He Gets Us, But Do We Get Him? The Case for Criticizing False Teachers – Christian Life Coaching Franklin Tennessee

27Feb 2023 by Post

I
once
got
an
angry
email
from
a
lady
who
didn’t
like
the
fact
that
I
criticized
a
false
teacher
on
our

I
Don’t
Have
Enough
Faith
to
be
an
Atheist
podcast.
“You
shouldn’t
criticize
other
Christians!”
she
scolded
me.

Do
you
see
the
problem
with
this?
There
she
was
criticizing
me,
another
Christian,
while
claiming
you
ought
not
criticize
other
Christians.
To
paraphrase
Elon
Musk,
if
irony
could
kill,
she’d
be
dead
right
now.

Jesus
Called
Out
False
Teachers

Apparently,
she
never
considered
that
Jesus
spent
much
of
his
time
criticizing
the
false
teachings
and
practices
of
the
religious
politicians
known
as
the
Pharisees
whose
hearts
were
far
from
God.
He
also
warned
people
who
led
young
believers
astray,
“If
anyone
causes
one
of
these
little
ones—those
who
believe
in
me—to
stumble,
it
would
be
better
for
them
to
have
a
large
millstone
hung
around
their
neck
and
to
be
drowned
in
the
depths
of
the
sea
(Matt.
18:6).”

Paul
exposed
five
false
teachers
by
name
in
his
letters
to
Timothy.
He
warned
that
“the
time
will
come
when
people
will
not
put
up
with
sound
doctrine.
Instead,
to
suit
their
own
desires,
they
will
gather
around
them
a
great
number
of
teachers
to
say
what
their
itching
ears
want
to
hear”
(2
Tim.
4:3).
He
also
told
the
Romans
to
“watch
out
for
those
who
cause
divisions
and
put
obstacles
in
your
way
that
are
contrary
to
the
teaching
you
have
learned.
Keep
away
from
them.
For
such
people
are
not
serving
our
Lord
Christ,
but
their
own
appetites.
By
smooth
talk
and
flattery
they
deceive
the
minds
of
naïve
people”
(Rom
16:17-18).
Notice
that
the
people
causing
divisions
are
not
those
defending
the
truth,
but
those
who
are
introducing
the
false
teachings.

In
fact,
every
writer
of
the
New
Testament
warned
against
false
teachers
at
some
point.
Peter
said
that
“false
teachers”
would
introduce
“destructive
heresies”
that
“promise
people
freedom,
while
they
themselves
are
slaves
of
depravity”
(2
Pet.
2:1,19).
John
wrote,
“Dear
friends,
do
not
believe
every
spirit,
but
test
the
spirits
to
see
whether
they
are
from
God,
because
many
false
prophets
have
gone
out
into
the
world”
(1John
4:1).
The
writer
of
Hebrews
told
us
to
“not
be
carried
away
by
strange
teachings”
(Heb.
13:9).
Jude
said
we
need
to
“contend
for
the
faith”
because
“ungodly
people…
pervert
the
grace
of
our
God
into
a
license
for
immorality
and
deny
Jesus
Christ
our
only
Sovereign
and
Lord”
(Jude
3-5).
James
cautioned
us
about
becoming
teachers
because
teachers
will
be
judged
more
strictly
(James
3:1).
And
the
list
goes
on.

In
one
sense
the
entire
Bible
is
one
long
warning
to
avoid
false
teachings
and
practices.
Yet,
somehow,
modern
people
are
under
the
impression
that
it
is
a
bigger
sin
to
warn
people
of
false
teaching
than
to
actually
be
a
false
teacher!

I
say
all
this
because
my
friend
Natasha
Crain
has
taken
a
bunch
of
online
heat
from
some
fellow
Christians
for
pointing
out

7
problems
with
the
“He
Gets
Us”
Campaign,
which
included
two
30
second
commercials
during
this
year’s
Super
Bowl.
When
you
read
Natasha’s
piece—which
has
been
shared
on
social
media
over
26,000
times—you
realize
that
the
“He
Gets
Us”
campaign
ironically
doesn’t
get
Jesus.

