False Leaders

24 min read

The Bible speaks of false apostles, false prophets, and false teachers. There are numerous warnings about each of these false leaders given to us in the New Testament by Jesus, the apostle Paul, and the apostle Peter. These warnings are given to us to so that we don't blindly follow a church leader, but instead test them to discern if they are genuine.

False apostles

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:13

A true apostle is one who is sent by God to establish new communities of believers in various regions. False apostles are leaders who only pretend to be messengers of Jesus Christ in order to advance their own agendas.

I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.

Revelation 2:2

Jesus commends the church at Ephesus for testing those that call themselves apostles. After having tested them, the believers found them to be false apostles. The believers at Ephesus refused to put up with these evil leaders and their message.

Jesus commends us when we put church leaders to the test in order to see if they are truly genuine. Jesus gives us his approval when we refuse to tolerate those who do not pass the test.

False prophets

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15

Jesus warned his disciples that false prophets would come to them. As disciples of Jesus, we must also take heed of this warning today. False prophets will come to us. They will be in our vicinity. They will come into our churches and into our communities. They are not a distant threat. They are a real threat and Jesus wants us to be on the alert for them.

A true prophet is inspired by God through the Holy Spirit to deliver a message. A false prophet is one that claims divine inspiration for a message that originates from them rather than from God. They claim divine inspiration to deceive people.

And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

Matthew 24:11

When asked about the future, in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus told his disciples that many false prophets would rise up to mislead people.

The goal of false prophets is to rise to fame in order to lead many people astray. They will do whatever it takes to become famous and draw crowds. To lead people astray is to lead them away from the true faith and what it means to truly follow Jesus.

And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray."

Matthew 24:4-5

Many false prophets will come trying to mislead us. They will claim to be special messengers. Some false prophets will even claim to be the Messiah. Other false prophets will confess Jesus as the Messiah ("I am the Christ"), but still teach things that lead many people astray.

False prophets were a constant problem in the Old Testament. Those who falsely claimed to be prophets of God were to be stoned. On many occasions, Israel tolerated and even listened to false prophets, rather than dealing with them the way God had instructed them to. As a result, false prophets multiplied, causing disobedience and deception to spread amongst God's people.

The same problem exists today in Christianity. Since many believers have become tolerant of today's false prophets, they have multiplied, causing disobedience and disorder amongst God's people.

False teachers

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

2 Peter 2:1-3

Peter warned that there will be false teachers among us. If they are among us, it means they are in our churches and in our congregations.

Peter also gave us a glimpse of what false teachers are like. Peter said that false teachers secretly bring destructive teachings into their churches. They teach things that are not found in the Bible and deny things that the Bible teaches. They also follow their sensual desires. In their greed, they use false words to financially exploit church members. These are all traits that can be observed in the life and ministry of false teachers if we test them.

False gospel

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7)

There is also a false gospel, that is, a false “good news”. The teachings of false teachers make up a false gospel. Their teachings are based on distortions of the gospel of Christ.

False believers

I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.

2 Corinthians 11:26

Just as there are false leaders, there are also false believers. They may look like believers because they attend a church. However, if we examine their life, we can find obvious disconnects between how they live and what they claim to believe.

False believers can end up being a threat to the well-being of genuine church leaders and genuine church communities. The apostle Paul found himself in danger due to false believers.

The spiritual enemies of God are constantly at work to counterfeit everything that God puts in place. Since God has his servants, the devil raises up false leaders. Since God has his gospel, the devil counterfeits it with a false gospel. Since God has his people, the devil counterfeits them with false believers.

We all want to think the best of our churches. However, the truth is that there is no perfect church community on this earth. False teachings and false leaders can infiltrate at any time. In many churches, they have already infiltrated and have gone undetected.

The weeds and the wheat

In one of his parables (Matthew 13:24-30), Jesus taught that both the wheat and the weeds would grow together until harvest time, where the wheat is gathered into the barn and the weeds are burned.

In the Middle Eastern climate, weeds look almost identical to wheat until the time of the harvest. Weeds spread their roots into the wheat fields. If they are plucked too soon, they risk damaging the wheat because of the intertwined roots.

The wheat represents the genuine ones. The weeds represent the false ones. The harvest time refers to the end of the age. This means that false ones will be in our midst as long as we are on this earth. We will need the discernment provided to us by reading the Bible in order to detect the impostors.

