Pastors and False Teachings

Today, many pastors do not address false teachings. Some pastors even say things like,

“As a pastor, my job is only to teach the truth, and not to talk about false teachings.”

However, this is not a biblical attitude.

Titus 1:6–9 lists the qualifications that a person must meet in order to serve as an elder. These biblical qualifications apply to pastors as well. Reasonably, if a person does not meet these qualifications, then he should not serve as a pastor or elder. Verses 6–8 indicate that an elder should have good character. Verse 9 says:

He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (ESV)

Here, the “trustworthy word” refers collectively to the essential truths of the Christian faith. The passage gives two reasons for why an elder must be someone who holds firmly to the trustworthy word: The first reason is so that he can teach correctly according to God’s truth. The second reason is so that he can disprove false teachings.

The word for “rebuke” (ESV) here means to “convince” (KJV), or more specifically, “to bring a person to the point of recognizing wrongdoing” (BDAG). This means that an elder must be able to disprove false teachings by reasonably demonstrating how they contradict God’s truth.

Of course, a pastor should not spend all his time and effort only talking about false teachings. Nonetheless, according to the Bible, a pastor’s duty includes disproving false teachings. Therefore, in addition to teaching God’s truth, a pastor should occasionally address at least the false teachings that people in his locality will likely encounter.