It’s
not
just
that
their
30
second
commercials
leave
out
the
most
important
truth
about
Jesus
(that
could
be
forgiven—after
all
it’s
only
30
seconds!).
But
their
website
misleads
people
into
thinking
that
Jesus
was
just
a
really
good
man
whose
primary
mission
was
to
achieve
social
justice.
There’s
nothing
prominent
about
Him
being
God
or
our
Savior.

Social
Justice
Warrior
or
Savior
of
the
World?

As
Natasha
observes,
the
head
of
the
marketing
firm
behind
the
campaign
explicitly
said,
“Ultimately,
the
goal
is
inspiration,
not
recruitment
or
conversion.”
That’s
why
Jesus
isn’t
being
highlighted
as
our
substitute.
He’s
merely
presented
as
a
good
example
of
“peace
and
love.”
A
motivational
speaker.
A
social
justice
warrior.

But
that
wasn’t
Christ’s
mission.
How
do
we
know?
Because
he
stated
his
primary
mission
explicitly.
Here
are
just
a
few
of
several
statements
by
Jesus:

“The
Son
of
Man
did
not
come
to
be
served,
but
to
serve
and
to
give
His
life
as
a
ransom
for
many
(Mk.
10:45).”
“The
Son
of
Man
has
come
to
seek
and
to
save
that
which
was
lost”
(Lk.
19:10).
“For
God
so
loved
the
world,
that
he
gave
his
only
begotten
Son,
that
whoever
believes
in
him
shall
not
perish,
but
have
eternal
life.
For
God
did
not
send
the
Son
into
the
world
to
judge
the
world,
but
that
the
world
might
be
saved
through
him”
(John
3:16-17).
“Now
my
soul
has
become
troubled;
and
what
shall
I
say,
‘Father,
save
me
from
this
hour’?
But
for
this
purpose
I
came
to
this
hour”
(Jn.
12:27).
“Thus
it
is
written,
that
the
Christ
would
suffer
and
rise
again
from
the
dead
the
third
day,
and
that
repentance
for
forgiveness
of
sins
would
be
proclaimed
in
his
name
to
all
the
nations,
beginning
from
Jerusalem”
(Luke
24:46)

As
Greg
Koukl
observes
in

“The
Legend
of
the
Social
Justice
Jesus”,
“For
Jesus,
salvation
was
not
economic
prosperity,
equal
distribution
of
goods,
or
sexual
liberty
without
judgment
or
shame.
Instead,
salvation
came
through
belief
in
him,
bringing
forgiveness
of
sins
and
eternal
life.”

God
didn’t
add
humanity
to
his
deity
and
suffer
a
brutal
death
to
make
sure
everyone
uses
the
right
pronouns.
He
came
to
be
the
ransom
who
pays
for
our
sins.

Of
course,
Jesus
wants
us
to
love
our
neighbor,
but
that’s
not
a
new
teaching—it
was
already
the
stated
policy
of
Yahweh
in
the
Old
Testament
(Lev.
19:18).
Moreover,
love
in
the
Bible
doesn’t
mean
approval
as
the
“He
Gets
Us”
campaign
implies.
Love
seeks
what’s
best
for
people,
and
that
requires
us
to
oppose
any
evil
a
loved
one
wants
to
do.
As
Paul
put
it,
“Love
does
not
delight
in
evil
but
rejoices
with
the
truth.
It
always
protects,
always
trusts,
always
hopes,
always
perseveres”
(1
Cor.
13:6-7).

So
contrary
to
the
“He
Gets
Us”
campaign,
Jesus
didn’t
come
to
give
some
new
ethical
teaching.
He
came
to
be
“the
Lamb
of
God
who
takes
away
the
sins
of
the
world”
(Jn.
1:29)—the
ultimate
sacrifice
that
the
Old
Testament
sacrificial
system
foreshadowed.

