5 False Teachings in the Evangelical World

Last updated on: April 4, 2017 at 6:00 am by Josh Daffern

5 False Teachings in the Evangelical World 2017-04-04T06:00:10-06:00 Josh Daffern

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

unsplash.com

As an Evangelical, I’m not sure about you, but I have a much easier time spotting heresy outside of my world than inside it. I’m quick to denounce the “health and wealth” gospel and those that would argue that all religions basically teach the same thing and that there’s more than one way to God. It’s easy for me to spot these false teachings because I don’t struggle with them. But heresy isn’t just a danger for “them.” It’s also a danger for “us.”

Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:4, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” Here are five false teachings in the Evangelical world that our itching ears love to hear:

1. The Holy Spirit is optional. We as Evangelicals gravitate towards this teaching because the Holy Spirit makes us a little uncomfortable. We look over at our pentecostal brethren and shake our heads at all that Holy Spirit nonsense. We are a people of order. And most importantly, we have the Bible, so we don’t need the Holy Spirit. He’s optional. And yet this teaching, although making us feel comfortable and scratching those itching ears of ours, completely misses not only what Jesus taught about the Holy Spirit but how the church in the book of Acts operated under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2. We’re called to follow a Book above all. Put those sharpened knives away for a second, my Evangelical brethren. I’m a card-carrying Bible believer like the rest of you. I’ll throw my “inerrant” and “infallible” on the table right next to yours. But as great as the Bible is, and as much as the Bible tells us about Jesus, the Bible isn’t Jesus. I didn’t ask a Book into my heart. I didn’t ask a Book to forgive me of my sins. At the end of the day, I’m not called to give my life to a Book, but to a person. Many times, we can elevate the Bible so high that it becomes higher than Jesus, and nothing is supposed to be higher than Jesus. At the center of my faith is a person, not a Book.

3. If a church is growing, they must be compromising the gospel somehow. I picked up on this false teaching long ago, mostly from struggling or stagnated churches who were quietly jealous of the church down the road. How these dying churches would justify their strict adherence to tradition was to assume that if the church down the road was growing, they must be watering down the gospel somehow. Which when you think about it is actually hilarious, because if that line of thinking is correct, then fully preaching the pure gospel will do nothing but drive people away and keep churches small and dysfunctional, like they’re meant to be. You can grow your church and be true to the gospel at the same time. Just ask the disciples about Acts 2 (which would be hard to duplicate today because the Holy Spirit is optional, see false teaching #1).

4. It’s our job to judge the world. Since we’re so accustomed to judging fellow Christians, we like to extend that gift of judgment to the outside world, declaring ourselves the moral conscience of the world. Our specialty is to judge people (non-Christians) for not living up to a standard to which they never agreed. It would be like me walking up to you and judging you for not running a marathon last year, even though you never agreed to run a marathon nor had any desire to run a marathon. If we would read the Bible we hold so dear a little more closely, the Apostle Paul would quickly remind us that it’s not our job to judge the world. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job (1 Corinthians 5:12, John 16:8).

5. Church is for church people. We throw around churchy words like “fellowship” and “discipleship” as code words to keep church for church people. It’s just easier that way. If church can become a holy huddle where everyone looks, acts and talks the same, then there’s none of the hassle of having to get to know new people or (God forbid) changing something. But saying church is for church people completely negates our duty for evangelism. It would be like saying hospitals are only for healthy people. Don’t think this is a problem? Look around at the churches in your town. How many are genuinely reaching people for Jesus and growing on a regular basis?

QUESTION: What other false teachings would you add to this list?

Previous Post

April 3, 2017

Is Inviting Someone to Church a Legitimate Form of Evangelism or Just a Cop Out?

Next Post

April 13, 2017 5 Church Rules That Are Made to Be Broken

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Family Matters Ministry in the Trenches Morning Brew MTVpastor New Wineskins Top Menu Truth from Life Uncategorized Watch Sermons

Select a Month June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River?

Select your answer to see how you score.

James John the Baptist Peter Nicodemus