"Should we allow false teachers into our home?"

Just this past week I was asked: "Should we allow false teachers into our home?"

Here's a good brief answer: The short letter of 2 John is written in part to warn believers against the influence of false teachers. John identifies them as those “who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” and describes them as deceivers and antichrists (2 John 7). He goes on to prohibit receiving them into our homes or wishing them well. The question is whether this prohibition refers to those who knock on our doors today, such as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Are we to deny members of these sects access to our homes?

It is important to understand exactly what it means that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Many cultists will agree that Jesus was a man of flesh and bone who walked the earth around 2000 years ago. But that is not what John means here. He first addressed this issue in 1 John 4:2, telling us how to identify false teachers and the spirits who drive them. The first test of a true teacher/prophet of God is that they proclaim that Jesus is God incarnate in human flesh (John 1:14). Both the full deity and full humanity of Christ will be asserted by any teacher who truly comes from God. The Holy Spirit testifies to the true nature of Christ, while Satan and his demonic host deny that true nature. That is why John identifies anyone who denies the deity of Christ—which both the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses do—as deceivers and antichrists.

What should be our response, then, when cultists come knocking at the door? John, writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives a clear answer: we are not to receive them into our homes. While John was likely more commanding against allowing false teachers to stay in your home than just allowing them in the door, the principle is the same. We are not to do anything that would give the appearance we approve of their message. Many people feel “called” to debate endlessly with cultists, bringing them into their homes for Bible studies or witnessing to them in chat rooms and forums. But God does not call us to do these things; He commands us to avoid false teachers. Cultists are master deceivers who are well-trained in techniques that will confuse those whose knowledge of Scripture is limited—the very ones cultists most often seek out. It is invariably these well-meaning and compassionate souls who dialog with cultists. But God’s desire is to protect the weak among His people and John’s prohibition reflects that desire.

John’s final warning regards “greeting” cultists, which the King James Version translates as bidding them “God speed.” This phrase in the Greek means to cheerfully or joyfully hail or salute someone. In other words, we are not to give cultists or anyone else the impression that we see them as having legitimate claims, doctrines, or opinions. We are not to bless them or wish them well. John tells us that to do so is to share in their wicked work. Christians are of Christ; cultists are anti-Christ, no matter how kind, sincere, and charming they may appear. We can have no fellowship with darkness or those who spread falsehood; rather, we are to separate ourselves from them.

But aren’t we to witness to them about Christ? Aren’t they the mission field? Interestingly, nowhere in the Bible are we called to witness to false teachers. Jesus tells us to “watch out” for them (Matthew 7:15) and Paul tells us to “avoid them” (Romans 16:17) and declares them to be “accursed” (Galatians 1:8). We are, of course, to be always ready with an answer for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15), but that presupposes the cultist is actually interested in the true hope of salvation through Christ, something that is rarely, if ever, the case. We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), but we are not to cast our pearls before pigs (Matthew 7:6). In regards to cultists, it is especially important to rely on the Lord’s wisdom (James 1:5) in discerning the difference between an opportunity and a distraction.