I kinda like heresy, in a "I hate you!" kinda way.

Now I know what you might be thinking.

“How and why on earth would you like heresy at all?”

Please allow me to be clear. Heresy (believing falsely about Christian essentials) can be a first class ticket to H.E. “double hockey sticks”!!! It’s bad news and I don’t like all of what heresy does and could potentially do.

However there is a side to heresy that is redemptive and beneficial for Christians.

It’s like chicken pox!!!

No one likes to catch them. They are itchy and sometimes burn, especially when you get them in unpleasant areas like eyelids, lips and even

Shhhh

the private parts

. Not only that, but they are highly infectious too!

Yet, once you get them, the likelihood of you getting them again is extremely low!!! In fact, it is so low that people who once had them are able to touch and aid people who currently have them without catching them. The human body eventually builds up a resistance to the sickness that prevents you from getting it again. Awesome right!!!

Well it’s kinda like that with heresy!

Over the years many people have come up with wild and non-biblical understandings about whom Jesus is, how a sinful person gets to heaven, which historical documents have actually been inspired by God and which ones haven’t, etc.

These sicknesses have plagued the church since it’s beginning. However, as a result of them, men and women have had to step up their biblical “game” and counter these non-biblical arguments.

And like the body, the church builds up resistance to heresy over time.

I personally can attest to this.

The more I encounter people of various faiths and beliefs, the more I need to be ready to have an answer for the hope that is within me (1 Peter 3:15). This plunges me deep into the Bible in search for answers. And once I find them, I am less susceptible to false teaching in that particular area.

I personally wish there were no heresy at all, ever! But the reality is that there is heresy on every corner. We must not run from it, but engage it. Study hard and study well!

One thing I noticed about modern day heresy is that it is usually a spinoff of a past heresy. Do your research in church history and see for yourself.

Be faithful to what the Bible teaches and glean from great thinkers of the past. Don’t be afraid to disagree with them from time to time. But, if and when you do, be sure you have a good biblical reason for doing so.

And when you are posed with a challenge to what you believe, go right to the Bible as your primary source. Don’t rely on emotion or fallen notions of fairness. Just let God say what He has said.

This is why I kinda like heresy in a "I hate you" kinda way! It sharpens my theological precision. 

A good resource is

A Survey of Heresies

by

Phil Johnson