We Need to Be Aquila and Priscilla

Apollos was a believer who only knew of John's repentance. His teaching was incomplete. He was not giving the whole gospel because he did not know it. When Priscilla and Aquila heard about him, the could have condemned him as a false prophet, since technically he was. They could have said, “oh, he's part of that emerging way”. And told other people to pay no attention to him, lest they get contaminated. They did not do that. They took him under their wing and filled in the gaps in his teaching. Apollos was mightily used by God.

Some have said that Christianity is the only army that shoots its wounded. I disagree with that statement. I think we nuke our wounded. False prophets must be challenged. But before we label someone a false prophet, we must make sure they really are. Joel Osteen is dismissed as a Word of Faith preacher and deemed no good. If someone mentored him, perhaps he would become a good preacher. He appears to be a true convert, only he has some funky views. Instead of condemning him, we should pray for him. We should pray that God would make him what he wants to be., Rob Bell believes a lot that we do. Perhaps if someone were to come along side him, he too would lose some of his funkiness. To dismiss these people is a disservice. Consider this. Jesse Overholtzer, the founder of Child Evangelism fellowship, did not always believe in salvation by grace alone. He labeled Moody a heretic because he did believe that. God softened his heart and he did come to believe in salvation by grace alone. John Wesley was unsaved when he was a missionary to North America. Martin Luther once said he hated God.

In our modern day, Mark Driscoll was once known as the cussing pastor. He has since repented of that and has turned to godly men for help in his ministry. We never know how people will turn out. The church today loves to criticize everyone. We take apologetics to the extreme. We come to believe the more we criticize, the more spiritual we are. Andrew C Bain makes his reputation as a discernment guy, when he really criticizes everyone. It has gotten so ridiculous that someone has even set up a spoof site making fun of discernment ministries. The Bible says people know we are Christians by our love. I believe in having sound doctrine and I now that false teachers are real. I believe we must discern between a false prophet and an erring brother in Christ. We never know who will be the next Luther, Wesley of Overholtzer. Think about it.