Being a false leader today

Today is the best time to be a false leader. Anyone who sounds a warning against them is labelled a "hater" or a "bigot". There is more tolerance for those who twist the truth rather than for those who try to defend it.

If you are convinced that someone is in error, you are seen as the arrogant one. To be considered "humble" nowadays, you must appear uncertain and uninterested. In the name of love, we are expected to tolerate everything, no matter the amount of error it contains. This is not right.

Society presents us with a Jesus who never judged, one who welcomed all people and opinions. This is false. There is a great misconception in society over what Jesus was and is really like. When Jesus interacted with people who were in need or misguided, he was compassionate with them. Jesus answered them with patience and gentleness.

However, when Jesus interacted with religious hypocrites and false teachers, he responded with boldness and authority. Like Jesus, we should love truth and love people enough to call out error for what it is.

When religious leaders were masking error as truth, Jesus confronted their error. He did not let it slide. Jesus called the corrupt religious leaders of his day many things. Let's take a look at what he called them.

blind guides (Matthew 23:15)
hypocrites (Matthew 23:23)
full of greed and self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25-26)
serpents (Matthew 23:32)
a brood of vipers (Matthew 23:32)
blind fools (Matthew 23:17)
whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23:27)
sons of those who murdered the prophets (Matthew 23:31)

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

Matthew 23:4

In this verse, Jesus also called the corrupt religious leaders overbearing, arrogant, and lazy impostors.

In Matthew 23, Jesus used the word "woe" against the corrupt religious leaders six times. This is a word of divine judgment, calling for their final end. This is something many of us are not used to seeing. The sinless Jesus called for divine wrath upon those who teach what is false using God's name. Why then do we worry about speaking up about false religious leaders today, lest it offend anyone?

It may be hard for some to reconcile the loving Jesus with the direct Jesus. However, we cannot separate God's love from his relentless demand for truth and honesty.

Staying silent while false leaders are teaching what is wrong, but calling it right, makes us their accomplices. We become their accomplices when we comply with what they want. They want to not be hindered while they continue advancing their evil agendas. We should not be giving them what they want. It is a dishonour to God when we know that they are workers of evil but we choose to stay silent about it.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.

Isaiah 5:20

By not calling out the false leaders that we know of, we are indirectly saying that they are good enough to not be called out. We slander someone by calling them what they are not. But we do the work of justice when we call them what they are.

Ravenous wolves

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15

Jesus taught us to be on the alert to identify false leaders whose ways are subtle - so subtle that you can mistaken them as being good sheep because of the costume that they wear. However, beneath their costume, they are wolves. Wolves don't attack wolves, they attack sheep. They are not just wolves, but ravenous wolves.

What is a ravenous being? One who lives off of prey. One who is greedy for food, satisfaction, or gratification. It is one who is rapacious, which means to be excessively covetous. To be excessively covetous is to have a strong desire to possess something belonging to someone else. This is what false leaders are like.

False religious leaders are greedy for gain, prestige, and power. They are selfish and they are ferocious like wolves. They are extremely dangerous. They will do whatever it takes to get what they want - at your expense and at the expense of others. They can't have gain, popularity, and power without you, so they'll manipulate you to get what they want.

Fierce wolves

This is not the only warning of wolves that is found in the Bible. We find another similar warning from the apostle Paul.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Acts 20:28-29

Paul saw a time after his death where fierce wolves would enter churches and attempt to make flocks of believers their prey. They won't spare you, nor your time, nor your money, nor your emotions, nor your faith, nor your good intentions. They will devour it all.

False leaders often have great zeal. Their earnestness makes many of us think that they must be right because they seem so zealous and so convinced of themselves. However, zeal doesn't make someone good or true.

False leaders do not advertise themselves as such. Instead, they claim to be true and genuine teachers. They know that most Christians are very credulous people, so they conceal their evil purposes behind sheep's clothing, hoping that their disguise will avert detection. This is why we must look past appearances and beyond the surface.

False leaders also hide behind big titles and academic degrees. We must not let ourselves be impressed by a person's outward clothing - their charm, degrees, or accomplishments. We should not assume that just because they have a University degree, that they speak the truth. We must look beyond the fleece to see what's really there: a sheep or a wolf?

If resisting be absent

An upright shepherd and minister must improve his flock by edification, and also resist and defend it; otherwise, if resisting be absent, the wolf devours the sheep.

