Justdust
October 4th, 2007, 12:56 AM
Heresy by Proxy
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself [1 Timothy 6:1-5].
Pastors, teachers and ministry leaders with heretofore unblemished reputations enjoy positions of trust in ministries and churches and may have laid down a track record for the truth of the Lord for many years. They may have never preached or taught anything questionable or even remotely heretical from their venues of ministry yet they have started taking up with known wolves. They may lack any evil intent and could be unaware that they have been deceived and are in fact a detriment to the blood-bought Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. These double-minded individuals have a "form of godliness" but are in fact betraying the Lord they profess to love. They want the grass on both sides of the fence. They preach words of truth on the one hand, but abuse the trust that has been placed in them and mock God by their actions. Their error is obscured behind the skirts of truth and it is next to impossible to find a speck of error in their actual teaching. The old adage "Actions speak louder than words" describes this scenario perfectly. To coin a new phrase, "You are what you promote."
These teachers practice heresy by proxy. A proxy is someone who stands in for another. They consort with heretics and thereby encourage their followers to partake of their apostasy. They mix truth and error, a deadly concoction. They give the impression that the truth they speak is compatible with the falsehood they endorse. This is not ‘guilt by association," this is guilt by endorsement. Flirting with deluding spirits and doctrines of demons is dangerous business and they do so at great peril.
http://www.apostasyalert.org:80/Sherry/heresy_proxy.htm
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself [1 Timothy 6:1-5].
Pastors, teachers and ministry leaders with heretofore unblemished reputations enjoy positions of trust in ministries and churches and may have laid down a track record for the truth of the Lord for many years. They may have never preached or taught anything questionable or even remotely heretical from their venues of ministry yet they have started taking up with known wolves. They may lack any evil intent and could be unaware that they have been deceived and are in fact a detriment to the blood-bought Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. These double-minded individuals have a "form of godliness" but are in fact betraying the Lord they profess to love. They want the grass on both sides of the fence. They preach words of truth on the one hand, but abuse the trust that has been placed in them and mock God by their actions. Their error is obscured behind the skirts of truth and it is next to impossible to find a speck of error in their actual teaching. The old adage "Actions speak louder than words" describes this scenario perfectly. To coin a new phrase, "You are what you promote."
These teachers practice heresy by proxy. A proxy is someone who stands in for another. They consort with heretics and thereby encourage their followers to partake of their apostasy. They mix truth and error, a deadly concoction. They give the impression that the truth they speak is compatible with the falsehood they endorse. This is not ‘guilt by association," this is guilt by endorsement. Flirting with deluding spirits and doctrines of demons is dangerous business and they do so at great peril.
http://www.apostasyalert.org:80/Sherry/heresy_proxy.htm