The best way to avoid placing destructive, harmful or misguided teachers in positions of authority is through careful screening and thorough training. In the same way an apprentice brick layer learns the craft by observing and emulating a master brick layer, a potential teacher is best screened, trained, and formed by first learning within the congregation. The master brick layer communicates all sorts of information to the apprentice, not the least of which is the “acceptable” and the “unacceptable” way to lay bricks. The same dynamic is present in a good, effective teaching apprenticeship. Ideally, the apprentice will receive a clear statement of accepted theology in the course of his or her training. However, not every denomination and/or congregation produces such a statement, so in many cases the apprentice must “catch” the functioning theology of the teacher. This process will help both teacher and apprentice understand expectations and one another’s position when a harmful breach occurs.
Once the pastor is aware of a harmful teaching, action must be taken. Matthew 18:15-17 serves as a guiding directive in this situation. Unless the content of the teaching is putting lives in imminent danger or causing congregants visible distress, publicly refuting the teacher is probably not the best course of action. The pastor’s goal in this scenario is correction and possibly rebuke, not embarrassment or disrespect. The latter may actually cause more harm to the congregation than the teaching in question. A better, more biblical response will be to visit with the teacher in a private, one-on-one setting. Show the teacher his or her error and offer the corrective. if the harmful teaching continues, the pastor is wise to take one or two congregational leaders along for a follow-up visit.
If a teacher has refused to listen to the pastor’s initial corrective and continues the harmful teaching, a deeper issue of authority or defiance is likely to be present. In this case, one or two additional witnesses will be crucial in helping protect the pastor from further damage in his or her relationship with the teacher, and possibly the congregation. Of course, all of this is far easier said than done. Approaching confrontation within a congregational setting is fraught with challenges and requires a spirit of humility and prayer if it is to be done well.
