By COGwriter
From time to time I have received an occasional email somewhat critical of me for pointing out beliefs of current, as well as historical, religious leaders.
Normally the email says something to the effect, "X is a decent man, you should not report negative things about his teachings, instead you should focus on the positive".
My normal response is to mention how Jesus dealt with religious leaders.
Should we be concerned about false and heretical leaders? Should they always be ignored? Should we focus on the positive about them? What did Jesus do? What does the Bible teach?
Jesus and Religious Leaders
Many people do not seem to understand what Jesus was really like and what He really taught.
While it is true He taught, "love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44), it is a misunderstanding to believe that Jesus taught that one could never point out the problems of religious enemies.
Jesus often taught to beware of religious leaders. Notice:
15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! (Matthew 7:15-23, NKJV throughout unless otherwise indicated).
False leaders do not produce good fruit. They encourage lawlessness. Those that follow them risk being cast out by Jesus.
Notice that Jesus is saying to look at their fruits and that even if they appear to be doing miracles in Jesus' name, if they promote lawlessness, they are not true Christians.
It needs to be understood that lawlessness includes not only the false concept that the law was done away (please see the article Were the Ten Commandments Nailed to the Cross? ) but the more diabolical one that the law is in force, but that human tradition is of more value (please see the articles Were the Pharisees Condemned for Keeping the Law or Reasoning Around it? and Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings).
What was Jesus mainly warning about false leaders? Their personalities?
No.
Their teachings and their hypocrisy. Notice:
6 Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees"...12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:6-12).
44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Luke 11:43-44).
8 Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 40 who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation." (Mark 12:38-40)
6 And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers...52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered (Luke 11:46,52).
Jesus also warned:
2 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect (Mark 13:22).
False leaders deceive. They break the ten commandments, including the admonition to not bear false witness.
Most of the above accounts involving Jesus are repeated more than once in the gospels. Apparently God wanted to make the point clear that hypocritical and lawless religious leaders are not to be followed.
Other New Testament Leaders
Paul noticed a problem with leaders who tried to appear to be true, but were false:
12 But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:12-15).
Paul did not just have problems with false leaders, he also had problems with false lay members:
... in perils among false brethren (2 Corinthians 11:26).
...false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage) (Galatians 2:4).
Paul even had to deal with false prophets:
6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand (Acts 13:5-11).
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." 18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour (Acts 16:16-18).
Notice in that the last account, the girl even told people that Paul was right, yet Paul discerned that it was not a godly spirit in her. Hence, just because religious leaders publicly claim to follow Jesus, this does not mean that they actually do.
Dealing with leaders that contradict is a task of true and faithful leaders:
... holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict (Titus 1:9).
Peter also had to deal with one who claimed to be a believer, but had other motives:
13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. 14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 20 But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity" (Acts 8:13-23).
(More on Simon Magus can be found in the article Simon Magus, What Did He Teach?)
Peter also warned about future false teachers who would bring in heresies:
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber (2 Peter 2:1-3).
In one of the longest condemnations of those who have pretended to be Christian, Jude, Jesus' brother, wrote:
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. 17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit (Jude 1:3-19).
Notice that Jude was not afraid to tell the truth about some false leaders as well as about leaders who are mainly intent on building a following after themselves.
The Apostle John warned:
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church (3 John 9-10).
The fact that a local leader would think he was above an apostle is mind-boggling--though similar things happen even today--as Laodiceans often reject governance. For example, many, though not all, ministers once in the Worldwide Church of God, seem to feel that they do not have to listen to any evangelists, even those that have remained the most faithful--and a few will have nothing to do we faithful believers (e.g. see article Teachings Unique to the Philadelphia Church of God).
The Book of Revelation, that Jesus had John write, is to a great degree a warning against following false and scripturally-compromising teachers. Without quoting the entire book, here are a couple of passages:
20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works (Revelation 2:20-23).
4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:4-8).
People who intentionally follow false leaders are loving a lie. Those who love a lie will not be in the first resurrection (see Revelation 22:15) (though those who have not truly had an opportunity for salvation, will still get that opportunity at a later time--please see the article Hope of Salvation).
Thus, throughout the entire New Testament, there are warnings about religious leaders--often containing specific details as to why they should be avoided.
Yet it was the acceptance of teaching brought in by heretical "Christian" leaders that brought disaster to true Christianity.
But What About Actual Christian Leaders?
Some might conclude that the warnings about false leaders are mainly directed towards those religious leaders who are not clearly part of the Church of God. And while that is true to a degree, it is not completely true.
