In our world today, it seems as though Christians are attacking other Christians in unprecedented numbers. Are many of these teachers actually false teachers, or do we just disagree with one another?
In an exclusive interview with Charisma News, YouTuber Allen Parr discussed the ways we can know if someone is truly a false teacher or not.
“I want to make sure I do my part, as a Christian teacher to equip people to be able to discern truth from error because I wasn’t able to do that early on in my walk,” Parr says.
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Parr says that the way a minister teaches is key when choosing which church to attend.
“One of the things that I look for is, is the pastor teaching expository…or is it all topical? And for those who may not know what expositional preaching is, it’s when the pastor takes a passage of Scripture, gives you the theological, biblical and cultural context of what’s happening in that passage, what came before and what came after,” Parr says.
While there can be a time and a place for various Scriptures discussing a certain topic, Parr warns of pulling too much from the Bible out of context. Not only should a true church be sharing the fullness of God’s Word, but they should also offer believers the opportunity to use individual gifts and skills.
Parr also provides a reminder that simply disagreeing with one another about theology that is not an issue of salvation does not make someone a false teacher.
“A false teacher is not someone who teaches that women can be in ministry. That’s a secondary issue that we can discuss offline. But a false teacher is someone who is teaching against the core tenets of the Christian faith.”
A false teacher, then, is someone who deviates away from the truth of the Scripture. They are someone who moves people further away from the Trinity, away from who God truly is.
Parr also asks for Christians, specifically for Christian creators to take into consideration the type of content they are consuming and producing and the reasons why they are doing so.
“If I put someone’s picture, a popular minister’s picture on my thumbnail and I say ‘This guy’s a false teacher,’ then I know that people are going to drawn to that. But I have to be very careful because that’s maligning somebody’s character. Now that’s slandering them that could be doing damage to the body of Christ,” Parr says.
Using discernment to know when it’s essential to warn others about something, including another person, is key to making sure you aren’t creating content simply for clickbait.
“What’s disappointing to me now is what’s trending on YouTube for most Christian YouTubers is basically becoming a Christian tabloid channel where all you do is take something that goes on in the world and you try to provide some sort of Christian worldview or some sort of perspective about it,” Parr says. “I know that if I put out a video on an overview of the book of Zechariah that people aren’t going to click on that and be like, ‘Oh I want to study that.’ But that’s what people need.”
True teachers of the Word of God will push us closer to the Lord, not tear us further away from Him. When choosing your home church and the content you consume, make sure it will edify and glorify the Lord.
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
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