Thursday, May 06, 2010

Cut Rick Warren Slack? You Can't Be Serious!

Today I read Frank Turk's comments on Rick Warren, which he said in part:

"In that respect, I think there’s a lot of room to cut Rick Warren some slack. I’m not his apologist or cheerleader — I think he could be a lot more robust and clear about the things he does — but at the same time I’m not sure it’s completely useful to make him into a Gospel-changer because he thinks that a Gospel without real-life consequences is not the Gospel".
Turk continues to believe, as apparently the rest of the Team Pyro guys, that Warren is a brother in the Lord, but he just merely needs to tighten up on certain aspects of the Gospel.

Warren is NOT a Christian. He has a FALSE gospel. You cannot tweak a lie to make it true. Why is it so impossible for Reformers to call Warren a false teacher and unsaved?

The deafness and blindness of many "educated" men is appalling and unimpressive. They refuse to call a spade a spade, except when they can't stand the Light of Truth exposing their own error in doctrine and conduct. If only they would be as vociferous with false teachers like Warren as they are with actual Christians.

Here is what I wrote in response:

Cut a false teacher some slack? Are you serious? WHERE is that in Scripture, exactly? Rick Warren doesn’t have the gospel of Jesus Christ. Rick Warren has been proven repeatedly over the years to be a wolf. Frank, I wonder exactly how you would even detect a false teacher among Christians….or would you even care? “Truth in everything” seems to be the rallying cry these days instead of AVOID, Separate, reject a man…not merely parts of a man’s teaching, but reject the entire man if he’s a false teacher as defined according to Scripture. Its amazing how “Evangelicals” will consider biblical doctrine as optional. God doesn’t.

2Co 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Rom 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

2Jn 1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Don't receive him or greet him. I'd say that would also mean deny him any access to any platform in front of God's sheep. In other words, don't give the man any means by which to teach God's children, for he's a deceiver. Otherwise, even GREETING the man (in other words, considering him a brother, giving him some "slack") IS to participate in his wicked deeds.

Spurgeon got it right and seems to address the same mentality and hue and cry today as it was in his day when he said:

There are some with whom we should have no fellowship, nay, not so much as to eat bread; for though this conduct looks stern and hard, it is after the mind of Christ, for the apostle spake by inspiration when he said, “If we or an angel from heaven preach to you any other gospel than that ye have received, let him be accursed…

According to modern efficiency he ought to have said, “Let him be kindly spoken with in private, but pray make no stir. No doubt the thought was original, and we must not question his liberty. Doubtless, he believes the same as we do, only there is some little difference as to terms.”~Spurgeon

No where in all of Scripture are we to consider a wolf to be a Christian, nor give him any slack. Jesus showed us how to deal with false teachers: we are to expose them and warn the sheep to AVOID them.

Today, there seems to be the mentality of no such thing as a REAL heretic among Christians. Truth can be found among those with a "slightly different" gospel. Any change in the gospel means the gospel is false and can't save and the person is condemned according to Gal. 1:8-9.

Scripture is crystal clear. Too bad "leaders" and vocal people don't see it as God has revealed it.

More at Apprising Ministries on this issue here.

3 comments:

Watcher's Lamp said...

Amen, Denise!

Mark said...

Denise, I came across this article today and I think the author did a fantastic job of addressing false teachers. Hope you find it interesting. http://moriel.org/MorielArchive/index.php/discernment/church-issues/false-prophets/are-you-sleeping-or-awake

Regards, Mark

Denise said...

Thanks Mark, I'll for sure take a look!