Call it What it is

We all appreciate honesty. We want our doctor to be honest with us, even if we don’t like the diagnosis. We want our teachers to tell us if we are wrong so that we can improve our method. We want our spouse to tell us something they don’t like before it grows into a bigger problem.

People that appreciate history do not want to see the facts misrepresented. We wouldn’t stand for someone trying to say that Lincoln was the first President, or that we were on the losing side of the World Wars.

Christians should appreciate efforts to protect the integrity of the Bible. We would argue with anyone who said the lie of Ananias and Sapphira was of no consequence, or that the sin of Achan was no big deal. We would object to a claim that Judas Iscariot was a devoted disciple or that Caiaphas was a follower of Jesus.

If we appreciate honesty and factual integrity, especially as it relates to the things of God, then why would we sit idly by when someone preaches a false gospel? You do not have to try hard to find a preacher who claims God’s chief goal is your happiness, or that you are just fine as you are (before salvation), or that material blessings are the proof of your obedience.

Sadly, instead of hearing a host of believers call out these false prophets, we are more likely to hear them call out the ones who call out the false prophets. We should have a burning in our soul when someone perverts the gospel, but instead many are drawn to them because they scratch their itching ears.

If you think calling out heresy is wrong, judgmental, or mean, remember that Peter, Paul, and Jesus Himself called it out. We need to call it what it is so that by it others are not led astray. Paul called out individuals by name because they shipwrecked the faith of other people. He was not out looking for a fight, but Paul would always fight for the purity of the Gospel.

“But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.”

2 Timothy 2:16-18