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.
…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…
Ephesians 4:14-15
Christians who know what discernment is have a variety of perspectives about how it should be practiced. Should we teach about false doctrine at all or just make sure our church is teaching sound doctrine? Should we name the names of false teachers or speak about them anonymously? Should we warn people away from false teachers or just pray for them privately? What’s the biblical precedent for using a stringent tone when speaking of those who teach false doctrine?
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the phrase “speaking the truth in love” from Ephesians 4:15 as it pertains to speaking and writing about false doctrine and false teachers.
Many Christian women have the mistaken idea that “speaking the truth in love” equals being “nice.” We’re always smilingly sweet and never say anything that might hurt someone’s feelings or could rock the boat at church.
Many Christian women have the mistaken idea that “speaking the truth in love” equals being “nice.”
Are we to be kind? Yes. Are we to do our best not to hurt others? Of course. Should we be making waves over every little thing that rubs us the wrong way? Absolutely not. We are to deny ourselves, setting aside our personal preferences and, in many cases, even our own rights, to the point of laying down our lives for others.
We need to understand the distinction between personal preferences and biblical doctrine. We die *to* personal preferences. We die *for* the purity of biblical doctrine.
But we need to understand the distinction between personal preferences and biblical doctrine. And that’s where I think a lot of people get confused. We die to personal preferences. We die for the purity of biblical doctrine. The enemy is stealthily infiltrating and conquering church after church with false doctrine. We are at war. And that’s going to mean ruffling feathers, rocking the boat, and hurting feelings sometimes. Because the full armor of God doesn’t come with a white flag or a pen for signing peace treaties.
The full armor of God doesn’t come with a white flag or a pen for signing peace treaties.
Well, think about the concept and practice of “love.” Love always has an object. We don’t just say, “I love.” We say, “I love my children,” or “I love peanut butter and chocolate ice cream.” Speaking the truth “in love” is not as much about our demeanor or tone of voice as it is about the object of our love. It’s our love for others that compels us to speak biblical truth. And it’s that same love for others that should drive the manner in which we speak the truth.
So when it comes to speaking the truth about false doctrine, how should we be motivated by love? And love for whom?
We love Christ– As Christians, our love for Christ should motivate everything we do. If we’re speaking truth from fleshly motives such as pride, the desire to make a name for ourselves, or the competitive drive to win an argument, everything we say can be 100% factually right and we can still be spiritually in the wrong because the motive of our heart is wrong. God isn’t a debate judge awarding us points for compelling arguments. God weighs the heart.
We love God’s Word– To love Christ is to love the Bible because Scripture is literally God Himself speaking to us. Besides the cleansing of the temple, the passage in which we see Jesus’ righteous anger displayed most clearly is Matthew 23. Here, Jesus delivers a scorching rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees for twisting God’s Word and, in doing so, leading people away from the truth of Scripture. It is only natural for those of us who have the mind of Christ and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit to have that same love for God’s word and feel righteous anger over the maligning of it.
We love the church– To love Christ is also to love His bride, the church. Christ gave his life to cleanse the church “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Seeing Christ’s bride blemished and corrupted by false doctrine should grieve us deeply and motivate us to call the church to be cleansed “by the washing of water with the Word.”
We love the captives– Paul speaks of false teachers “who creep into households and capture weak women.” Often, the women who follow false teachers simply don’t know any better. Though Scripture is clear that they’re complicit in their own captivity, they are casualties and prisoners of war held hostage by the enemy. We are to love them enough to show them the truth of God’s word so that “they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
We love the enemy– Every Christian was at one time an enemy of the cross. Every last one of us. Until someone loved us enough to intervene with the truth of the gospel. False teachers – those who, despite biblical correction, unrepentantly teach doctrine which is plainly refuted by Scripture – have made themselves enemies of the cross, even if they call themselves “Christian,” even if they wear the title of “pastor,” even if they’re holding a Bible in their hands and refer to it occasionally as they “teach” us.
In the same way that a loving sister would not turn a blind eye and hope for the best if her sibling began using drugs and became increasingly addicted, it is not loving to stand idly by and allow false teachers to continue to sink deeper and deeper into Satan’s clutches by doing his bidding without making every effort to stop them in order to rescue them.
*It is not loving* to stand idly by and allow false teachers to continue to sink deeper and deeper into Satan’s clutches by doing his bidding without making every effort to stop them in order to rescue them.
Sometimes – just as with the drug abuser – this can be accomplished early on with a private word of correction. And sometimes – as with the addict – more extreme measures of “tough love” and intervention must be employed. But we always love them enough to desire that they come to repentance and embrace the truth.
