I have wondered many times if we should be outspoken when it comes to naming names of apostate preachers, teachers and authors. It is not a light thing to call someone out as a false teacher. Isn't it enough to just show people what the latest apostasy is? Do we really need to go so far as to tell them who is teaching what?
I look around myself in frustration and see so many brothers and sisters in Christ trotting off after this or that teaching without cracking open their Bibles and seeing if what they are being told lines up with Scripture. I mean, after all, "this" teacher is very popular in Christian bookstores or "that" one is being heralded by another famous preacher or teacher. Surely they have done their homework and checked it out with Scripture. Right? I mean, isn't it their job to screen these people for me?
After much prayer and, following the instructions of Acts 17:11, I have seen that there is Scriptural precedence for naming names. False teachers must be named publicly since their ministries are public. Many baby Christians (and for that matter some mature Christians) simply cannot spot the more sly false teachers. Satan is so very slick today. He knows he cannot make a full frontal attack. He must hide his pint of poison within the barrel of Truth. Otherwise even the the most immature of Christians could spot it. Thankfully Christ has called us to different parts within the body of Christ. It is a relief to me to know that when I miss something there is another brother or sister there to point me in the right direction. What a gift to each other we are! It grieves me to know that many let their pride get in the way of the leading of the Holy Spirit. They often, sadly, insist on following false teaching even when it is pointed out to them clearly in Scripture that they are following the wrong path. They are caught up in cults of personality. Emotions trump Truth.
1 Timothy 1:18-20 NIV
18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. (emphasis added)
Paul had sent Timothy to the church in Ephesus to combat heresy there. As you can see in these verses Paul very clearly names the names of two people causing problems within the church.
In Galations 2 we see Paul calling out Cephas publicly:
In 2 Timothy 4:1-4 and Titus 1:9 we are told to rebuke and oppose those that don't teach sound doctrine.
11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? (emphasis added)Galatians 2:11-14 NIV
The spiritual gift of discernment can sometimes seem like a curse. No one wants to be told that they are wrong. Even when this is done in a loving but firm way people are offended and embarrassed. They are more worried about their own selfish pride than they are of being humble and obedient to the Lord. Often the one that is defending Scriptural Truth is labeled as the divisive one, instead of the false teacher whom they are rebuking. It is no fun at all to be the one that the Lord calls to this portion of the church body. However, for those that are called to it take heart! The Lord knows when you are obedient to His calling. He sees when you defend His Word.