- Martin Luther

Martin Luther understood that if we do not resist false leaders, they will devour the sheep. A church leader must not only edify believers and saturate them with true Biblical teachings, they must also defend them. If defending the flock from wolves is absent in a leader's ministry, wolves will eventually devour the sheep.

Watch out

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Romans 16:17-18

The apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church, advising them to be on watch against those who cause divisions by spreading false doctrines.

It is important to note that Paul is blaming divisions on the one who brings in false teachings, never on the one who speaks out against them. False leaders are always quick to accuse their critics of creating divisions, but here we see that the Bible actually accuses them of creating divisions with their false teachings. The ones who bring in the wrong doctrines are the ones responsible for dividing the church.

Paul used the words "watch out", which means that we should not be passive or idle when it comes to false leaders. We must watch out for them. Are we watching out only for ourselves? We should also be watching out to protect the naive, because Paul said that they deceive the naive.

False leaders will divide you from your friends and family in order to keep you focused on them and their agendas. That way, you will be easier to manipulate and control.

False leaders serve their own appetites and desires. Their greatest desires are for fame, money, and power. God and church are just the means they use to obtain their desires. They are great orators. They are flattering individuals, full of smooth talk and charisma. This is how they deceive people.

Church leaders who persist in sin

Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.

1 Timothy 5:19-20

The apostle Paul warned Timothy that elders and church leaders will not all be innocent individuals. There will be church leaders who will persist in sin. It could be any type of sin. Paul said that at a certain point, these leaders need to be rebuked publicly so that the rest may stand in fear in order to be protected from their sin.

When a leader persists in sin, a private rebuke is not enough. They must be rebuked publicly. Many church leaders say that it is evil to publicly call out a preacher by name. However, according to the Bible, anyone caught teaching something that is false must be exposed.

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?

Galatians 2:11-14

The apostle Paul publicly called out Peter when he was in error. Peter had slipped away from the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul saw that Peter used to eat with the Gentiles (non-Jews), but when the Jews came, he separated himself from the Gentiles, fearing what the Jews might think.

Paul caught Peter behaving like a hypocrite. His hypocrisy was so bad that some people, including Barnabas, were led astray by it. Peter's action had caused others to stumble.

Peter was a pillar of the early church and an important leader. His errors did not only affect him. They affected everyone under his care as well. Being in such a prominent position, Peter's errors also affected how outsiders perceived Christ. This is why Paul felt it was so important to call him out publicly.

Peter's hypocrisy created two problems:

The first problem was that it encouraged the Jews to think and act in a non-Christlike way towards the Gentiles.
The second problem was that the Gentiles received a very wrong portrayal of the gospel of Jesus Christ and were discouraged from following Jesus due to how they were mistreated by the Jews.

Paul refused to shy away from correcting these very serious problems for the early church by calling out Peter. No shame and fear held Paul back.

Paul risked his friendship with Peter in order to stand for the truth. There are no favourites and no exceptions when it comes to errors in Biblical teachings. While Peter caused others to stumble in Antioch, Paul's response helped them to get back on the right track.

We must all be prepared to follow Paul's example. We must especially do so if they are in leadership positions, because their sins and errors impact all those who are under their care.

We stand up for Jesus when we confront leaders who are in error. We must choose to serve and obey Jesus, not men (Acts 5:29).

Paul did not confront Peter privately first, nor did he go to Peter with witnesses before confronting him publicly for the entire church to see. Public sins that affect the entire church should be confronted publicly. This is especially true for scandalous sins committed by church leaders.

Paul called them out

The apostle Paul called out those who were a danger to the church. If it was wrong to call them out, Paul wouldn't have said what he did about them.

Paul called out the church of Corinth

Paul called out the church of Corinth for their sexual sins (1 Timothy 5).

Paul called out Demas

For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica...

2 Timothy 4:10

Paul called out Demas for deserting him for the pleasures of this world.

Paul called out Phygelus and Hermogenes

You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

2 Timothy 1:15

Paul called out Phygelus and Hermogenes for turning away from him.

Paul called out Hymenaeus and Alexander

holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

1 Timothy 1:19-20

Paul called out Hymenaeus and Alexander for rejecting faith and a good conscience.

Paul called out Hymenaeus and Philetus

and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus

2 Timothy 2:17

Paul called out Hymenaeus for a second time, and Philetus. They were most likely false teachers, and their teachings were starting to spread like gangrene.

