Am I mean to cults or false believers? Let’s rephrase the question. If you see someone heading for a bridge that has been washed out and you warn them about the danger, are you being mean to them? It would appear that rather than assessing the actions as “mean” or cruel, they would be considered kind and compassionate.
Likewise, when I encounter someone who has incorrect beliefs, I try to lovingly point them to the truth. Here is an example. It is repeated in all three Synoptic Gospels. In Mark 10:17 Jesus is approached by the Rich Young Ruler. (It is repeated in Matthew 19:16 and Luke 18:18.)
As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
I like to follow the example of a good teacher. Here we have the Good Teacher. There are two points to the question and three to the answer. First, the RYL called Jesus, “Good.” Here is Jesus’ reply. V. 18
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
Jesus’ first response was to answer the underlying assumption of the question. Was Jesus denying that He was good? On the contrary, He was reaffirming what His questioner had stated. In their understanding, only God was good. Therefore the ruler was affirming that Jesus was God. Instead of contradicting him, Jesus continued to answer the second part of the question. “How can I ‘inherit eternal life’ or be saved?” He gave the answer that God would give. V. 19
“You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”
Jesus then referenced the Ten Commandments. The response from RYL gave Jesus the opportunity to answer the real question by confronting false beliefs. V. 20
And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”
And here we find the heart of the Master Teacher. V. 21 begins with, “Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him....” This is the heart that I want to have for false beliefs. What was wrong with what the man said? Check the response again. Jesus’ love, or compassion, as some versions translate it was for the person and because his beliefs were sincerely wrong.
He claimed to have “kept the commandments from his youth up.” Think of that! He was far superior to all of the Jews from Moses’ day on the present. No one had kept the commandments. Before Moses had brought the two tablets down from the mountain, the people had broken every one of them. (Exodus 32) Moses threw the tablets to the ground, shattering them, in a display of the fact that they had “broken the Law.”
Since no one could keep them, God had given Moses the instructions for building the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, where people could come to make atonement and receive forgiveness. (Exodus 20-31) In our story today, Jesus needed to shatter the confidence, false confidence really, of his petitioner. V. 21 This is the third point of His answer.
...and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
Jesus was not trying to hurt the RYL. But as long as His visitor believed that he was okay, Jesus could not help him. Aside from hypochondriacs, no one takes medicine until they are sick. And at times we need a doctor to tell us that we are sick and need to take some medicine. “Doctor” Jesus had diagnosed our friend’s problem. It was the same as the Pharisee in Jesus’ story in Luke 18:9-14. The Pharisee was bragging about how good he was, rather than seeing his extreme need. Jesus did not get to “heal” him. The Publican recognized his need and asked for “medicine.”
And, like someone who receives medicine for a disease and refuses to take it, the RYL chose to remain “ill” instead of getting well. This is tragic, yet, Jesus did not interfere with the choice. He watched the man grieve, not for his sins, but, having put his possessions above God, he had a god that could not save. That was the first Commandment, broken as surely as the tablets in Exodus. Sadly, he was unwilling to change his allegiance. We grieve with Jesus.
This story has some critical applications. First, Jesus established His authority to answer the question, “How can I be saved?” He was God and His answer was literally, “The Word from God.” When a cult member or other unbeliever approaches us, they are looking for a Word from God. If I give my “word” that is worthless. But if I convey God’s Word, they will know the Truth. Whether they accept it or not, is their decision.
Think about it. Why would a cult member join the group? They want to be saved. So when they come to me, I can either leave them in their error or point them to the truth. (I do not seek them out to interdict their lives. The Rich Young Ruler came to Jesus. When people approach me, I feel justified, and in fact, compelled to answer their “question.”)
Now a little psychology. When people with false beliefs cross our paths, we must recognize that they often are personally committed to this position or concept. There is an erroneous belief involved, and logical presentation of the truth should counter it. But the commitment is not logical and reasonable. The person has personally identified with this. There is an emotional involvement and it has become who they are.
Contradicting that misconception is perceived as a personal attack on not just their beliefs, but on themselves, on who they are. That is why Jesus was so gentle. He did not say, “You are wrong! You are a sinner! You haven’t kept the commandments, No one, you included, can or has kept them.” Instead, he gently pointed to the first one that had been violated. The litigant was “sorrowful,” because he would not be able to give up his “other” god.
I had a Jehovah’s Witness member visit me several times in his attempt to “convert” me. I pointed him to the error of his rejection of Jesus as God. He relied on his faulty translation of John 1:1 that described Jesus as “a god.” (Little G, and not equal with God the Father.) We had several rounds of discussion, yet neither seemed to prevail.
On our last visit, I turned him to his own “translation,” and I use the word loosely, where, in Hebrews 1, God the Father called Jesus, the Son, God. (Hebrews 1:8) This was not my NASB or any other translation. It was his own book. He refused to believe it. I asked him what did it mean if not what it said.
He averred that even though it “said” that, that was not what it meant. So I asked what it meant. “Not that,” was his reply. He adamantly refused to answer what it meant. The logic, reason, and literal words did not dissuade him.
He had told me that he had been a JW since 1974, which, at the time, was 35 years or so. He could not and would not change. I prayed for him and still do, when I think of him. Jesus could get through to Saul of Tarsus, and He is still in the “convincing” business.
Jesus had love for the seeker when He was here on earth. He still does, and when Jesus sends a seeker to us, we first love them, then gently turn them to the Truth, which ultimately, is Jesus.
Am I mean or cruel to confront cults and other false beliefs? Or am I following my Leader, in showing compassion and pointing to the Truth? I will continue until He stops me.