Our love for these also drives the manner in which we speak truth to them. A good soldier would never deal with a civilian casualty in the same way he would fight off an enemy bent on waging war. Likewise, part of discernment is knowing who the enemy is (and is not) and dealing with people in a biblically appropriate way. This requires humility, wisdom, thorough proficiency with our tools and weapons, unceasing prayer, and complete dependence on and self-crucifying love for our King. We trust in Him and His Word to guide us in the wise and loving way to humbly speak His truth.
Discernment. Speaking truth. What’s love got to do with it?
About two months ago, I was deeply grieved to learn that the president of my own denomination (the Southern Baptist Convention) would be be appearing as one of the featured speakers at the International House of Prayer’s (IHOP) Onething 2015 conference. (See my article here. If you’re not familiar with the demonic {and, no, that is not an exaggeration} doctrine and practices of IHOP, please examine the resources listed at the end of the article.)
I (and others I’m aware of) attempted several times to contact Dr. Floyd to plead with him not to do this, but was unable to reach him. Several of my readers suggested (and I prayed) that perhaps Dr. Floyd would use his speaking time at Onething to rebuke IHOP’s false doctrine as pastors are instructed by Scripture to do, or, at the very least, that he would preach the gospel in order that attendees might be saved.
Unfortunately, to his and the Southern Baptist Convention’s shame, Dr. Floyd did not do either of these things, but spoke in a conciliatory, brotherly way to the IHOP leadership and Onething audience about working and praying together in unity to bring about revival in the United States.
Why was this a grievous and shameful thing to do? Because, as I mentioned in my previous article, Scripture forbids Christians from joining ourselves to those who preach a false gospel regardless of how noble the cause might be. And as a seminary graduate, pastor, and president of the largest protestant denomination in the United States, if anyone should know these Scriptures and obey them, it should be Dr. Floyd.
Here is Dr. Floyd’s speech (starting at approximately the 7:32 mark) in its entirety. I’d like to take this opportunity to examine some of his most troubling remarks in comparison with Scripture. (The particular remark I’m addressing can be found at the minute mark preceding the comment.)
8:24- I’m not here tonight to highlight our theological differences but to bend my knee next to yours and to ask God to have mercy on America.
Can you imagine Jesus saying this to the scribes and Pharisees? Or Peter saying this to Simon the magician? Or Paul saying this to Hymenaeus? Or John saying this to the gnostics? There is absolutely no New Testament precedent for a pastor to stand in a place where false doctrine is proclaimed and blithely sweep it aside in order to pray with those who promote it or believe it.
In fact, the New Testament paints the opposite picture, both implicitly and explicitly. Jesus and the apostles, when approaching unrepentant false teachers, always highlighted their theological differences, rebuked them sharply, and called them to believe the truth of the gospel. There is not a single instance in the New Testament in which Jesus or one of the apostles brushed aside false doctrine in order to work or pray together in unity with false teachers. Not one.
8:41- I also know that my being here is not an endorsement of your theology…
This statement is clearly at odds with Scripture. Second John 10-11 says:
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.
Don’t even greet a false teacher, never mind accept an invitation (most likely a paid invitation) to speak cooperatively at his conference. If you do, you are taking part in his wicked works. That’s more than just an endorsement. That’s participation in the spreading of false doctrine.
9:10- …we’re not in total agreement about a lot of the secondary matters of life, ministry, and even the Bible.
There would be nothing wrong with this statement if Dr. Floyd were talking about partnering with, say, a parachurch organization which believes in paedobaptism instead of credobaptism, elder-led churches instead of congregational churches, or pre-millenial instead of post-millenial eschatology. Those are the sorts of things that qualify as “secondary matters,” and Christian individuals, churches, and groups can certainly partner in ministry with other Christian individuals, churches, and groups while not seeing eye to eye on those types of issues.
But that’s not what’s going on with IHOP. IHOP intentionally and unrepentantly preaches egregious false doctrine (again, see the resources at the end of my previous article for details). Scripture is crystal clear that we are to “watch out” for those who teach false doctrine and“avoid them,” not speak at their conferences.
The study note in my Bible on 2 John 10 (quoted above) says it well:
John’s prohibition is not a case of entertaining people who disagree on minor matters. These false teachers were carrying on a regular campaign to destroy the basic, fundamental truths of Christianity. Complete disassociation from such heretics is the only appropriate course of action for genuine believers. No benefit or aid of any type (not even a greeting) is permissible. Believers should aid only those who proclaim the truth.¹
And, by the way, when did the Bible become a “secondary matter,” especially for Southern Baptists? Anyone even vaguely familiar with the recent history of the Southern Baptist Convention knows about the hard fought inerrancy controversy. The Scriptures is the very first point of the Baptist Faith and Message, for heaven’s sake! Regarding the Bible, the BFM 2000 says, in part:
[Scripture] will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.
