The Bible is filled with warnings and prohibitions, and sometimes the best way to understand what is true is to understand and reject what is false. The Church has solidified much of orthodoxy by standing against false teachers and their doctrine. While the Western world moves further down the road of insisting that tolerance (read: “as long as you agree with me”) be our battle cry, the growing temptation for Christians is going to be to win friends and influence people by only stating what we’re for. However, faithful, God-glorifying Christianity isn’t frilly and soft, and our spokesmen aren’t supposed to be motivational speakers pumping us full of positive sunshine. 

“Be known for what you’re for rather than what you’re against.” This statement–in various forms–has become something of a Christian cliche over the past decade. Nearly every time I hear it, I wonder if those who so often state it understand the irony of the potential false dilemma that they have inadvertantly created for themselves. Insisting that we should want to be known for what we’re for rather than for what we’re against includes being known for being against being known for what we’re against. You may actually be making a statement akin to that which almost every unbeliever makes when they, in opposition to the Bible’s condemnation of sin, misuse the only verse in the Bible that they know, “Judge not…”–which, ironically, is a quite judgmental response.

To be fair, I strongly sympathize with the well intentioned sentiment behind the adage, “Be known for what you’re for.” I want to be known as a pastor who is for the gospel, for the church, for the Kingdom of God, for life, for marriage, and for a whole list of other God-ordained, and spiritually beautiful things. I’m also for gourmet food, all natural ingredients, and fancy restaurants. But for the good of humanity, I’m against kale chips and turkey bacon. Likewise, for the good of souls and for the good of the church, I’m against false gospels, false worship, false doctrine, and false teachers. Being for biblical things means that we must necessarily be against non-biblical ideas and practice.

Some people have made a career out of controversy. Watch blogs, conspiracy theory websites, and gossip media are all the rage. While the feel-good news stories get circulated around social media with comments such as, “THIS is real news,” or “It’s about time we see something positive,” anyone looking at blog statistics can tell you the most read articles aren’t filled with heartwarming testimonies or affirmations of true doctrine. Humans like drama, and even if we say we don’t, our Netflix history proves otherwise. It’s why the Bible warns us to, “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths” (1 Timothy 4:7). Those who devote the better part of the life determining what everyone else is doing wrong and saying improperly are a danger to their own soul–and, I would add, aren’t much help to others. More often than not, the controversies we allow into our hearts don’t serve the great end of conforming us to the image of Christ.

However, in 2017 we celebrate 500 years of protest–something for which I and deeply thankful. The Protestant Reformation was perhaps the most important era of church history since the founding of the church, and it was an era of incredible opposition.

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