Doctrine or Deliverance…Which is the greater?

I recently heard a story of a small church group that was splintered by disagreement over doctrine. I’m not suggesting by the title of this piece that the people concerned are false prophets, or even that they are necessarily wrong. But when the results are the fragmentation of a church, something is wrong somewhere. Why do people allow themselves to be polarized and their church to be fractured over issues that are either minor or that people of good will should easily resolve?

That such things will happen is a given. Jesus Himself said that false prophets would show signs and wonders aiming to seduce those who would listen to them (Mark 13:22). Peter was quite specific on the subject, saying, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1).

There is no getting around the certainty of these warnings. The false teachers are said to be “among you,” that is to say they will be a part of the Church. So we would do well to pay close attention both to the warnings and the manifestation of the truth of those warnings as they play out among us.

What motivates false prophets? Paul, in his farewell to the Ephesian elders, sees it in very simple terms: “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30).

The objective of false prophets and teachers of whatever stripe is, and always has been, power. Money may be a factor, but money is just another kind of power. In the end, the goal is the influence and control of the minds of men. Even when a would-be leader is motivated by self-aggrandizement, there is no success for him without the response of other people. This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Galatians, “They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them” (Galatians 4:17).

It is an odd way to put it, but it is clear enough. They want to cut you out of the herd (exclude you) so that you can admire and esteem (affect) them.

If the motives of the false prophet are simple, the motives of those who listen to them are more complex. Why would anyone allow himself to be used this way? The answer is deeply rooted in the wants and needs of the people who listen. The truth is that a false prophet cannot succeed unless he touches a chord in the hearts of a set of people. As God said through Jeremiah, “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priest bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so” (Jeremiah 5:30-31). False prophets and false teachers succeed because they offer people something they want.

Those who desire a following have little difficulty in finding an issue, and the issue itself is of little importance. The people who decide to follow on the issue may do so for a variety of reasons. The only thing they have in common is that they want to do something or quit doing something, and the issue gives them the excuse they need. Sometimes the issue is simply boredom. If you are tired of your church, why not split from it?

I can’t escape the words of Jeremiah who said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). If there is a way to deceive ourselves we will find it. If God’s way makes us uncomfortable, there will always be an excuse ready at hand to get away from it. If we have trouble finding a reason, sooner or later, a false prophet will come along and provide one. The only thing you can be sure of is that the apparent reason (say, a new doctrine) will have little or nothing to do with the real reason.

Why does God allow false prophets to deceive people? It would be easy for Him to stop it. There may be a clue in a statement by Paul: “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you” (1Corinthians 11:19). Inevitably, there are people who follow the teachings of Christ for the wrong reasons. They say all the right things, but their hearts are not right. Paul seems to be saying that allowing heresies is part of God’s plan to separate the sheep from the goats.

Years ago a study was done in Canada to determine if the wolf population was the cause of a decline in the herds of caribou. Studies showed that wolves lived most of the year on rodents and small animals. They only killed caribou during the big migrations, and then they tended to kill the weakest and sickest of the caribou herds. The truth turned out to be that the wolves served, not to weaken the herds of caribou, but to strengthen them by culling out the weakest and sickliest of the herds.

I have said all that to say this: Jesus made it plain that there would be many, not few, false prophets in the world. He said we would know them, not by their arguments, but by their fruits. When a theological argument is driving a wedge between brothers, there is reason to question the motives of those involved. But the motives that need the most careful examination are not those of the false teacher. We already know what he wants. The motives you need to question are your own. What is it that you really want? What are the real issues that concern you? Are you being honest with yourself, your brethren, or with God? It is not fair to let your brethren believe that you are dissatisfied with, say, the Church calendar, when the real problem lies elsewhere.

When David found himself at odds with God, there was one thing he never forgot - honesty. In his most heartfelt prayer, he told God, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom” (Psalm 51:6).

If you ever find yourself in one of these doctrinal crossfires, or if you are being tempted irrationally to leave the faith, try this prayer: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). If you ask this in sincerity, you can count on an answer. God will help you see yourself and will give you the strength to do something about it.

People who are conned by a false prophet are losers, and they have no one but themselves to blame. The wolves cull out the weakest of the herd, not the winners. And one of the prime traits of a winner is honesty.