be fun to hang out with. And if that’s all it took for me to recommend her to you as a teacher of God’s Word, this article would end here with a ringing endorsement.
But, as James 3:1 tells us, those who teach will be judged with greater strictness. At a bare minimum they must be expected to teach what accords with sound doctrine and to tangibly demonstrate that they love Jesus by keeping his commandments. Unfortunately, Christine’s teachings and some of her actions do not meet even these basic biblical standards, and it is my sad duty to recommend that you not sit under her teaching for the following reasons:
“Pastoring” and Preaching to Men
Christine Caine habitually and unrepentantly rebels against Scripture by preaching to and teaching men. God is abundantly clear in His word that women are not to preach to, teach, or hold authority over men in the gathered body of Believers. And though this simple instruction should be sufficient for us, God also graciously explains to us whyHe has issued this prohibition- reasons which are still in effect today. Refusing to obey God’s word is sin. And in the same way you should not follow a male pastor or teacher who lives in intentional, unrepentant sin, you should not follow a female teacher who lives in intentional, unrepentant sin.
As I have mentioned previously, teaching men is a good, fast, and easy litmus test for ruling out most female false teachers, because, almost without exception, women who have no qualms about disobeying Scripture by teaching men also teach other false doctrine. If you walked into a church sanctuary and the male pastor who got up to preach was dressed in drag or was wearing a pro-abortion t-shirt or littered his “sermon” with profanity, you would know right away that this is someone who is in disobedience to Scripture and someone you should not listen to. It’s the same way with women who preach to men. It’s easily observable disobedience to Scripture that should quickly tell you this isn’t someone you should be listening to or following, and Christine Caine’s doctrine and practices in other areas bear this out.
Currently (2022), Christine is on staff as “Teaching Pastor” and “Women’s Leadership Pastor” at Mariners Church, a multi-site organization (which employs several women “pastors”) in southern California. View her “sermons” here.
If needed, you may view additional evidence of Christine preaching to men in the “Additional Resources” section at the end of this article.
False Doctrine
In addition to the false doctrine of women pastoring / preaching, Christine Caine subscribes to and teaches Word of Faith (prosperity gospel) heresy. She is a product of, has held leadership positions at, and is closely affiliated with Hillsong², which is, undeniably, a Word of Faith “church.” Christine is a contributor to the Hillsong blog page, the Hillsong web site maintains a bio page on her, and she is a regularly featured speaker at Hillsong’s Colour Conference for women and other Hillsong events.
Formerly a pastor on staff with Hillsong, Christine still appears to maintain some sort of partnership with this organization. In 2021, she preached at the former Hillsong Phoenix (Christine Caine : Heart for the House – 2021 Year of The Bible), and said in her introductory remarks (1:17), “I’ve been part of the team at Hillsong Church in Sidney [Australia], and now kind of around the world, for the last 27 years, and second only to my salvation…that was the greatest thing in my life…”
Part of Word of Faith heresy is the habitual mishandling and twisting of Scripture while teaching: taking verses out of context, attempting to make the Bible say things it does not say in order to fit the “theology” of the teacher, and reading oneself, one’s audience, or one’s own ideas into Scripture (eisegesis). You will find multiple examples of Christine Caine teaching this way in the “Additional Resources” section at the end of this article.
Partnering with False Teachers
Christine Caine regularly associates and partners in ministry with false teachers. The Bible clearly forbids this in a number of passages. She has preached at the aforementioned Hillsong on far too many occasions to enumerate, T.D. Jakes events events, Joel Osteenevents, Bethelevents, at Robert Morris‘ church, Rick Warren’schurch, and Steven Furtick’schurch (all to co-ed audiences) just to name a few. Paula Whiteconsiders Christine a friend. Additionally, Christine has close relationships with Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer, frequently sharing the stage or partnering with both.
