If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. (2 John 1:10-11 ESV)
I’m sitting at home with my family enjoying a riveting game of Wheel of Fortune, when the door bell rings. I look through that really weird hole in my door to see a couple of dudes dress in white shirts and a tie. I know instantly that they are Mormon’s. Apart from the fact that I’d rather be enjoying time with my family…how should I respond? Does 2 John 1:10-11 tell me that unless I slam the door in their face I’m taking part in their false gospel?
I must confess that awhile back that was pretty close to my interpretation of 2 John. I figured the way that we are to treat false teachers is to shun them, give them the cold shoulder, and let them know how much I didn’t like them. That was immature of me, cost opportunities to share the gospel with someone created in the image of God, and a misreading of the Scriptures.
2 John 1:10-11 isn’t saying that we must shut the door in the face of a cult follower or any other false teacher. In the first century culture “receiving someone into your home” and “greeting them” carried much more weight than it does today. To provide such hospitality would have been to give them a standing in the community. You would be vouching for them and giving them a platform. I think Eugene Peterson captures this well in his Message paraphrase:
If anyone shows up who doesn’t hold to this teaching, don’t invite him in and give him the run of the place. That would just give him a platform to perpetuate his evil ways, making you his partner.
So how do we apply this passage?
I see a few specific ways to apply this. First, we should be very careful not to let false teachers enter our churches through books, music, and other ways in which they could hold sway over our congregation. The world is a much different place than it was 2,000 years ago, though. None of the children from the “elect lady” was going to go home and download a podcast of their favorite false teacher. They didn’t have TBN streaming garbage through homes as they do now. So, the way we warn our people is likely different. As pastors we cannot go to each individual home and block the prosperity gospel junk. But we can do everything in our power to ensure it doesn’t get a fair hearing in our churches.
Secondly, I’m all for teaching our people comparative religions courses and such. (Though, I think about 95% of our time ought to be spent on what we do believe and not combatting that which we don’t). But there we need to be cautious here as well. We don’t want to present false teachers as if they are on an equal plain with the gospel. At the end of the day I believe the gospel is powerful and ought to win. But, by giving a fair hearing we might be participating in their wicked works.
2 John doesn’t teach us to slam the door in the face of a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness. I believe we are to lovingly show them their error and the beauty and freedom that is found in the truth of the gospel. But 2 John does teach us something about not trifling with false teaching and giving them a platform.
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As a Mormon (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I feel this article applies to everyone that knocks on my family’s door. I’d be happy to listen for a few seconds, because I know they really are devout in their religion if they’re taking time out of their lives to preach of Christ. After that, I let them know I’m not interested but I do appreciate seeing people willing to talk openly about their faith.
And I don’t get offended when my friends that aren’t Mormons on Facebook post things that I don’t believe. I proud of my friends that share their beliefs, even when they don’t match with mine. I would hope that people who know me would want me to stand for what I believe to be true and to be good, instead of shutting up because they don’t agree.
Don’t fear the Mormons. They’re Christians and believe that Christ suffered, died, and was resurrected for ALL mankind, that He is the Only Begotten of the Father, and that everyone has the best possible opportunity to prove they can follow the Master by living His gospel.
The only people you should stay away from are those who tell you to keep your mind closed and to stay indoors.
The court then heard from Sollecito who sat on the
witness stand to deal with the decide and lay judges listening to the case.