Does it sound like Southern Baptists regard the Bible as a “secondary matter”? Did Dr. Floyd follow the standard of the central document outlining our statement of faith as Southern Baptists and try IHOP’s “conduct, creeds, and religious opinions” by Scripture? Did he act in accord with the Baptist Faith and Message by holding Scripture paramount as the “true center of Christian union” when he decided to unite with an organization that flouts Scripture on so many levels?
At the 9:49 mark, Dr. Floyd mentions the high regard Southern Baptists have for Scripture, and that it is the “final authority for all we believe and practice, period.” Then why did he not practice submission to the authority of Scripture and its many passages instructing Christians to refute false doctrine and rebuke or avoid those who teach it instead of disobeying these Scriptures by appearing at Onething?
Which is it? Do Southern Baptists, and our president, have a high regard for and “zealous commitment” to Scripture, or is it a “secondary matter”?
9:20- …yet my being here is a clear indication that these are times when people must come together and pray. And when the ship feels like it’s sinking, everyone needs to grab a bucket.
If you’ve ever read anything about the social, religious, and political conditions under which Paul lived, you know that the situation was much worse in Rome and the lands under its control at that time than it is in 21st century America, especially for Christians. Christians were used as torches for Nero’s nighttime garden parties, and subjected to all manner of other gruesome tortures. Yet despite the extreme persecution and rampant immorality of the world in which he lived, Paul did not call for Christians to “come together and pray” with false teachers or for everyone to “grab a bucket.” Instead, he steadfastly and in no uncertain terms condemned false doctrine (as did others, including Jesus, Peter, and Jude) and exhorted Christians to separate themselves from those who had proved themselves unbelievers by teaching false doctrine, even writing these words to the church at Corinth:
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
2 Corinthians 6:14-17
Why? The purity of doctrine and the right handling of Scripture are more important than the socio-political climate. They are paramount, because the truth of the gospel is the only means by which people can be saved. When you get the gospel wrong, people die and spend an eternity in hell. Maybe the Holy Spirit, who inspired Paul and the other New Testament writers to write so much about refuting false doctrine and rebuking those who teach it, thought that was just a little bit more important than light, temporary earthly suffering and the transient moral decay of society.
11:30- But tonight, I come to you as a pastor of a local church, not as the president of America’s largest Protestant denomination.
That’s all well and good if Dr. Floyd wants to view himself that way with regard to his obligation to the word of God. The Bible never mentions the office of president of a denomination. It gives instructions for pastors and Christians, both of which apply to Dr. Floyd. As a pastor and a Christian, he is still responsible for obeying the Scriptures.
However, for Dr. Floyd to say that he is not appearing as the president of the SBC but as the pastor of a local church is ludicrous for two reasons. First of all, take a look at the lineup of speakers for Onething. None of them are simply “pastors of a local church.” They all have high profile and powerful positions in large ministries. If Dr. Floyd were merely the pastor of a local Southern Baptist church, it’s extremely unlikely he would have ever been invited to speak. Just ask the other 50,000+ Southern Baptist pastors of local churches who were not asked to speak.
Second, for Dr. Floyd to try to verbally and conceptually separate himself from the position of president of the SBC in such a venue and say he is speaking only as the pastor of a local church, is somewhat analagous to President Obama appearing at a Democratic political rally and saying that he is not speaking as the President of the United States, but as the CEO of a local corporation. The man cannot be separated from the position. Dr. Floyd is the president of the SBC. That’s why he was invited to speak. And everything he said and did in connection with the Onething conference reflects upon the Southern Baptist Convention and influences Southern Baptists.
25:10- I don’t know why God brought you here this week…but many of you, God brought you here to wake you up…
No. Absolutely not. We can know without a doubt that God did not “bring” – in the sense that God wanted them to be there to “wake them up” spiritually or receive biblical instruction – a single individual, including Dr. Floyd, to Onething, because if He did, He would be completely contradicting His word. How could God tell us in His word to rebuke and avoid false teachers, and then “bring people” to a den of demonic false doctrine? God does not contradict His written word.
Now, God, in His sovereignty, did allow all of those people to be there. He allows people to disobey Him by following any number of false teachers. He allows people to commit murder and adultery and gossip, too. That doesn’t mean He is pleased by any of those things or that it’s His desire for people to do them.
