There is a right way to correct error, and I am bothered more and more by what I see from some Christians who make videos “exposing” false teachers. Last night I came across three ministers critiquing the preaching of another minister. Now, I am no fan of the minister they were critiquing, but in the clip I watched there was absolutely nothing that I heard that would have given me pause from a doctrinal standpoint.

I watched as these 3 ministers sit in judgment of this person’s teaching, even though what he was saying is actually a scriptural truth that can be clearly seen throughout the Bible. One of them in particular came across as haughty and arrogant by the smirk on his face, as if he was looking down on this person being critiqued. That really upset me, because that is not how you do it. Such attitudes do not represent the Lord. If you are going to refute false teachers, at least have some awareness of the fear of the Lord in your presentation, knowing that you yourself could fall into error. Paul exhorted the Corinthians, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

The minister being critiqued was teaching regarding Psalm 91 (abiding in the Shadow of the Almighty), and in the clip they presented in their video they had an issue with him pointing out the promise of God in verse 15, He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

That sounds like a wonderful promise if you ask me. And it is!

The minister was emphasizing that when we abide in God’s presence, God promises that he will answer when we call on him. And they had a problem with that?!

Yep, they did, even though the scriptures have much to say along these lines, and there are many texts in the scriptures which speak of God hearing the prayers of his people who please him, and not hearing the prayers of others who rebel against him.

The Psalmist says, But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him. ~ Psalm 4:3

To the backslidden nation of Israel In Isaiah’s day, God said, when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. ~ Isaiah 1:15 

In 1 Peter we read, For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. ~ 1 Peter 3:12 .

The apostle John tells us, this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us:  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. ~ 1 John 5:14-15

Many more texts could be given, but anyone who just reads these scriptures ought to know that God hears some people because their hearts are towards God, and He refuses to hear others because of their wickedness. This can be easily understood from Isaiah’s words to his rebellious kinsmen in chapter 59.

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. ~ Isaiah 59:2

When God pronounced judgment on Judah, he said to Jeremiah,  pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. ~ Jeremiah 11:14

There are so many texts that directly address this topic. Yet one of the ministers among the three decided that the minister who cited the text from Psalm 91 was attacking the omnipresence of God and the omniscience of God. He actually used that terminology (attacking) even though God chooses to hear the prayers of some (the righteous, the oppressed, the humble, etc.) and not hear the prayers of the others (the wicked, in their wickedness) is something that God himself tells us in scripture.

Now in closing, let me say that even though I am not a fan of the minister that these three were critiquing, but I was provoked to defend the truth of God, and what he was saying was correct and they were wrong in their evaluation of him in that clip.

There is such a beauty in the truth that we have the promises of a God who hears us when we call on him. We also have the warnings that God resists the proud and turns his face from them. Pride is a sin that we all need to be on guard against and not allow to move us from the godly fear that we are called to walk in.

The irony of this, is that these three ministers (at least a couple of them) seemed to sit in the seat of arrogance critiquing what the  minister had said, even though what he had said was what God’s word reveals. That was bothersome.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. ~ Psalm 1:1-3

Do things the right way, or don’t do them at all.