NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART IX)

“Theological Significance of Refuting False Teachers”

By Akin Ojumu

Before proceeding with the discussion about the frequent-flying intergalactic travelers of the Myth and Mystery Church, I must of necessity take a detour, again, to address those of you who, through 3rd parties and back channels, are sending distress signals to me to express your frustration and displeasure with the topics and tone of my commentaries.

I know some folks who read these commentaries would like nothing more than to have me tickle their ears with titillating posts such as, “How to move the hand of God in the place of prayers” or “Unlocking financial blessings from the heavenly realms” or “Defeating the enemies standing in the way of your progress” or “I decree and declare your thousand-fold miracle is on the way, say Amen!”

If this is what you are looking for, you’ve come to the wrong place…simply pass and go. Of course, I know that’s the sort of thing that draws massive crowds. You get a lot of likes when you tell people exactly what they want they hear – things that excite and tickle their ears. 

The gods of men who rule in the various horror houses in Nigeria are adept at doing just that. That’s the reason their Churches are packed to the rafters. It’s the reason their crusades are sold out in a jiffy.

But what they are peddling is not the true Gospel. Serving people platitudinous ponderosity to tickle their canal minds and make them feel good about themselves is not preaching the true Gospel. 

Putting on a show to thrill the crowd or promising a blissful temporal existence is a corruption of the true Gospel. The Gospel isn’t about scratching people’s ears with words that appeal to their itching ears.

The true Gospel would never guarantee absence of pain and suffering. It does not give an assurance of victory over sickness and disease. The Gospel message isn’t about banishing poverty or eliminating impoverishment in the world. 

Telling people they can live in divine health or swim in extraordinary wealth is not a Gospel message. Teaching them schemes and strategies they can use to gain the whole world to the detriment of their soul is a profoundly false gospel.

Those who preach such a false gospel are called false teachers. These are charlatans undermining the faith that has been handed down to us. In their greed for gain, they bring the name of our Lord into disrepute.

All those who name the name of the Lord have been called to refute this false gospel, which is not really a Gospel. In every place, true Christians – those who know, understand, and practice the true Gospel – are called to refute wolves in sheep’s clothing.

How do I know this? Because the Bible says so. If you care to know, I’ll prove it to you.

P-value, in clinical research, is a statistical measurement used to validate a hypothesis against observed data. Conventionally, p-value is set at 5% (i.e., 0.05). What this means is that if the research study finds a difference between the treatments being studied, we can be 95% confident that this is a true difference and not a chance finding. A p-value (or confidence interval) of 0.05 or lower is generally considered statistically significant.

For all those gnashing their teeth and infuriated that I write commentaries critical of the beliefs, doctrines, and practices of their Churches and pastors, here’s an interesting tidbit for you.

Twenty-six of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament directly warn about false doctrines and/or false teachers. The only book in the New Testament that has nothing to say about false teachers is Philemon.

In statistical terms, that is a p-value of less than 0.05. Theologically speaking, we can be 95% confident that the criticism of false teachers and condemnation of their false teachings is a theologically significant exercise and not some chance ranting of wayward Christians. Exposing and correcting doctrinal errors is a vitally important call of duty of all Christians.

Unmasking false teachers is a prominent theme in the New Testament. If this were not the case, warnings about false teachings wouldn’t have featured so prominently in the writings of the Apostles and the early Christian Fathers. You find it in the pastoral Epistles of Peter, John, and Paul. The Lord Jesus Himself spent a better part of His teaching ministry condemning wolves in sheep’s clothing.

So, if you have a problem with engaging false teachers and refuting their false teachings, your problem is with Christ and not with me or someone else who does it.

Hopefully, we can get back to the frequent-flying intergalactic travelers of the Myth and Mystery Churches next time.