Avoiding Heresy
When I arrived at Trinity International University as a freshman, I managed to acquire a nickname from one of my professors. Want to know what it was? Well, let me tell you the story. That fall, one of my classes was “Intro to Missiology.” Side note, missiology is the theological study of missions. And early in that class, we had to write a profile on a famous missionary, with my assignment being Mateo Ricci. It wasn’t a long paper, 2-4 pages if I remember correctly. Well, I managed to completely and totally butcher all of my citations and footnotes. I mean, I was a freshman, after all… pretty sure that is par for the course! My professor kindly offered to let me fix my citations for an improved grade, telling me that he wanted me to learn to use the university’s style manual. And then he followed it up with, “Well, at least you’re not a heretic!” There it was, a nickname that would wind up sticking through all four years of undergrad. The Heretic. As I was preparing to graduate, this same professor was the final reader on my thesis paper, and without missing a beat, his final feedback was, “Remember, at least you’re not a heretic!” LOL!
A quick joke turned into a nickname, and that professor is still a friend to this day. And yes, when we talk, he still calls me the Heretic. It is now a fond greeting.
But what is heresy? It is any teaching rejected by the Christian community as contrary to Scripture and hence to orthodox doctrine.[1] Most specifically, the church, historically, has reserved this label for contrary teachings and theology in regard to Jesus and to essential salvific doctrines. I.e., Ones you get wrong and salvation is at risk. So, to actually be a heretic is a very serious thing.
So how do we avoid heresy? We examine everything against the truth of Scripture. And we trust the Holy Spirit to help us sort through what sounds biblical and what actually is biblical. Here’s an example I’ve shared before.
“The good Lord helps he who helps himself.”
This is a phrase I heard a lot where I grew up, and honestly, it sounds Biblical, and we might even think it is representative of Christianity. But, after a quick look under the hood, and we can see that it really isn’t Biblical at all. Yes, it acknowledges that God is good. And that is a fact that the Bible affirms wholeheartedly (Jam. 1:17). Yet, that is where anything Biblical about it ends. There is nowhere in the Bible that asserts that God only helps us if we first determine to help ourselves. In fact, the very opposite is true; we are so helpless that apart from God’s intervening work through His Son, Jesus, we would remain hopelessly lost. That is the truth and the beauty of the Gospel. That Jesus came to his own creation (you and me), and he did this even though we had rejected Him and didn’t know Him. But, He did this because he loves us and wants to bring us back into life. (Jn. 1:1-18)
Here’s the truth for you and me. Lies that are big and grandiose are easy to spot. Distortions of the truth that are extreme immediately give us pause. What we need to especially be watchful of are the small contortions of the truth that leave us sounding biblical while actually not being biblical at all. In that way, we become accidental heretics. The phrase, “The good Lord helps he who helps himself.” may seem innocent or well-intentioned, but it is actually of gospel of works. Which is not the gospel of Christ.
Here’s the good news. God explicitly gave us His Word and reveals truth through it and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us be a people who are eager to love others well and in a radically generous way. Let us also continue to be a people who vigorously hold to truth. We have a perfect example to look to in Jesus and God’s Word to learn from in our quest to hold to truth and love generously.
When we do that, we won’t just sound biblical, but we will lead biblical lives. (1 Jn. 2:6)
[1] Stanley Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 58.