HERESY HUNTING; A HOLY HABIT OR A HURTFUL, HATEFUL, HAUGHTY HOBBY? PART 2 OF 2

Crossroads Baptist Church, Indianapolis

Let me start right off by saying we are commanded to contend for the faith against the ungodly who creep in with heresies and the like (Jude 3-4). When we see heresy, we need to confront it. Is that clear?

As I mentioned in the previous blog, though, heretics aren't quiet about their errant beliefs. They want to convert the unsuspecting to their view. But their focus is on those who have some belief in Christ; they're not trying to convince the ungodly. In other words, you don't have to look for heresy: the heretics are looking for you! 

I'll be honest - I don't really enjoy confronting false teachers or others who sow discord among fellow believers. A debate where respect is mutual and where both participants know how to listen as well as speak is a different story. But heretics, as I mentioned in the previous installment, want to weary you and expect you to do 100% of the listening and cave in, while they have no willingness to do either. Add to that - I'd rather encourage those who are presenting the truth of the Biblical Gospel (be it preaching, music, writing, art, etc.) than deal with those who are promoting error. Definitely more joy in one than the other.

However, there are those who consider themselves to be heretic hunters. They not only actively seek out error, they actually seem to delight in it. 

In the title, I asked the question. Is heresy hunting a holy habit that protects believers from false teaching? Or is it a haughty, hateful, harmful hobby that offends the body of Christ and turns away potential believers?

The reality is that what one person considers heresy another considers truth. One says sound doctrine teaches you can lose your salvation, while another says sound doctrine teaches you cannot lose your salvation. I read one blog saying free will is a false gospel and another saying Calvinists can't be saved. Both sides on these and other issues teach that the Bible is a believer's authority, that Jesus the Son of God and God the Son came and died for our sins, that we're saved by grace alone through faith alone, but for some, it's not enough that we agree on what most Christians consider the essentials. 

To me, heresy hunters are not unlike the Pharisees in Jesus' time. They resemble the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7), who cannot bear the wicked and who tested the false apostles but have left their love for God and especially for one another. 

Yes, there is plenty of apostacy and heresy in Christiandom, and some popular Christian leaders are promoting what Peter calls a damnable heresy (2 Peter 2:1), and we need to warn others. But often, I see attacks on well-known Christians which seem more like jealousy and the kind of judging Jesus was commanding His followers to not do.

As I imply in the title, I see pride and haughtiness in a lot of heresy hunting. I also see hatred of the popular and of those who disagree on any topic the heresy hunter wants to make a line in the sand. The result is discord among brethren, with harm done to fellow Christians, and a joyless, peaceless. loveless, patience-less environment.

Believers, I believe our job is to encourage one another, not tear each other down. We should rejoice not in putting the errant in their place but in seeing the lost saved. Like Paul, we should rejoice whenever someone preaches Christ, not finding a reason to oppose one's brothers and sisters in Christ.