Some time ago I had a preacher contact me, telling me that I was too dogmatic and forceful in my speech and articles, that I needed to “tone down” my remarks. My reply to him was that I was not nearly dogmatic enough, or forceful enough in my language. Gross error has been embraced and taught by various and sundry preachers for so long as to be accepted totally and completely without question by the numberless congregations of believers. If I were to write in an easy-going, syrupy sweet style, most readers would easily and quickly pass over what has issued from my pen and as quickly forget what they had just read. It is when I make startling claims and question the reader’s comprehension of some scripture that their attention is arrested. They then must ponder more deeply what they are reading, what they believe, even what they are teaching.
Few spiritual errors are innocent errors. They are not mistakes or misunderstandings that have little consequence if accepted or believed. Most spiritual error is far reaching in its implications and can cost the hearer many blessings from God (including divine healing from God’s hand), many rewards in the hereafter, and even place their eternal inheritance of immortality at stake. That is WHY a minister’s office or function is a weighty one indeed. And if he is embracing and teaching spiritual error to others he needs to seek another occupation just as an alcoholic or drug addicted surgeon needs to cease attempting to perform surgery on unsuspecting patients.
Pastor so-and-so of a nearby church may very well be one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, a faithful husband, a good provider for his family, but if he does not know and understand the Word of God intimately well, and I mean ALL of God’s Word – from Genesis to Revelation – and if he is not teaching that word faithfully and accurately, he needs to retire from such employment immediately. Mormon bishops and Roman Catholic priests can be very effective speakers and can quote long passages of scripture verbatim extemporaneously, but that does not mean they are correct in what they say or anointed of the Lord to perform the function of a teacher of God’s Word. The same holds true for each and every Christian denomination one cares to name. Not one of us is infallible, including the author of this article, Donald Wiley.
Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley