I hope Driscoll is taking a different tack than the driscoll in this articlehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/magazine/11punk-t.htmlI was taken aback by the article Driscoll published with Hank Hanagraf, “The four lanes of the emergent highway,” labeling various people heretics, without going to them directly ” I disagree with a lot of the emergent movement, but I think we’ve been given a good directive in Matthew 18 to go to a person directly before you trash them.I hope Driscoll can bring more mercy into his teaching, because he clearly has a lot of wisdom and a lot of people listening.
Thanks for your comment.First of all, I believe Matthew 18 is not about how to handle heretics, but about church discipline. I believe the phrase “tell it to the church” in verse 17 clearly implies that the offender is a Christian brother who is a member of the same local church. False teachers do not fall into this category, but scripture gives us much stricter guidelines on how to deal with them.The apostle Paul names heretics in his books, such as Alexander and Hymenius in 1 Tim 1:20 and 2 Tim 4:14. James MacDonald was recently bashed for naming heretics, and I strongly recommend that you < HREF="http://blog.harvestbiblefellowship.org/?p=1343" REL="nofollow">read his defence<>.Titus 3:10 says that we should give heretics two warnings before having nothing to do with them because they are already condemned. Maybe this is what you were thinking about? But I don’t think this warning requires going to the person <>mano e mano<> like Matthew 18.It is the job of shepherds (pastors) to guard the flock (sheep, the elect, decidedly non-heretics) from thieves, wolves, and wolves in sheep’s clothing. The shepherd’s task is one that often comes at the expense of hurt feelings. But what is that when eternity is on the line?“And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 22-25, ESV<>Soli Deo Gloria<>
I hope Driscoll is taking a different tack than the driscoll in this articlehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/magazine/11punk-t.htmlI was taken aback by the article Driscoll published with Hank Hanagraf, “The four lanes of the emergent highway,” labeling various people heretics, without going to them directly ” I disagree with a lot of the emergent movement, but I think we’ve been given a good directive in Matthew 18 to go to a person directly before you trash them.I hope Driscoll can bring more mercy into his teaching, because he clearly has a lot of wisdom and a lot of people listening.
Thanks for your comment.First of all, I believe Matthew 18 is not about how to handle heretics, but about church discipline. I believe the phrase “tell it to the church” in verse 17 clearly implies that the offender is a Christian brother who is a member of the same local church. False teachers do not fall into this category, but scripture gives us much stricter guidelines on how to deal with them.The apostle Paul names heretics in his books, such as Alexander and Hymenius in 1 Tim 1:20 and 2 Tim 4:14. James MacDonald was recently bashed for naming heretics, and I strongly recommend that you < HREF="http://blog.harvestbiblefellowship.org/?p=1343" REL="nofollow">read his defence<>.Titus 3:10 says that we should give heretics two warnings before having nothing to do with them because they are already condemned. Maybe this is what you were thinking about? But I don’t think this warning requires going to the person <>mano e mano<> like Matthew 18.It is the job of shepherds (pastors) to guard the flock (sheep, the elect, decidedly non-heretics) from thieves, wolves, and wolves in sheep’s clothing. The shepherd’s task is one that often comes at the expense of hurt feelings. But what is that when eternity is on the line?“And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 22-25, ESV<>Soli Deo Gloria<>