Why?
Here are two reasons.
First of all, most false leaders that the apostles warned against actually pretended to originally be part of the Christian Church. Some are discussed in the articles on Simon Magus, Marcion, Valentinus, and Irenaeus. And while they spawned many of the heretical teachings that the mainstream churches accept today (the trinity, lawlessness, Easter, etc. came into the mainstream churches from the previously listed heretics), this does not mean that other false leaders will not (or have not) arose within the Churches of God in recent times.
Specifically, I believe that there are one or two false apostles and four or five false prophets within the COG movement (these tend to be men who have appointed themselves to those positions). And even though they probably have some actual Christians in their fellowships, these false leaders are clearly a problem today. Some, for example, are misleading people by teaching that the Great Tribulation will begin in 2008--it will not, and those who follow such "leaders" will be misled (an article of related interest may be At Least Two Wrongly Claim Great Tribulation Will Begin in 2008). Another has told his followers to cash out their retirements, mortgage their houses, and send him their assets as he wants a to have a biggger impact (for details see 12/07/07 p.m. post on the Previous GCG News page).
Secondly, there are the more subtle types of less than totally faithful religious leaders. They are not clearly false leaders, and many probably are truly within the Church of God movement.
So why would they be a problem?
First, let's repeat what the Apostle Peter wrote:
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber (2 Peter 2:1-3).
Thus, we see that the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them.
Secondly, in Revelation, Jesus had the Apostle John repeatedly warn about people within the Churches of God that simply will not live up to the standards that Jesus set. This was essentially also the problem with Irenaeus in the second century (he claimed to fight heretics, but I think Irenaeus was the most dangerous heretic as much of his heresy was more subtle than many others during his time).
In the messages to the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3, only two of the seven churches do not receive condemnation. And even to one of them, Jesus gives the following warning:
Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown (Revelation 3:11).
There are heretical leaders who have misled true Christians what they are to hold fast to. I feel that true COG leaders that are not supporting the Living Church of God (the group that meets the two criteria that I believe the Bible, as well as clearly Herbert W. Armstrong, set for the Philadelphia portion of the Church) are men whose actions are contributing to the taking of crowns of those that could be Philadelphian. They also contribute to diluting the efforts to get the gospel to the world as a witness. And that is part of the reason why the COGwriter website has articles on two dozen Church of God of the scores of such groups (those articles can be found at the COGwriter home page).
The Book of Revelation shows that there will parts of four Churches of God at the time of the end (Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea) and I believe that those that are actually part of the Church of God, but are not actually Philadelphian are almost all in the Thyatira, Sardis, and/or Laodicea churches.
Notice what happens to many those that follow them in the end:
Thyatira...I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts (Revelation 2:18,23).
Sardis...Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you (Revelation 3:1,3).
Laodiceans... As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:14,19).
Yet notice that there is a difference for the Philadelphians who were not deceived into following false or heretical teachings:
Philadelphia...Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth (Revelation 3:7,10).
While it is possible that some in the Thyatira, Sardis, and/or Laodicea churches may repent, only the Philadelphians are promised protection from the great tribulation, "the hour of trial" (an article of related interest may include There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra).
Don't you think that perhaps the part of the reason to tell Philadelphians that they can be protected is to save them from following false or heretical leaders?
Conclusion
False leaders do not produce good fruit. They encourage lawlessness. Those that follow them risk being cast out by Jesus.
The New Testament repeatedly warns people about false leaders, false teachers, false prophets, and false ministers.
Jesus, Paul, Peter, Jude, and John would not have warned about false or disruptive leaders so much if they did not want Christians to be aware of this in every age, and especially the age leading to the end.
Sadly, as predicted, false teachers have arisen throughout history. Many false teachers and non-Philadelphia leaders are on the scene even today. Those that follow false teachers will be not be in the first resurrection. Those who listen to non-Philadelphia leaders will apparently end up in the great tribulation.
The entire book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, is essentially devoted to warning about false teachers and to cling to the truth.
The Bible warns against leaders that really do not teach what Jesus wanted taught. I try to do the same concerning those leaders, imperfect, though I remain.
Articles of possible interest may include:
Europa, the Beast, and the Book of Revelation
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work?
Simon Magus, What Did He Teach?
Marcion: The First Protestant?
Valentinus
Justin Martyr: Saint, Heretic, or Apostate?
Irenaeus: The Most Dangerous Heretic?
Thiel B. Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders? www.cogwriter.com/falseleaders.htm 2007/2008 0126