The views expressed in this article are of the author only and do not necessarily represent those of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
It’s time for evangelicals to update the way we talk about false teaching and false teachers. Specifically, we need to reevaluate our criteria for labeling false teachers as such.
The recent podcast series The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill has evangelicals revisiting the drama (and trauma) of pastor Mark Driscoll’s ministry in Seattle. As a former Driscoll fanboy, this series has given me a lot to process. For instance, I’ve been wondering why some are quick to identify someone like Joel Osteen as a false teacher but hesitant to do so with Mark Driscoll. Some evangelicals are, it seems to me, fairly quick to assign the label “false teacher” to those with whom we disagree. Recently I’ve seen this label casually re-applied to Rachel Held Evans (God rest her), and this in juxtaposition to Mark Driscoll. This grieved me, and not because I feel personally aligned with Evans. In many ways I don’t. But this also made me ask: What are our criteria for assigning the label “false teacher”? Are these criteria biblical? Are we applying them consistently?
To put it simply, what makes a false teacher false?
How to spot a false teacher
My theological and church education taught me to identify false teachers by their doctrine. One New Testament passage that clearly teaches this is found in 1 John.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. (1 John 4:1–3)
We may rightly conclude from this passage that an appropriate marker of true gospel teaching is an orthodox confession of the Son’s incarnation. We can also generalize this principle. Other central and historic Christian teachings serve as markers for the authenticity of gospel proclamation. So, teachers who explicitly deny such core tenets as the doctrine of creation, the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, or the bodily resurrection should be labelled as teaching a false gospel.
However, this passage may also be read to imply that any teacher with orthodox Christology is a true prophet. That is to say, true doctrine is the definitive mark of a true teacher. When evaluating the ministries and teaching of pastors, then, doctrine should be primary. Other issues––methodology, personality, even motivation––are secondary. Indeed, we seem to see this way of thinking authorized by the Apostle Paul in Phil 1:15–18.
Is this doctrine-first principle biblical? In a sense, yes. I mean, I quoted bible verses above, right? However, I would argue that this principle in isolation is not representative of the New Testament picture of false teaching and false teachers. Even more importantly, when this emphasis on doctrinal faithfulness is separated from the rest of the New Testament’s teaching, it becomes dangerous.
What does Jesus say?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns against false teachers. But, in doing so, he says exactly nothing about their doctrine or the content of their teaching. Rather, he says: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Let’s pause for a moment and consider what might serve as “sheep’s clothing” for false teachers. Is the title “pastor” a type of sheep’s clothing, a false assurance of the divine authorization of a person’s teaching ministry? Can someone’s orthodox theology also serve as a type of sheep’s clothing, creating a smokescreen around a leader’s sinful and abusive behavior? Jesus goes on:
“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” (Matt 7:15–20)
Like John, Jesus provides a test for determining who is a false prophet. But, unlike John’s test, Jesus’ test is not doctrinal. Instead, Jesus says that you will know false teachers by their fruit.
What is ministry fruit?
It’s worth taking a moment to clarify what Jesus means by “fruit”. I spent much of my formative years attending megachurches led by prominent celebrity pastors. These men and their ministries enamored me. It was exciting to be part of what felt like a genuine movement of God led by a uniquely gifted and anointed man of God. If you have spent time in these spaces, you know that it is not uncommon for leaders in such ministries to describe growing attendance, meeting budget, baptisms, etc. as “gospel fruit” of the ministry.
I’m not suggesting that there’s no biblical precedent for describing people, new believers as the yield of a minister’s work (e.g. “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” or “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth… you are God’s field”). However, this is clearly not what Jesus has in view with his use of “fruit” in Matthew 7.
It is important to point this out because it is not uncommon for defenders of influential ministers and ministries to say something like “look at the fruit!” when their institution or leader comes under critique. This logic seems to imply that un-Christlike behavior can be dismissed (or worse, justified) by the growth of the ministry and the addition of new converts.
Let’s be clear. Nowhere in scripture do the biblical authors adopt this logic. Note that John says every spirit who confesses Christ’s coming in the flesh is from God. He does not say every human teacher with orthodox Christology should be viewed as a true shepherd. Similarly, Paul rejoices in the preaching of the gospel, even when it is done for selfish ambition. But this falls far short of authorizing such gospel ministers as such. Indeed, in the same passage Paul goes on to encourage his readers to live a life worthy of the gospel (Phil 1:27).
