This has come up over & over again lately.
First because of some things with a friend...she stood up for what she believed in & what is clearly taught in the Bible, & others said she was being judgmental, pushing her religion on them, etc.
Let me just say this...no - we do not have the authority to judge others, to ridicule them, or to force our beliefs upon them. However, when we see & hear things being "preached," that are clearly not the word of God, we have not only the authority, but the responsibility, to correct those things.
Constantly in every one of Paul's letters, he is reminding his people of this.
"You must teach these things & encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don't let anyone disregard what you say."
Titus 2:15
"Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, & encourage your people with good teaching."
2 Timothy 4:2
"Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life."
1 Timothy 6:3
"Teach these things & insist that everyone learn them."
1 Timothy 4:11
"Let God's curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the once you welcomed, let that person be cursed. Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant."
Galatians 1:8-9
"All Scripture is inspired by God & is useful to teach us what is true & to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong & teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare & equip His people to do every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16-17
While we have no right to judge others, we do have the responsibility of making sure everyone hears the truth, so that when they are judged by the only true & righteous Judge, He will find them faithful & be able to welcome them into His eternal Kingdom.
Paul tells Timothy...
"...run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness & a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, & gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses."
1 Timothy 6:11-12
i actually came by to let you know that i tagged you with a blog award, which you may or may not be interested in.
ReplyDeleteclick here to see the post...
but thank you for sharing these scriptures. i've been struggling with so much topical teaching. what do you think of this? it's all gospel, but i feel like ONLY topical teaching is unbalanced because it teaches US how to fit God it, rather than understanding where WE fit in with God. does that make sense? do you think that falls into the same type of category?
any how.. love reading. keep writing :)
fit God in******
ReplyDelete1. Thanks for the blog award!
ReplyDelete2. I don't think there's anything wrong with topical teaching necessarily, but I think it puts more responsibility on you. When Scriptures are pulled from all over, it's your responsibility to check that what the pastor is saying is what the verse actually says in context & is not being interpreted wrongly in order to fit in with the topic. Whatever is going on in church, I think as Christians we always have the responsibility of studying the Bible on our own. Other religions know their books backwards & forwards, so if we're going to be effective witnesses for God, we need to do the same.
3. Thanks for the encouragement!
i totally agree with you about having to study on our own. it hurts me to see new christians drawn in by feel-good topical sermons and never being challenged to anything more than that. i guess that's why i'm at my church :)
ReplyDeleteyou're welcome..thanks for replying. i'm glad i found your blog.. very!
I really liked this post :) It was really encouraging because I do hear this said to me. From other believers and non-believers. It is hardest coming from other believers because I feel like I am doing something wrong. Thanking God for your blog post and encouragement to read!
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