“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.”
(1 John 4:1)
1. Be wary of teachers or preachers who revel in novelty and regularly oppose the traditional and orthodox beliefs of Christians.
2. Be wary of any teacher or preacher whose teachings for acceptance depend upon ignorance that their doctrines long have been rejected as heretical by believers in the Christian church.
3. Be wary of any teacher or preacher who misrepresents the evangelical or orthodox teaching to gain acceptance of one’s own doctrine. Simply because someone preaches “a Jesus” does not mean that one is preaching “the Jesus” whom the apostles have taught us (2 Cor 11:1-6).
4. Be wary of teachers or preachers who conceal their teachings, especially at first, by using ambiguous terms and evasive speech lest they be detected and charged with heresy (Acts 20:29ff; Jude 4).
5. Be wary of teachers or preachers who craftily frame their speech in such a manner that their own disciples will plainly understand them while the ingenuous hearers (those who show innocence or candidness in hearing, without crafty or subtle thoughts) will hope that the spoken or written words mean something else. In other words, when you find yourself giving the benefit of the doubt to a teacher and continually attempting to put the best meaning upon the preacher’s words, watch out!
6. Be wary of teachers or preachers who are fond of themselves and who present themselves to others by commending their abilities, their deep insights, and their piety, for they know that multitudes of people are fonder of judging faith by the person than the person by one’s faith.
7. Be wary of teachers and preachers whose teachings are smooth and pleasing to the depraved human mind. Seductive and false teachers know that people naturally do not “put up with sound doctrine” (2 Tim 4:3). Instead, they submit to teachers who tickle “their itching ears” with things they prefer to hear. These teachers are more desirous to appear sweet and inventive than insensitive and wholesome in their teachings.
8. Be wary of teachers or preachers who deceive “the minds of naive people” with “smooth talk and flattery” (Rom 16:18) while at the same time they engage in well-crafted self-deprecation and pretentious humility (2 Cor 11:13ff).
9. Be wary of any teacher or preacher who minimizes the difference between one’s novel teachings and those of orthodoxy and who underrates the seriousness of one’s divergence from Christian doctrines (Acts 20:29-31; Jude 4).
10. Be wary of teachers or preachers who exploit their charisma and charm to entice people to follow their teachings. Especially watch out for male teachers who, by charming their hearers, prey upon and seduce irresolute women to embrace their belief systems (2 Tim 3:6ff).
11. Be wary of all teachers or preachers who bind you more to them than to the Lord Jesus Christ. When charm, charisma, and smooth and flattering words captivate you, watch out! You are being deceived! Anyone who teaches the truth does not preach oneself (2 Cor 4:5); anyone who preaches the true Christ does not engage in deception (2 Cor 11:3).