Now, back to the Sermon on the Mount. Interpreting Matthew 7 as a defense of un-Christlike teachers makes the passage say the opposite of what Jesus intends. This is not about excusing Christian ministries from wrongdoing because of their “good” fruit. This is about warning us to avoid teachers when we they produce bad fruit.
If the fruit of a minister’s life is bad, Jesus tells us very clearly that this means he is a wolf, not a shepherd.
Gospel Teaching and Gospel Living
The fact is that the New Testament shows us two distinct (though not unrelated) ways of identifying a prophet or teacher as “false”. The first has to do with the prophet’s message. The second has to do with the prophet’s life.
We should remember that there’s more than one way to deny the faith. We can deny the gospel through a denial of the true and biblical doctrine authorized by Christ and given to the apostles. But we can also deny the gospel with our lives, even as our theology remains apparently orthodox––even as we continue to wear sheep’s clothing. If someone fails to care for the poor, she has denied the faith (Matt 7:21–23). If someone fails to provide for the needs of his household, he has denied the faith (1 Tim 5:8). If the fruit of someone’s life or ministry is not in keeping with the fruit of the spirit, he has denied the gospel.
Yes, being a heretic makes you a false teacher. But being a jerk also makes you a false teacher.
If there’s anything we can learn from these days of evangelical scandal, we must learn to hold ourselves and our leaders to a higher standard. For all the rigor that many apply to safeguarding doctrine, we would do well to take Jesus’ words seriously and apply this same rigor to our evaluation of would-be Christian leaders’ character.
True shepherds are marked by right doctrine and by the presence of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. It must be both. This is non-negotiable. This is exactly what Paul says to Timothy when he writes, “keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Tragically, many hearers have been lost because of the wicked behavior of pastors. This absolutely includes sexual scandals, but it extends far beyond this.
Pastors are to be characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
To put just one example simply: If a man is unkind, he is unfit to be a pastor. And if a characteristically unkind man is a pastor, we should heed Jesus’ warning and label him as a false teacher, a man who has denied the gospel by his way of life.
So… Is Mark Driscoll a False Teacher?
When an unqualified man occupies a pulpit or a position of leadership in a church or ministry, he is a false prophet. The ministry qualifications found in the New Testament should serve to prevent us from placing false teachers in positions of leadership. In the Pastoral Epistles, Paul encourages Timothy to keep watch on his way of life and on his teaching. Paul also invites this type of scrutiny for his own life (2 Tim 3:10).
I bring up Mark Driscoll only to illustrate the point I’m trying to make in this article. By the 1 John 4 (doctrinal) test, is Driscoll a false teacher? Arguably, no. By the Matthew 7 (fruit/character) test is Driscoll a false teacher? In my estimation, the answer is clearly yes.
And we should subject our leaders and teachers to both tests. Evangelicals have all too often prioritized the doctrinal test at the expense of the character test. But character and doctrine are not so easily abstracted from one another.
This is difficult and painful. Indeed, it’s hard for me to face this reality as I think about the way I admired Driscoll and was deeply influenced by his ministry as a young man. I was blinded by his charisma. The apparent orthodoxy of his teaching led me to view many of the extra-biblical and unbiblical aspects of his ministry as gospel truth and blessed by God.
It’s easier to label someone outside our theological tribe as a false teacher because of their doctrine than it is to label someone inside our tribe as a false teacher because of their conduct. But Jesus is clear. We shall know false prophets by the fruit of their lives. This is Jesus’ leading criterion. And it should be ours as well.
The world is watching, and churches are hemorrhaging the converts that were once described as the “fruit” of successful ministries. When un-Christlike leaders are elevated and platformed and allowed to continue in ministry, people are hurt. And many lose their faith. This is the true legacy of all too many “successful,” “fruitful,” ministries.
A good tree cannot produce bad fruit. If we are willing to describe Joel Osteen as a false teacher––as conservative evangelicals regularly do––Jesus calls us to say the same for Mark Driscoll.
This resource is part of the series Not So With You: Reflections on Power, the Pastorate, and Life in the Church. Click here to explore more resources from this series.
Zachary Wagner is the Editorial Director of the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is a DPhil candidate in New Testament at the University of Oxford, researching the Apostle Paul’s view of reward. Zach is also writing a book on toxic masculinity, purity culture, and abuse scandals in the evangelical church to be published with InterVarsity Press in 2022. He is a member of the St. Basil Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