Christine Caine speaking at Bethel
But perhaps Christine Caine’s best known and most worrisome bond is with false (Word of Faith) teacher Joyce Meyer. Christine considers Joyce her “spiritual mother”:
“Oh yes I did lay my own hands on Joyce Meyer’s Bible and teaching notes and prayed for an impartation of that teaching anointing and revelation. It was a privilege and honor to shadow her this past week. Far more is ‘caught’ than is ever ‘taught’ in life!”
Christine Caine on the January 21, 2022 episode of Joyce Meyer’s show, Enjoying Everyday Life: Confronting Your Past
Featuring Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Lisa Harper, Christine Caine, Chris Tomlin, Tauren Wells, Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham Love Life 2022 Website
No one who immerses herself in the company of, and partnership with, so many false teachers, even considering one of the most egregious a spiritual mentor, can be trusted to teach the truth of Scripture and sound doctrine.
It’s true, Christine Caine is a lovely, charming woman with an admirable passion for helping people. But this does not excuse or make up for her disobedience to God’s word and teaching false doctrine. These are not minor “differences of opinion” that can be blithely swept under the rug. These are rebellions against the holy God of the universe.
I very much dislike having to warn women away from popular evangelical teachers, thus, it is my hope and prayer that Christine will repent of these sins, learn sound doctrine, and begin to teach it to the women in her audience who so desperately need it. Until such time, however, I regret that I must recommend that neither women nor churches receive teaching from Christine Caine or any of her ministries or materials, nor (in obedience to Scripture) participate in any way with The A21 Campaign or any of her other organizations. Do not have regard for Caine’s offerings.
Additional Resources:
Disclaimer: The specific links below are provided and endorsed as evidence pertaining to this article only. I do not endorse any of these sites in so far as any of them might deviate from Scripture or conflict with my beliefs as outlined in the “Welcome” or “Statement of Faith” tabs at the top of this page.
Preaching to Men
(See also “Partnering with False Teachers” below)
Events– The “Events” page at Christine’s website frequently lists her as preaching the “Sunday Service” or “Worship Service” at various “churches”.
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Social media and the internet are a gold mine for inspirational quotes, and today’s most popular divangelistas post a lot of them. But, does inspirational always equal biblical? Shouldn’t you be able to tell the difference between a line from a Disney movie, a platitude from the Dalai Lama, and biblical truth from a Christian leader? In homage to Tim Challies’ Joel Osteen or Fortune Cookie? I give you Disney, Dalai, or Divangelista?. Try to guess who said it, then click on the link below the quote to see if you were right.
1. All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness. The important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.
What was your score? 0-3: You spend waaaay too much time reading your Bible and listening to sermon podcasts to keep up with the latest fluff from divangelistas or to get out and see a movie. The Dalai Lama? Is that the Thursday special at that Asian restaurant down the street?
4-10:
Cut back on the “inspirational” Pinterest boards and trade out your kids’ DVD of Frozen for an Awana CD. Read some books by the old dead guys like Spurgeon or Ryle, and learn how different (and how much better) Christian doctrine is from Buddhism.
11-15:
Would you consider yourself a good person?
(I kid! I kid! You probably just have a photographic memory!)
Since I’ve had to temporarily cut back on blogging I’ve asked some friends to contribute guest posts. If your theology pretty much matches up with mine (as outlined in the “Welcome” and “Statement of Faith” tabs) and you’d like to contribute a guest post, drop me an e-mail at MichelleLesley1@yahoo.com, and let’s chat about it.
Itching Ears by Michael Coughlin
Itching ears abound in 2016. If you are reading this blog, you likely value discernment to a great deal. Consider a section of Scripture such as 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
For the time is coming when people 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.
What we see here is the contrast between those who will desire sound teaching and those who will not. False teachers will be propped up by people with ‘itching ears’ to satisfy their own lusts.
The picture painted is striking. As I write this, I am imagining if my ears were itchy how I’d be unable to avoid scratching them. In fact, just thinking about it made my ear tingle, and I had to satisfy the itch! The analogy extends to other activities as well. There is a nearly unavoidable response by unregenerate man to his or her lust to attempt to satisfy those passions. The only mode of satisfaction which must be avoided is that of repentance toward sin and faith in Christ. Anything else goes.
