2 John 10-11 --- If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [but diminishes or adds to the doctrine of Christ], do not receive or welcome him into your house, and do not give him a greeting or any encouragement; for the one who gives him a greeting [who encourages him or wishes him success, unwittingly] participates in his evil deeds.
Today after talking with the Lord for some time, we headed out on the next steps of our journey in 2 John. Verse ten brought us to the next steps in this section on false teachers who had gone out then and are even more plentiful today.
So, we've been warned in verse seven. We were directed to watch ourselves and make sure we're not stepping into things we shouldn't in verse eight. Verse nine warns us that anyone who pushes beyond the boundaries of the Jesus' or the Bible's teaching doesn't have God; but those who abide within the boundaries of Jesus' teaching are where they should be.
Verse ten now gives direction on what to do with the false teacher. As we saw the other day in verse eight, we don't run for our torches and pitchforks. No, there is a much simpler way to deal with false teachers and it goes deeper than you'd imagine.
Do not receive or welcome a false teacher into your house and do not give them a greeting or any encouragement.
Now before we jump to conclusions and think this means we shove them off the porch, tell them to take a long walk off a short pier, and slam the door real loud, let's take a second to put this in historical context.
While there isn't an exact date this letter was written, it is suggested it would've been around A.D. 90, while John was on the island of Patmos. During this time as "The Way" or Christianity had been spreading all over the place; and it was expected to allow travelers to stay in a host home and give them hospitality while there. Also at this time, greetings and goodbyes were actually blessings. Saying "Peace be with you" wasn't just a simple hello or goodbye, it was intended as a blessing. Their culture was intertwined with their beliefs, whereas ours today is usually very much separated.
Okay, so now we have some historical context. We know we're not talking about telling someone off and slamming a door in their face. We are saying, someone who goes around teaching false doctrine, who is going beyond the boundaries of the Bible, tweaking, adding to, taking away, has any other view of Jesus other than what is clearly given us in the Word, we are not to invite them in to share, to teach, we do not give them a place from which they can continue to spread false teaching. We are not to give them our blessing or encourage them in their ways either.
Again, this sounds somewhat harsh, and it'd be easy for some to say, this is unloving, this is judging, etc… If you look closely though you see this is targeted at someone who is teaching false doctrines. Teaching something that does not line up with the Bible. It isn't talking about someone who has believed a false teaching, it isn't saying only Christians can come into your home or into your church. NOPE. It doesn't say that at all. This is reserved specifically for someone who is a teacher of false doctrine.
Verse eleven goes on to say supporting or blessing them makes us an accomplice in their spreading of lies. We're not talking about saying, "Hello there." in our best Ewan McGregor voice. Remember historically greetings were blessings back then. They could also use it in a way to tell others, "Phillip welcomed and prayed a blessing over me while I was talking with him at his house.". Easily someone could be deceived into thinking, "Well if Phillip was okay with this guy, I guess he's okay.". Something as simple as me giving this person a blessing or encouragement could be twisted and used to hurt other believers!
Do we love them, do we speak truth to them, do we pray for their eyes to be opened? Absolutely! Jesus would, so we should as well. Jesus wouldn't however give his blessing and assist someone spreading false doctrine, so neither can we.
There were a few quotes I read and recalled which stood out regarding this today.
"We are defined by what we reject as much as by what we accept." - David Guzik
"What we do matters, and what we don't do matters." - Andy Andrews
"What you permit, is what you promote." - Mary White (a wonderful woman who was my boss for several years.)
Just think about those three comments in regard to a false teacher showing up at your service or your door. It's not about rejecting them as a person or being unloving or hateful to them. This is about NOT encouraging, blessing, or aiding someone actively teaching false things.
It's not just important we choose and say "YES" to the things that are good and right; we must make certain we reject and say "NO" to the things that are evil and wrong.
There is so much more that could be said with this, but for today our journey ends.
Be the Berean, jump into your Bible and read it yourself. See what God has in it for you.
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