Name Calling?

As noted on my last post, I visit and comment on other blogs, as well as responding to comments made on my blog.  

There are times when a false teacher refuses correction, and there are times when one must be publicly identified for what he is so as to let people know these teachers are not to be trusted, that they don’t represent the true Faith of Christianity, etc.

Now, there have been times, when dealing with particularly aggressive false teachers, when I have resorted to labeling them according to their teachings.  For this I have been called “unloving,” and “un-Christlike.”  

With one particular virulent false teaching which could very well lead people astray, I cited against the false teacher - who is well known for his equivocation, sophistry, misrepresentation, as well as bold eisegesis of Scripture - the following statement:  “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?”  The individual then claimed I was making an ad hominem attack.  However, this was not true, because all of his arguments and assertions were responded to numerous times by numerous other Christians on the blog, and therefore this final rebuke was necessary.  After all, this is citing Paul’s charge against the sorcerer Elymas in Acts 13:10, because Elymas opposed him and was trying to turn the proconsul from the faith.  And this is exactly what our false teacher was doing - opposing our teaching of the truth, and trying to turn people to his false belief system.

So is it “un-Christlike” to call someone names to describe their behavior and teaching?  Well, what do we see in Scripture?  John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees “vipers.”  Jesus also called them “vipers,” and he also very often called them “hypocrites.”  In fact, Jesus also called them “wicked,” “adulterous,” “sons of hell” (Matt. 23:15), “blind guides,” “blind men,” “white-washed tombs,” and even “snakes.”  Additionally, for those who didn’t believe Him, Jesus said they were “foolish” and that they were of their father the devil (John 8:44).

In Acts, when talking to the unbelieving Jews, Stephen called them “stiff-necked people,” and said they had “uncircumscribed hearts and ears.”  Paul called the false teachers “savage wolves.”

In Galatians, Paul said false teachers were to be “eternally condemned” (or cursed, or anathema - depending on the translation) - and that is very harsh!

Finally, Peter called false teachers, “bold arrogant people.”

So, if we use a word to describe the false teachers and their teachings, is it really “name-calling” and “un-Christlike”?  Not at all - it is really just putting a warning label on them so the sheep won’t drink of their poison!