What Do We Do with Heresies in the Main Stream Church?

Leaders in the church are expected to be held to a very high standard of honesty, integrity and knowledge. They are not required to be geniuses, but they should know what they are talking about. When they speak, it should be clear that they have carefully considered their words; not just their main points, but their asides as well. They should be careful to be thorough, factual and Biblical in their presentation.

One of the most easily criticized sermon is the one that is sloppily put together, resulting in unintended "little heresies."

Presenting unclear, unstudied and wrong doctrine is not only unfair, it is poison to the church, even in “innocent” and small amounts. If I were to hand you a clear, cool glass of water and as you lifted the glass to your lips I said, "Oh, by the way. There is one drop of poison in the water," would you drink it? You would not if you were smart. Similarly, church members should not swallow the poison of wrong doctrine.

Some may say that there is so much good in what a leader does that if he does a few things that aren’t so good He can be quickly forgiven. They will tell you that even though there is poison in the water there is so much good water in the glass that the poison probably won't hurt. Because leaders are seen as nice, reasonable and learned, many Christians and many non-Christians will believe them, will drink the water, and be poisoned.

Intelligent church members are every bit as deceived as the simpleton who wanders into a church, unaware of the difference between heresies and truth. Sometimes the leader says things that have been said so often that they seem true, even when they are not. Often, even seasoned Christians accept as true those wrong doctrines they were taught in Sunday School years ago just because a current leader repeats them. Even leaders fall prey to repeating things just because they have heard them so often. We all need to learn to be discerning.

Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically. First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil." The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer-it is required.

All too often, Christians exhibit little ability to measure the things they are taught against the infallible standard of God’s word. As a result, they listen to the leader and may unwittingly follow him into all kinds of unbiblical decision making, doctrines and behavior.

It would be gracious to say that most heresies that find their way into leaders' teaching do so innocently. Most of the time those "little heresies" just come rolling out of the leader's mouth without much thought or Biblical examination.

In our discernment, Christinas who are mature must gracefully correct the heresies we hear, even those from our leaders. Even leaders can learn.