God most assuredly did not bring people to Onething to wake them up in the way Dr. Floyd means. The only things God would have brought people to Onething to wake them up to is the false doctrine that’s being perpetrated by IHOP and Dr. Floyd’s complicity in the spreading of that false doctrine.
While there are some other statements Dr. Floyd made that I might take issue with, these jumped out at me as the most problematic ones. I wish I could sit down with Dr. Floyd and just ask him why.
Why, if it was biblically OK for you to speak at Onething, did you spend the first five minutes of a thirty-five minute speech, attempting to justify your presence there?
Why were you unable to point to a single “desperate times call for desperate measures” Scripture that says it’s OK for Christians to join with false teachers in ministry and prayer, but, rather, pointed to the problems in America to justify unifying in prayer with IHOP?
Why did you ignore the pleas of Southern Baptists and other Christians who begged you – on biblical grounds – not to associate yourself and the SBC with IHOP in this way?
Why, when there are over 50,000 Southern Baptist churches in this country – not to mention our seminaries, universities, parachurch organizations, and thousands of other Protestant churches and organizations with whom Southern Baptists truly differ only on genuine secondary theological issues – where you could have spoken, would you purposely choose to speak at an organization that preaches such egregious false doctrine?
There is no excuse for Dr. Floyd to have spoken at Onething. None. There are only three options here:
1. Dr. Floyd knew IHOP preaches false doctrine and knows what the Bible says about false teachers and false doctrine but chose to associate with IHOP anyway, which would mean he intentionally disobeyed God’s word.
2. Dr. Floyd did not know IHOP preaches false doctrine, which demonstrates extreme carelessness, naiveté, and lack of pastoral concern for those under his leadership.
3. Dr. Floyd knew what IHOP teaches but does not know that IHOP’s teachings biblically qualify as false doctrine, and/or Dr. Floyd does not know what the Bible says about dealing with false doctrine and false teachers, a depth of biblical ignorance I would never attribute to anyone of Dr. Floyd’s stature.
None of those three options – biblical ignorance, carelessness and naiveté, nor intentional disobedience to God’s word – are appropriate for any pastor, let alone the president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Anyone who is a Christian has people watching him and being influenced by him: your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, your fellow church members. The higher your position in the church or ministry, the more people you have watching you and being influenced by you, and the greater responsibility you have to both handle God’s word correctly and set a godly example. (This is why the Bible tells us that teachers in the church will be judged more strictly.) Dr. Floyd bears an immense biblical responsibility in his position of leadership.
If anyone reading this happens to know Dr. Floyd, please take this occasion to go to him as Nathan went to David, in a spirit of love and restoration, and open God’s word to him on this issue. Dr. Floyd is in a unique position to influence thousands of churches and millions of people to turn to Christ and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, but he must do so biblically. Nothing would bring me more joy as a Southern Baptist than to see him do just that. I would love to point people to him as a godly example of leadership.
If you do not know Dr. Floyd, take this incident as an opportunity to learn. Learn about the false doctrine taught by IHOP and so many other false teachers. Learn your Bible so you can rightly handle it, teach it to others, and submit to its authority and mandates. May we all be ever mindful of those who look to us as ambassadors of Christ and…
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16
At the end of the year lots of bloggers re-publish their top post(s), so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon. Nine Reasons practically went viral this year (well, viral for me, anyway) with a whopping 100,000 views, followed by:
rounding out the top five articles of 2015. And now, without further ado, I bring you my top article of 2015:
Earlier this week, Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay, pubished a blog article entitled “Six Reasons Why Women May Be Leaving Your Church.” Although I am not particularly a fan of Dr. Rainer (due to his allowing heretical materials to be sold at LifeWay), I thought this article was a good one, and I agreed with several of the issues he raised, especially, that these issues need to be addressed by church leadership.
As a ministry wife and someone in the field of women’s ministry myself, I, too, have noticed women leaving the church. Not just women in general, but a certain subset of church-attending ladies: discerning women. While Scripture is pretty clear that we can expect women (and men) who are false converts to eventually fall away from the gathering of believers, why are godly, genuinely regenerated women who love Christ, His word, and His church, leaving their local churches?
1. Eisegetical or otherwise unbiblical preaching Discerning women don’t want to hear pastors twist God’s word. The Bible is not about us, our problems, and making all our hopes and dreams come true. We don’t want to hear seeker-driven or Word of Faith false doctrine. We don’t need self-improvement motivational speeches or a list of life tips to follow. We want to hear a pastor rightly handle God’s word from a trustworthy translation and simply exegete the text.