In comes your friendly neighborhood spiritual leader/false teacher. You know the type. He or she is likable in some important way, speaking in a way which boosts self-esteems, smiling a lot, and using the word “God” or the phrase “God’s Word” like they were called to it! This false teacher may even proclaim the name of Jesus unashamedly. These folks are like a fingernail on the itch…they possess exactly what is needed to temporarily satisfy the longing!
So, good, discerning people like you and I investigate them. We watch a few sermons, read some of their websites or publications, and we write a post on a blog warning the brethren of the insidiousness of the false teacher. Maybe we throw out a tweet or two reminding people we love that this teacher will lead them away from God. Who knows, a Facebook group could ensue…and even be warranted. We use phrases like, “love rejoices in truth!” And we really believe that and mean it.
But I have noticed something which occurs once in a while which I think is ungodly and detracts from our real message. It seems to occur in media where shorter quips are thrown out, like Twitter, but can happen everywhere. Now I’m going to say something that to some people will be difficult to swallow:
Not every time a bad or false teacher says something are they wrong.
Yes, you read that right. Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, TD Jakes, Benny Hinn and Paula White are all right sometimes. Each of the examples above are folks who, made in God’s image, cannot help but agree with at least some things God has said. Just like the atheist who actually lives according to God’s precepts which are written on his heart…these people have an understanding of some of the things of God. Think about it…when they actually do quote Scripture they are saying something true.
I know, I know…”but they twist it,” you say! Yes, often they do. But not EVERY TIME, to be sure. The trend that most concerns me is the trend I see which is to take a single sentence or two out of the context that was given and absolutely lambaste a false teacher for their heretical beliefs. If anyone did that with the theologians you like and I look up to as well, we’d be annoyed. Good men (including Jesus, John, Paul) have made statements that, out of the context the statement was uttered, would be terribly evil or at least inane.
How many times has someone reminded you Jesus said “Judge not?” It would be easy to make a case for sinless perfection being taught by the Apostle John from 1 John, if you take a few verses out of context. And Paul? I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the ‘Paul was a misogynist’ argument based on a handful of instructions concerning women. And honestly, I can see how it would sound like it out of context.
My point is this – we ought to give the most ardent false teacher the same treatment as we give the Bible and good teachers in regard to judging the things they say in context. Not because they deserve it, but because it is the right thing to do. When we attack something that someone didn’t exactly say, we commit an error which is easily refuted by those who are being led astray by these folks, and we come out looking like the fools who can’t even be honest about what the person we are attacking really meant.
We owe it to our great God and Savior Jesus Christ to honestly present and assess opposing teachings to His wonderful doctrines. It is scholarly to make cases for biblical teaching against the best possible arguments against it. It is immature and dishonest to mischaracterize your opposition’s argument, and no honor is given to God in that process.
Application: So what do we do with this knowledge? Commit with me to ensure that you will treat false teachers’ statements like we would treat our favorite preacher’s statement, evaluating them in context. It may take a little effort, but it will be worth it. Most of the world’s false teachers say enough wicked, contradictory-to-Scripture things that you don’t have to reach too hard to find something to expose them for what they are!
Michael Coughlin is a street evangelist from Ohio. He and his wife, Erin have 5 children. You can find him on Twitter, at his blog, or on Sermon Audio.
ALTHOUGH I DO MY BEST TO THOROUGHLY VET THE THEOLOGY OF THE BLOGGERS WHO SUBMIT GUEST POSTS, IT IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE FOR THINGS TO SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS. PLEASE MAKE SURE ANY BLOGGER YOU FOLLOW, INCLUDING ME, RIGHTLY AND FAITHFULLY HANDLES GOD’S WORD AND HOLDS TO SOUND BIBLICAL DOCTRINE.
Social media and the internet are a gold mine for inspirational quotes, and today’s most popular 
