Why Every Christian Should Stop Calling People “False Teachers” (And Start Asking Better Questions)
If everyone who doesn’t agree with your opinion is automatically a false teacher, then wouldn’t that make you a false teacher to someone else, too?
I hate that religion and church culture have conditioned people to believe that their particular brand, stream, denomination, or flavor of churchianity is the right one—and that anyone who sees things differently must be labeled a heretic.
My 30-Year Journey of Questioning Everything
For more than 30 years, I’ve asked hard questions about what I believe. I’ve been called a heretic, a false teacher, “unqualified,” and more—simply because I didn’t line up with someone else’s interpretation. But holding a different view doesn’t make someone a false teacher… unless we assume we are the only ones who are right.
When we disagree with someone’s opinion, it’s because we believe we are right and they are wrong. Doctrinal disagreements are elevated to accusations: they must be deceptive, misleading, or downright false. Yet couldn’t those same accusations be made toward us?
Learning That “My Pastor Said” Isn’t Enough
As a young man, I felt God challenge me to examine everything I believed. I quickly learned that “My pastor said” or “My church teaches” isn’t a solid foundation for truth. As I studied Scripture, I found teachings my denomination condemned—but after careful study, they weren’t nearly as dangerous as I’d been told.
Over the decades, I’ve discovered that some things I once believed were unquestionably false may actually contain more truth than I allowed myself to see.
Religion Trains Us to Argue—Not Listen
For years, I argued constantly. Religion teaches us to defend our faith—to be apologists. But most of the time, we’re really just defending opinions: ours or someone’s we have heard and accepted as our own. And many of those opinions might be wrong.
Church culture encourages us to label anything unfamiliar or different from our opinion as false teaching. But what if we are the ones who are mistaken?
Questions Churchianity Doesn’t Want Us to Ask
I’ve often said the “Jesus doesn’t mind us asking questions, but churchianity absolutely hates it.”
- What if I’m wrong? Could my view actually be the wrong one?
- What if the other view is right?
- What if neither is correct? Could we both be wrong?
- What if both contain some truth?
- What if it is a question that really doesn’t matter at all? Is it worth dividing over?
Religion—what I often call churchianity—has a way of shutting down questions and discouraging genuine self-reflection. It craves dogma, rigid boundaries, and tidy labels. And it especially loves the labels “heretic” and “false teacher,” because it assumes by default that it is always right. It’s the epitome of spiritual narcissism.
Thousands of Denominations Built on Opinion
This mindset is why we have thousands of denominations, streams, movements, and theological camps. We’ve built an entire system around disagreement. And to claim we alone have “the truth” is breathtaking arrogance.
This is why I struggle with apologetics debates. The goal isn’t to seek truth together—it’s to win, to prove, to defend. Rarely is the Holy Spirit given space to reshape us.
My Family Showed Me How Divided We Really Are
Part of my extended family was Southern Baptist. My immediate family was Pentecostal and holiness. Every gathering eventually turned into a debate about eternal security.
Both sides were convinced they were right. Honestly, the discussions sounded more like, “We couldn’t care less who goes to heaven, as long as we’re right.” But could they both have been right? Both wrong? Some combination of both?
Over the years, I’ve changed more views than I’ve kept. Not because I’m unstable, but because I’ve allowed the Holy Spirit to challenge me. Some doctrines I held tightly now seem questionable. Some things I once considered dividing lines don’t matter at all.
The Holy Spirit Redirected My Path
Years ago, I prepared to go to Bible school. I believe God wanted me to pursue full-time ministry. But the Holy Spirit firmly stopped me. When I asked why, His response shocked me:
“If you go to that school, you will listen to them and learn what they believe. I want you to hear Me and learn what I believe.”
That moment shaped my entire journey. It pushed me to listen to Him, study scriptures, and engage with voices I once dismissed.
The “Heretical” Ministry That Loved Me Better Than the Rest
In one of my career choices, I worked with a company for a number of years that served mainly ministry and para-church organizations. I once managed a national TV ministry that I was raised to believe was heretical. I expected to find all kinds of false doctrine. Instead, after months of listening to their teachings, I discovered that I agreed with far more than I disagreed.
Then I visited their campus.
Every person—groundskeepers, staff, leaders—radiated genuine love for Jesus. When my father was diagnosed with cancer, this “heretical” ministry was the only client who called weekly to pray for me and lift up my father. The other big-name, more accepted ministries I worked with never even reached out unless it was to ask how many of this week’s sermons had been sold.
It changed everything.
Churchianity is Mostly Opinion
Most of what we fight about in church isn’t salvation or core foundation doctrine—it’s opinion. That’s why the church system is flawed. Scripture teaches that everyone should bring something to the gathering. Instead, most gatherings (aka services) involve one person speaking and everyone else being told what to think.
I know I don’t have everything right. I probably never will. And I doubt anyone will stand before Jesus and hear, “Perfect doctrine. You got it all right.”
That’s the beauty of grace.
Jesus took the test. He passed it perfectly. And He gave us His score.
We’re Family—Even When We Don’t Agree
You and I may not see everything the same way. But as long as you’re not denying Jesus as Savior, we are brothers and sisters.
You’re not a heretic. You’re not a false teacher. And neither am I.
If you speak in tongues and I don’t—okay.
If you don’t believe in the rapture and I do—okay.
I may be right about some things. You may be right about some things. We may both be partly right or partly wrong about most things.
I’m done arguing. All I have are opinions. All you have are opinions.
The only one who is truly right is Jesus—and in the end, it’s all His anyway.
This article is my opinion—my perspective—and I fully own that. My views have shifted a lot over the past few years. And before you rush to label me a heretic or false teacher for having “truth mixed with error,” it might be worth pausing to examine how much mixture exists in your own message as well.
