Does Sharing the Gospel Give License to Allow or Ignore False Teachings?

If pastors or ministries make the claim that they are sharing the Gospel and many are coming to the Lord, does that mean those ministries or churches have a license to allow or ignore false teachings? The disciple Jude has given an answer to that question when he stated:

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation [i.e., the Gospel], it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 1:3)

In other words, while Jude wanted to just focus on the Gospel, he had to issue an exhortation to “earnestly contend for the faith.” He went on to warn about “certain men [who] crept in unawares” (v. 4) and said in reference to them, “Woe unto them!” (v. 11).

In today’s church, there are far too many examples of well-known pastors, authors, and teachers who boast about preaching the Gospel but who ignore contending for the faith. This ought not to be so.

Misguided Advice

Recently, our ministry received a phone call from one of our readers. She expressed her dismay and disappointment after calling a well-known and respected church in her community concerning a stressful situation in her life. Her hope was that the associate pastor who answered the call would pray with her and possibly offer some encouragement and biblical advice; instead, she received his counsel that she should try attending some Yoga classes. Perhaps this associate pastor did not know that Yoga is actually the heartbeat of Hinduism (which is antithetical to the Gospel) and not just a stretching/relaxing exercise. Incidentally, this advice to the Christian woman was coming from a large church that has a reputation for preaching the Gospel.

Ironically, the senior pastor of that church recently stated that what the church needs most right now is discernment, but both he and two of his associate pastors have made statements to the congregation in recent years that discernment ministries are not needed in the body of Christ in that they are both “critical” and “divisive” and thereby hinder the unity of the church. The senior pastor said that the local church can handle those matters. But what do you do if the local church doesn’t handle them?! The fact remains that if the senior pastor had been “earnestly contend[ing] for the faith” in the context of warning the church about dangerous deceptions that have threatened the integrity of that faith, the above-mentioned associate pastor would have had the knowledge and understanding to know that the very gestures (or poses) of Yoga are invitations to a spirit world (Kundalini/serpent power) opposed vehemently to the Gospel.

Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils

To contend for the faith, it is reasonable and Scriptural to think that this includes speaking and warning about those things that attempt to usurp authority over the true biblical faith and in essence actually are against the Gospel, not for it. If that were not the case, the ministry of the apostle Paul would have to be thrown out because he spent so much time warning:

Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:30-31; emphasis added)

On this subject, former New Age follower Warren B. Smith states in his booklet, Sound Doctrine Through It All:

Today, spiritual experience is taking precedent over sound doctrine, and it is leading to great deception in the church. Having an “encounter” with God has become more of a priority than knowing and rightly dividing the Word of God. And in the process, deceptive spirits have moved into the lives of undiscerning believers as they temptingly offer counterfeit spiritual experiences—all in the name of “God,” “Jesus,” and the “Holy Spirit.” And this is exactly what the Bible said would happen in these last days:

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

The word doctrine is specifically cited in the New Testament forty-nine times. Any teaching—especially whatever comes through personal experience as seemingly “new revelation,” “new truth,” or “new doctrine,” must always be measured by God’s Holy Word (Acts 17:11) and spiritually tested for truth and authenticity (1 John 4:1-3).

Necessary Distinctions

Jude wanted to talk about the Gospel, but he realized that the church was falling victim to the false teachings of false teachers, and he had to warn about those deceptions. Jude’s efforts to warn are really contrary to what is largely taking place in the today’s church. Even the “good” pastors today will say that as long as they preach the Gospel and teach the Word, they don’t have to talk about deceptions that have entered the church. And whether they admit it or not, it certainly wouldn’t be popular and grow the church to tell their congregants that the Jesuses they have been following through Jesus Calling or The Chosen (for example) are false christs deceiving many (Matthew 24:5). And how many church goers would walk out and find another church if their pastor told them Yoga or Reiki (energy healing) should not be practiced by Christians or that practicing contemplative meditation could bring them into contact with demons?

If a Christian pastor or teacher does not warn about deceptions that have entered the church, he has not equipped or prepared his congregation or followers for the intense spiritual battle they will inevitably face in this present spiritual climate we are in today. Sharing the Gospel is essential, but the more that false teachings are allowed to co-mingle with that sharing, the more chance there is that the message being preached will become more and more diluted or convoluted. In many situations, that is happening already where the word “Gospel” is thrown around as if it is some multi-faceted catch-all phrase that includes a social “Gospel,” a progressive/woke “Gospel,” a contemplative mystical “Gospel,” an ecumenical unity “Gospel,” or a downright New Age universal “Gospel.” Jude realized that to preserve the purity of the preaching of “our common salvation,” clear and concise distinctions had to be made between it and what was false. The church needs this mindset today as much as it was needed in Jude’s day.

Objection is often raised—even by some sound in the faith—regarding the exposure of error as being entirely negative and of no real edification. Of late, the hue and cry has been against any and all negative teaching. But the brethren who assume this attitude forget that a large part of the New Testament, both of the teaching of our blessed Lord Himself and the writings of the apostles, is made up of this very character of ministry—namely, showing the Satanic origin and, therefore, the unsettling results of the propagation of erroneous systems which Peter, in his second epistle, so definitely refers to as “damnable heresies.”—Harry Ironside

Related Articles:

What is the Gospel? by Harry Ironside

Neglecting to Test the Spirits—A Tragedy of Enormous Proportions

(image from istockphoto.com; used with permission)