\u00a0an article written by someone on your website about the subject of gossip<\/a>. Gossip was condemned by the person who wrote the article. But, what about if you’re exposing a false teacher, whether they’re well known by others or not? I believe that we should raise awareness of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, for several reasons.<\/p>\nWhat do you think?<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
Exposing sin is required. “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:11-12). Paul warned Timothy about some false teachers:<\/p>\n“This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme<\/em>” (I Timothy 1:18-20).<\/p>\n“Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works<\/em>” (II Timothy 4:14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWarnings are needed, but even here it could turn into gossip. When you warn people about a false teacher, but you don’t know the person or his teachings, then you could be spreading a rumor. To warn others about someone when you haven’t talked to the person to try and convince him of the truth could show that you don’t about the person you are talking about. Notice that in both examples from Paul, Paul was personally acquainted with the false teachers and what they taught. It seems clear that he tried to persuade them and they remained unconvinced.<\/p>\n
The old “three gates” make a good checklist:<\/p>\n
\n- Is it true?<\/strong>\u00a0Do you know for certain that you have the facts correct?<\/li>\n
- Is it kind?<\/strong>\u00a0Is the aim to get a person out of sin, keep a person from sinning, or are you seeking revenge?<\/li>\n
- Is it needful?<\/strong> Are you helping people not get caught in the false teaching or are you trying to make yourself look superior in the eyes of those you are talking to?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you, Jeffrey! I appreciate your response.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I was reading\u00a0an article written by someone on your website about the subject of gossip. Gossip was condemned by the person who wrote the article. But, what about if you’re exposing a false teacher, whether they’re well known by others or not? I believe that we should raise awareness of a wolf in sheep’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[478,1573],"class_list":["post-51956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-false-teachers","tag-gossip"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90193,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-identifying-false-teachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":51956,"position":0},"title":"On Identifying False Teachers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dub McClish As our Lord drew the Sermon on the Mount to a close, He gave the following warning: \"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them\" (Matthew 7:15-16). Do we still need this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33604,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-a-gossip\/","url_meta":{"origin":51956,"position":1},"title":"What Is a Gossip?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappelear Sentry Magazine, March 2000 Too many people think that \"gossip\" is the communication of information. Not so. The household of Chloe told the apostle Paul about some unflattering things that pertained to the saints at Corinth (I Corinthians 1:11). Paul was given a unique opportunity to lambast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-gossip-to-comment-about-someone-at-dinner\/","url_meta":{"origin":51956,"position":2},"title":"Is it gossip to comment about someone at dinner?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I had another question about gossip. I was at dinner with my family, and we were talking about some funny times during our last vacation trip. These stories only stay within our family. We don't tell them to anyone else. One story involved a stranger, whom I mentioned something\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60137,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/their-mouths-must-be-stopped\/","url_meta":{"origin":51956,"position":3},"title":"Their Mouths Must Be Stopped","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brian A. Yeager The Apostle Paul told Timothy:\u00a0\"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.\u00a0\u00a0For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/03\/stoppedMouth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":81440,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/calling-names-of-false-teachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":51956,"position":4},"title":"Calling Names of False Teachers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor At the beginning of his short epistle, Jude said Christians are to \"contend earnestly for the faith\" (Jude 3). This includes \"destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God\" (II Corinthians 10:5). Therefore, of necessity, we must oppose false doctrine and those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37980,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/false-teachers-and-lying-prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":51956,"position":5},"title":"False Teachers and Lying Prophets","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As long as God has had teachers and prophets in the world there have been those who taught falsely. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jeremiah complained about the false prophets - Jeremiah 5:30-31 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul had problems with teachers binding the Old Law - Acts 15:1-2 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul warned the Ephesian elders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51956\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}