2. The worship hour has become a variety show Skits, guest stars, movie clips, dance routines, rock concerts, elaborate sets, light shows, and smoke machines. We didn’t sign on for Saturday Night Live on Sunday. This is supposed to be church. Get rid of all that junk, turn the lights on, give us solid preaching, prayer, and some theologically sound songs we can actually sing, and maybe we’ll stick around.
*3. Women in improper places of church leadership The Bible could not be more clear that women are not to be pastors, instruct men in the Scriptures, or hold authority over men in other capacities in the church. If your church has a female pastor, worship leader, or elders, or if women are teaching and leading men in Sunday school, small groups, or from the platform in the worship service, or if women are heading up certain committees, departments, or ministries which place them in improper authority over men, you’re disobeying Scripture, and we don’t want to help you do that by attending your church.
4. Children are being entertained, not trained There’s nothing wrong with a bit of play time or crafts for younger children, but we want our children trained in the Scriptures, not entertained for a couple of hours. We want their teachers to open God’s word and read and explain it to them at a level they can understand. We want them memorizing verses, learning to pray, and demonstrating an age-appropriate comprehension of the gospel. We want them to understand that church is joyful, yet, serious, not a Jesus-laced party at Chuck E. Cheese. We need church to bolster the Scriptural training we’re giving our kids at home.
5. Women’s “Bible” Studies The majority (and I don’t use that term flippantly) of churches holding women’s Bible studies are using materials written by Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Joyce Meyer, Lysa TerKeurst, Sarah Young, and others who teach unbiblical ideas and false doctrine. Not minor denominational differences of opinion. Not secondary and tertiary unimportant issues that can be overlooked. False doctrine. While we long to study God’s word with other women, discerning women will not sacrifice sound doctrine nor the integrity of Scripture to do so.
6. Ecumenism Is your church partnering with other “churches” whose orthodoxy and/or orthopraxy are at odds with Scripture? “Churches” which approve of homosexuality or female pastors, or which hold to an unbiblical soteriology (grace plus works, baptismal regeneration, Mary as co-redemptrix with Christ, etc.)? Are you partnering with those who deny the biblical Christ altogether such as Muslims, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hindus, Mormons, or Buddhists? Discerning women know Scripture forbids yoking ourselves to unbelievers and we want no part of it.
7. Ageism Look around at your pastor and staff, your lay leadership, your music team, the “face” of your church. How many of those people are over 40? Usually, discernment and spiritual maturity come through walking with the Lord over many years, yet, increasingly, churches are run by twentysomething pastors, staff, and other leadership, who are often spiritually immature and/or lack the wisdom and life experience that come with age. The counsel and wisdom mature, godly men and women have to offer is brushed off as old fashioned, and middle aged and older church members feel alienated and unwanted. Discerning women value the wisdom and teaching of their godly elders.
8. The “troublemaker” label Discerning women who see unbiblical things happening in their churches and stand up for what God’s word says about biblical ecclesiology and teaching are often villified and labeled as troublemakers. We are called haters, threats to unity, complainers, gossips, negative, and a myriad of other scornful names. All this for wanting things done according to Scripture. Can you blame us for shaking the dust off our high heels and leaving?
9. Spineless or stiff-necked pastors Discerning women have little respect for, and find themselves unable to submit to the authority of pastors who see people in their churches acting overtly sinful or propagating false teaching yet are so afraid of confrontation that they will not set things right. By the same token, we cannot continue to attend a church in which we bring scriptural evidence of false teaching or sin to the pastor and he outright denies the biblical truth we present to him. We cannot be members of churches in which pastors will not submit to Scripture or carry out biblical mandates.
Frequently, the discerning women you see tearfully leaving your church have been there for years. Sometimes they leave your church because it was never doctrinally sound to begin with, and God has opened their eyes to this as they grow and mature in Christ. Sometimes they leave because false doctrine and unbiblical practices have crept in and taken over a church that was once a refuge of trustworthy biblical teaching. Either way, these things should not be.
Maybe it’s not that discerning women are leaving the church**, but that the church is leaving them.
*If you disagree with this point and are considering writing a comment arguing that women SHOULD be pastors and have other unbiblical positions of leadership, please save yourself some time, because I will not be printing it. As it says in my “welcome” tab (top of this page), I do not print false doctrine without refuting it, and at the moment, I do not have the time. If you are truly interested in what the Bible ACTUALLY says about the proper role of women in the church, click here and explore the Scriptures that address this topic.
**While it may be necessary to leave a church that is not operating biblically, Hebrews 10:24-25 makes it clear that meeting together for worship and the teaching of God’s word is not optional for Christians. Please see my follow up article, Six Ways Not to Forsake the Assembly for more on this topic.
I’ve closed comments for this article since it’s a reprint, but you can comment at the original article if you’d like.
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.
