13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. 2 Corinthians 11 NASB
I have written several posts about false teachers because I believe that we are living in an age of dangerous deception and lies, which is what the Bible teaches. Many people do not understand the lies will come from INSIDE the church as well as outside. Satan knows the best way to deceive is to pretend to be ‘of God’. He will use Bible verses and Bible words and twisted doctrine to spread ‘another gospel’. A gospel that eliminates sin, wrath, and judgment is NOT the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This false gospel will not make you right with God.
So how do you know if a teacher is false or true? The only way is to study the Bible in faith with prayer and through the power of the Holy Spirit the Lord himself will reveal the truth. Simply reading words on a page without faith in God is not enough. Truth is spiritually discerned.
14 But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB
17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the [o]black darkness has been reserved. 18 For, while speaking out arrogant words of no value they entice by fleshly desires, by indecent behavior, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 2 Peter 2 NASB
I’m sharing this video because so many people think Rick Warren is some kind of super Christian, but in reality he is a false teacher whose methods helped bring churches to the point that we are at, almost totally ineffective as far as spreading the truth of the need for repentance and salvation from God’s wrath.
I urge you to make sure that the church and preacher and teachers that you listen to are speaking the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through me.”. Cults and false teachers add to the Bible.
Stick with Jesus. You do not need worldly philosophy or modern day prophets who deny that Jesus is the Son of the ONLY GOD. Seek truth while it may be found. Some of your favorite teachers may be false teachers. Ask God to help you evaluate them honestly with the help of the Holy Spirit. Be humble and willing to admit if you have been deceived. Many of us have been.
UPDATE: It occurred to me that if the Purpose Driven methods are working we would know by their ‘fruits’. Here is what I found. A rise in the non-church affiliated and non-practicing Christians. https://www.barna.com/research/changing-state-of-the-church/ There are obviously multiple factors that can cause a decline, but the point is that Warren’s methods did not increase the numbers of Christians.
Blue Skies and Green Pastures 
Hmm, Yes, I agree false teaching will come from within the Church as much as from outside of it. However, I would be VERY careful dissing a specific teacher and labeling him/her as a “False Teacher.” Remember the words of David, “YAHWEH forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, YAHWEH’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is YAHWEH’s anointed.” (1 Samuel 24:6,10)
And in Hebrews, the author of this inspired Word says, “… they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Hebrews 13:17)
It is important to remember our pastors, prophets, evangelists, etc., are only men, and subject to some error, just as were the OT prophets, but an error or two does not make him/her a “false teacher.”
Often criticisms of famous teachers are little more than jealousy disguised as piety. Good questions for the critic of a false teacher are:
1. Have you spoken to the teacher?
2. Have you presented your information to his/your church leaders per Matthew 18:15-20?
3. Have you consulted other leaders within YOUR fellowship?
4. Has the Holy Ghost showed you how to correct the teaching without criticizing another?
5. Has He specifically told you to broadcast your correction in reprisal to defame the teacher?
I have read a couple of Warren’s book and was richly blessed by them, including “The Purpose Driven Church” and “The Purpose Driven Life.” The false idea that his definition of repentance falls short of the biblical one is these guys’ semantics and smacks of legalism; do they have special words that MUST be spoken to meet Jesus in prayer? The other accusations against other men are misapplied; they need to stick with their theme and discuss what Warren teaches. Warren can straighten them out when they meet around the Throne one day. 😉
Like Paul said, “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” (Philippians 1:15-18)
These men should focus more on preaching Christ, and preaching the message as correctly as they understand, and leave the other teachers in Father’s hands, unless they have personal dealings with them. He knows how to correct those of us who follow Him.
As you noted, “Ask God to help you evaluate them honestly with the help of the Holy Spirit. Be humble and willing to admit if you have been deceived.”
Amen, sister.
❤️&🙏, c.a.
I find that believers can find truth even from bad teachers but unbelievers will simply continue in unbelief. That’s why these people are so dangerous and also defended by Christians. Unbelievers cannot pick out the truth that’s mixed in with the worldly philosophy, but believers can. This is also why believers continue to attend terrible churches like Joel Osteen’s church. They only see the ‘good’ parts and do not see what is missing. Their minds fill in the blanks, but that doesn’t happen for unbelievers. We believers can attend pretty much any church that at least pretends to be Christian and still hear from God, but not so with the unsaved.
Yes, just as Paul and Silas could find the Spirit in the Philippian cell. Thus we will have “tares” growing with the wheat until the Harvester comes.
And Joel Osteen and his wife have said some pretty outrageous things that makes me wonder about them. But I hesitate to criticize the man, but will only give correction to what I see is error when someone quotes them. “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.” 😁
I have no word from the Lord about him, and I am not in any relationship where I could speak to him without going to Lakewood in Houston, and I have no “unction” to go.
But I will always be careful lest I “touch the LORD’s anointed.” Even Caiaphas, the High Priest who led the Sanhedrin to request the crucifixion, prophesied of Jesus’ death.
We must leave such in the hands of the Lord.
Anyone who loves the truth will not be deceived.
“No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.” (C.S. Lewis)
❤️&🙏, c.a.
As smarter people than me have said, a church needs elders and government to keep the preacher accountable lest they end up leading a personality cult . I like that my current pastor is the opposite of attention seeking. But nobody is perfect and I’m definitely not saying I know what’s in these preachers hearts or if they’re actually saved . I always find it interesting and sad that most of the “good” men in the Bible get in trouble at some point. We are all lost without grace.
It’s like Martin Luther, just before he went to Heaven, scribbled on a piece of paper, “We are all beggars, this is true.” 😇
No matter how much you respect or admire the pastor, priest or teacher all teaching should stand up to comparison to the Bible. In other words, if teaching can’t stand up to the scrutiny of a Biblical lens, is should be discarded…immediately!
We study the truth of God’s Word, then we will know and see the deceit