Gangrene is a disease that causes sores to eat at the flesh. If it is left untreated, it keeps spreading, infecting the entire body. Similarly, the talk of false teachers spreads throughout communities of believers, infecting with deception, and causing much pain.

Gangrene leads to tissue death, caused by a lack of blood supply. The words of false taechers attempt to cut off the supply of God's truth into people's minds, so that false teachers can then control them.

Paul called out Alexander

Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.

2 Timothy 4:14-15

In this verse, Paul called out Alexander for a second time. He did great harm to Paul by strongly opposing him.

As we can see, Paul called out several individuals that the church was to watch out for. False teachings and false teachers are a very real danger for the church, even today. In order to protect the church, false teachers must be exposed in order to minimize the spread of their false teachings.

Rebuke those who contradict the truth

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.

Titus 1:9

This verse is from apostle Paul's letter to Titus regarding the qualifications of a church leader. Not only should a church leader be able to give sound instruction from the Bible, they must also rebuke anyone who tries to contradict it with false teachings.

The fear of creating division

Some might worry that exposing false leaders will only cause more division in an already divided Christianity. However, it actually causes a healthy and necessary division that keeps the true church of Jesus Christ safe and well.

If a criminal is on the loose in your city, you will desire that there be a division between you and him, for your own safety.

for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

1 Corinthians 11:19

In this verse, apostle Paul mentioned that there must be divisions among those who call themselves Christians. It is a necessity in order to keep the church healthy.

Why are divisions necessary? They are necessary so that the genuine believers can be recognized by all. If genuine believers are mixed in with what is false, we will not be able to identify them as being true believers. Divisions are needed to divide false leaders and false teachings from the genuine believers.

The problem with the church today is not that there is too much division. The problem is that there is not enough division between false Christianity and the true faith. As a result, it is so difficult to find honest and genuine people of faith today because this necessary division is lacking.

False leaders don't like correction

True leaders want you to test them. They invite it. They desire you to scrutinize them because it's a Biblical practice to do so, and it keeps them on the right path. True leaders don't want to say or do anything wrong, and so they welcome your observations of where they may be mistaken. They will humbly listen to what you felt was said or done wrongly.

When you tell false leaders that you noticed something that they said or did was wrong, they will get angry and fight you. They will say things like, "Who are you to touch God's anointed?", or, "You are in rebellion right now for challenging the man of God. Submit and obey."

Touch not the Lord's anointed?

Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm.

Psalm 105:15

False leaders love using this verse to defend themselves. However, they misuse this verse, twisting it to make it say what they want it to say. They spread false teachings even while attempting to defend themselves.

Learn more about the Touch not the Lord's annointed verse.

Don't believe every spirit

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 John 4:1

Many false leaders have gone out into the world. Thus, the Bible tells us to test them to see if they are false or not. It is a good and Biblical practice to test preachers in order to see if they are really from God or not.

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Acts 17:11

The Bible commends the Jews in Berea for being more noble than those in Thessalonica. They were more noble because they did not just receive a preacher's word, but they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what the preacher said was Biblical or not. The Bible does not condemn testing, questioning, or challenging a preacher's views. It encourages it.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Ephesians 5:11

The Bible calls us to take no part in the false and corrupt works of darkness, even if these works stem from someone in a church leadership position. We are told to expose all unfruitful works, no matter if the one committing them has a religious title or not.

but test everything; hold fast what is good.

1 Thessalonians 5:21

The Bible encourages us to test everything that we receive and to cling only to what is found to be good.

By calling out false leaders, it shows that we love them enough to speak the truth to them in order to expose their error.

People who love you don't tell you what you want to hear. They tell you what you need to hear. We are to expose the errors of false teachers with the hope that they would receive our rebuke and repent of their sins.

Judge not?

Many think that it is not our place to call out false leaders because Jesus taught us not to judge others. This is false. This way of thinking comes from false teachers who have taught the words of Jesus wrongly.

Learn more about the Judge not verse.

Don't accumulate them

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

2 Timothy 4:3

In his letter to Timothy, Paul explains that it is the people who accumulate false leaders for themselves. False leaders would be nothing if it were not for us, the ones who follow them, and thereby empower them. The sooner we stop accumulating them for ourselves and start walking away, the sooner they lose their power to abuse us and others.