Why can't we all get along? There is a long history of theological battles within the visible church. The Lord calls us all to be united in Him ( Jn 17:22). So what's up with all the conflict? The history of theological division is the history of theological rebellion against God's Word. Why is there conflict in the church? Because humans choose to disagree with the apostolic Word. A false teacher is like the bully who continues to batter and bait you, but is offended if you retaliate: "Hey, I really want peace. Can't we just get along?" Yes, the bully thinks you are getting along, just as long as you continue to permit yourself to be bullied without putting up a fight. There would be no conflict in the church if her teachers simply let God's enemies run roughshod over the true faith.

 

The faithful teachers may not permit our enemy to bully them into giving up the divine Word and its faithful teachings. This does not affect only teachers, but it affects also those whom they teach. "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers" ( 1Ti 4:16). The persistent teaching of the truth will be the salvation of the hearers. So this is not an optional discipline for church leaders. It is a life and death labor that results in the spiritual security and comfort of God's people. Nor is false teaching just a matter of squabbling about peripheral issues. First, all false teaching eventually takes glory from Christ, by attributing salvation entirely or partly to human works. Second, if God has revealed His Word to us on the lips of the prophets and Apostles, what gives us the right to reject any Word of God as peripheral or inconsequential?

 

Those who have stumbled into false doctrine or who have been misled by pernicious false teachers should not be shunned, but embraced and led away from these poisonous doctrines, back to the clear waters and green pastures of God's Word. However, we must flee from irreformable false teachers. We must watch out for the false teaching they try to feed to the faithful and when we detect it, we must avoid such teachers, in the same way we would avoid the playground bully who will not leave off his bullying. But by fleeing false teachers we are fleeing for life; eternal life ( 1Ti 4:16).