Prof Ben Onyeukwu DON'T WASTE TIME DISPUTING WITH HERETICS

DON'T WASTE TIME
DISPUTING WITH HERETICS:

By Prof Ben Onyeukwu

   By way of introduction, the Holy Scripture says,..."avoid foolish disputes on genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless, stating further that the Church must reject a person who is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, knowing that such an individual has become warped and sinning, being self-condemned. And, for the purpose of understanding who is a heretic, the EN English Dictionary renders that, a heretic is, "someone whose beliefs and teachings are contrary to the fundamental tenets of a religion they claim to belong to".
   Every truly called and well informed Gospel Preacher vividly understands that, they are not called to debate the gospel, but to preach the irrefutable truth of salvation, which JESUS CHRIST Himself, commissioned them to preach. It is true that certain open clarifications may be necessary whenever false teachings show up, but to constantly give personal attention to heretics or false teachers makes them feel relevant, as well as gives them the opportunity to market more of their falsehood.
   The above narrative, is not to erase the importance of Christian Apologetics, or defenders of the faith, in the Body of CHRIST, but to cite biblical approach in handling false teachers and their false teachings. In keeping with this, it is important to note once more that, the Apostle Paul sternly admonishes that, one who is a heretic must be rejected, after first and second admonition. This does not mean to ignore the dangerous spiritual poison that go with the teachings of false teachers, which often destroy the faith of the weak christians, but to remind the preacher of the gospel of the need to always bear in mind that, he is called to defend the faith of the believers, and not to win arguments, which open gospel debates often drive at.
   Having stressed the above, the writer canvasses that, in the apperent manifest of  rampaging false teachers, meticulous steps must be taken by the concerned preacher to critically examine every content of the message of the heretics, or false teachers,  and in turn, internally correct the members of his congregation, as a way of saving them from the adverse impact the misleading message(s) may have on them, instead of engaging in open debates with the deceiving teachers, which the Scripture refers to as unprofitable and useless effort.  Furthermore, correctional Gospel Refutals could be written and made public, with no citations or  reference to the works or preachings of the false teacher, as a long term measures that seeks to gradually correct the negative effects, which the permanent, written or oral works of the heretic(s), may have had on the unsuspecting gullible public.
   In summary, every preacher should again, know that they are called to win souls, not arguments. REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL! (See Titus 3:9-11).