So
What’s
the
Big
Deal?

Ok,
so
“He
Gets
Us”
doesn’t
get
Him.
So
what?
What’s
the
big
deal?

Natasha
writes,
“’He
Gets
Us’
has
the
potential
to
actually
harm
the
public
understanding
of
Jesus.
People
need
to
know
that
Jesus
is
our
Savior,
not
a
compassionate
buddy.”
I
would
like
to
amplify
and
illustrate
this
excellent
point.

“People
need
to
know
that
Jesus
is
our
Savior,
not
a
compassionate
buddy.”
Natasha
Crain

Imagine
you
see
a
commercial
for
a
place
you
know
nothing
about
called
St.
Jude’s.
The
commercial
only
speaks
of
the
good
food
that
they
serve
children.
When
you
go
to
the
website
highlighted
on
the
commercial,
you
only
see
more
about
the
food.
Their
mission
statement
says
nothing
about
St.
Jude’s
being
a
hospital
or
the
fact
that
their
mission
is
to
treat
and
try
to
heal
children
with
childhood
cancer
free
of
charge.
They
only
push
the
food
angle.
You
come
away
thinking
this
is
some
kind
of
restaurant
that
caters
to
kids.

Who
would
think
that’s
an
accurate
commercial?
Of
course,
they
must
serve
food
to
the
children,
but
that’s
not
their
primary
mission—it’s
not
why
they
exist.
While
a
commercial
can’t
give
complete
information,
it
should
at
least
give
accurate
information.

Instead
of
informing
people,
such
a
commercial
would
be

misinforming
people.
The
people
who
saw
that
and
the
website
would
first
have
to

unlearn
the
misinformation
fed
them
before
they
would
be
open
to
learn
what
St.
Jude’s
is
actually
about.
And
that
could
be
deadly.
If
you
had
a
child
with
cancer,
you
could
miss
out
on
having
your
child
cured
for
free
at
St.
Jude’s
hospital
because
their
campaign
obscured
that
life-saving
mission.

There
is
a
similar
danger
to
the
“He
Gets
Us”
campaign.
While
there
may
be
some
good
that
comes
of
it—like
spurring
conversations
about
Jesus—it’s
outweighed
by
the
fact
that
many
unbelievers
will
be
misled
into
thinking
that
Jesus
came
just
to
make
our
lives
better
here.
That
his
primary
mission
was
to
achieve
social
justice
on
this
earth.
People
will
have
to

unlearn
that
false
teaching
after
being
led
astray
by
the
campaign.
They
risk
missing
a
free
life-saving
cure
for
their
sins
by
the
great
physician.
They
risk
missing
eternal
life.

If
only
Christians
would
act
like
Jesus
and
the
apostles
to
correct
the
“smooth
talk”
that
“deceives
the
minds
of
naïve
people.”
If
only
they
would
“contend
for
the
faith”
instead
of
buying
into
whatever
“their
itching
ears
want
to
hear.”

Wait,
that’s
exactly
what
Natasha
has
done.
And
yet
some
Christians
are
mad
at

her!
They
should
go
back
and
read
their
Bibles.
Jesus
and
the
apostles
didn’t
hold
their
tongues
because
their
goal
wasn’t
to
be
“nice.”
Their
goal
was
to
love
people
by
warning
them
of
harmful
misinformation
and
replacing
it
with
the
truth
just
like
Natasha
has
done.
(For
more,
click

here.)

Jesus Called Out False Teachers

Social Justice Warrior or Savior of the World?

So What’s the Big Deal?

Recommended resources related to the topic:

Jesus
Called
Out
False
Teachers

Social
Justice
Warrior
or
Savior
of
the
World?

So
What’s
the
Big
Deal?

Recommended
resources
related
to
the
topic: