Ask a Pastor Column

Q: Why does God let anyone teach wrong things in His name, sincerely or insincerely?

A:  One of the things I find most intriguing about the God of the Bible is the extent of the grace He offers to us humans. Human beings are given extraordinary leeway in a variety of areas (including what we teach and tell each other), and God often withholds deserved punishment far longer than any of us would expect. Let’s start with some broader principles. Think about God’s overall character and intentions, then I think we can understand His approach to false teaching more clearly.

It’s clear in the Bible that God’s intention for His people is to develop their character, rather than handing them their every need or desire (Eph. 4:13-14). He allows challenges, tests and trials to refine our faith and help us grow. It’s easy to see how this is reflected in God’s forbearance towards teachers. Rather than puppy-guarding the Truth and stopping every false statement, God exhorts each Christian individually to test what they hear for truth and discover right teaching for themselves (Acts 17:11; I Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1-2; etc.). Also, requiring perfect truth in teaching would disqualify literally every human teacher and preacher of the Word (II Corinthians 3:5).

So much for unintentional error in teaching, but would it work for God to somehow ban liars and deceivers from the Church? Again, I believe that doing so would go against God’s fundamental purpose for leaving us here: developing our character by allowing us to undergo trials (I Peter 1:6-7). We are clearly warned that individuals will rise up, both outside and within the Church, who will seek to pull us away from the truth by telling us lies (Acts 20:28-31; 2 Peter 2:1-9; etc.). God wants us to learn discernment by these tests, to come to a place where we can tell truth from falsehood and wholesome character from wholesale charlatans (Hebrews 5:14).

The parable of the tares (Matthew 13:24-30) teaches us that the distinction between wholesome and unwholesome people (and teaching) cannot be easily told until the results (or fruits) of the teaching become clear. This is another reason why God waits so long before judging wicked deceivers; He waits until it is clear to all that the person was wrong and a deceiver. Once that is clear, then justice can be done.

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