So what do we do with the key verses today? I saw an article recently by someone who routinely defends these false teachers and they leaned heavily upon these verses calling for a Kumbaya Christianity moment. A Rodney King; can't we all just get along and love each other moment. What he fails to realize is that the key word in the key verse is not "love" but "disciples." This is not a clarion call to love everyone. It is not a clarion call to love anyone who calls themselves Christian. We are called to discern and test every Spirit. It never ceases to amaze me when I am accused of being unloving for correctly pointing out false doctrine that could consign thousands of people to hell. So many in Christian leadership only consider the wolves. There is never any consideration for the sheep or even the goats. Instead, I get people asking if I have thought about the wolf? Have I prayed for them? To this I respond -- have you ever thought about the sheep? Dear Lord are we serious? If you look at Lakewood Church and the only victim you see is Joel Osteen then you need to widen your gaze.
The Bible tells us to evaluate doctrine, not coddle wolves. We are not to play with them. We are not even called to pray for them. The shepherd carries a rod and a staff that Psalm 23 teaches us gives us comfort. The staff is to guide us and prevent us from going astray. The rod is for beating the wolves away who seek to devour us. Do not blame me for wielding the rod when you carry neither. If I see someone under false teaching that can potentially lead them straight to hell, how in the world is it love to stay silent? If I see someone like Osteen devouring 55,000 people per week and hundreds of thousands more through media, how is it love to do nothing for those people? How can you look at the wolf and think that people are being unfair to him and turn a blind eye to the sheep dangling from his bloody jowls? Why is your agape only sloppy when it comes to what is false and not of God? Bill Johnson operates a school where he teaches kids to blaspheme the Holy Spirit by pretending they have gifts the Spirit never gave them but I am the bad guy for pointing out the Scripture that speaks against such nonsense. We fulfill the commandment in the key verses by caring about the slaughtered sheep and beating back the wolves that seek to devour them.
Beloved. I do not use the word heresy lightly. It is earned over time and refusal to change what is falsely being taught. The Bible teaches us in Romans One that it is false teaching that divides the body of Christ, not those who point it out. Why is that? Because one is scattering people away from Christ and the other is gathering them back to Him. I also however do not use the word love lightly. I do not take the new commandment of loving each other in the body of Christ lightly either. I take it so seriously that I want none to perish. I want all to be protected. I want those that fancy themselves shepherds to once again pick up the staff and rod to guide the sheep the Lord has entrusted to them and beat back the wolves that seek after them. Just apply the ferocious compassion you seem to have for the wolves and turn your face back to the Gospel and realize that it was meant for the sheep.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- June 13, 2017