Tag Archives: Heresy

Two-Sides of Heresy

February 23, 2026 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Jude 1:20-21 (NIV)

I spent a short period of time at a fundamentalist school. It was one of the strangest, yet most profitable, experiences of my life. The school was rabid about doctrinal purity—so rabid that purity itself became an idol.

Doctrinal purity, the schools doctrine, was of utmost importance.
Honest inquiries were squelched and treated as suspicious behavior.
Professors were questioned at the risk of being labeled a troublemaker.
Professors graded papers like it was a witch-hunt for heresy.

Behavioral control became the fruit, rooted in thought control.

Today’s brief trek through the letter of Jude is an apt follow-up to our trek through Peter’s letters. They all address a growing problem within the exploding Jesus Movement of the first century. There was no New Testament yet—it was still being written. There were no formal institutions of Christian education, people were learning from listening to eye-witnesses of Jesus and reading their letters. It was organic and fluid, and that made it susceptible to individuals who leveraged the moment for their own personal gain.

The early Jesus movement was all about selflessness and generosity. They took care of the physical needs of others. And, whenever you start giving stuff away for free, you’ll attract those who see an opportunity to get something for nothing.

Even Jesus saw that the crowds weren’t following Him for spiritual food—but for free filet-o-fish sandwiches. He called them out for their skewed motivations. Then He told them the next course would be His flesh to eat and His blood to drink. The crowds walked away. Even Jesus’ inner circle of followers began to question.

Now, it’s the followers of Jesus handing out the fish sandwiches, but the result is the same.

Human nature doesn’t change.

Once more attracting a crowd that includes individuals with selfish motives. Paul dealt with it. Peter dealt with it. Jude is dealing with it.

Some of these con-men were in it for the money. They pretended to be preachers and apostles so that the local gathering of Jesus’ followers would invite them in, give them shelter, feed them, and even pay them.

Others were taking the teaching of Jesus to justify other appetites.

They distort grace into license.

Grace becomes permission.
Mercy becomes indulgence.
Freedom becomes appetite.

The sensual temptation is subtle:
“God forgives. So indulge.”
“God understands. So indulge.”
“God is love. So indulge.”

Jude calls this out. Then he taps zakhor memory and provides a historical list of examples. Israel in the wilderness, rebellious angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jude reminds his readers, reminds me, that Jesus calls us to a radical grace and a radical holiness that hold a tension for disciples of Jesus. When either is severed from the other, disaster follows.

Grace without holiness becomes indulgence.
Holiness without grace becomes cruelty.

Jude fights to keep them married. And, that is the heart of Jude’s letter as he contends against the self-justified indulgence of greed and sensual appetites that are rampant among the early Jesus Movement.

But, here is where I find our enemy gets even more cunning in the chess match with those who would follow the Truth. For intellectual pride and control of others is as destructive an appetite as pleasures of the flesh. Even well-intentioned believers can indulge those subtler appetites.

The heresies Jude writes about become a license for thought control and theological witch hunts.

Purity of thought gets layered like frosting over purity of behavior.

Freedom in Christ becomes shackled in the prison of fundamentalist rule-keeping and thought policing.

One type of heresy gives birth to another on the opposite side of the spectrum. I have flirted with both extremes at different points along my journey.

Human nature doesn’t change.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself back at the point of tension between these two heretical extremes. That’s where I find Jude landing as he finishes his letter to all who would sincerely follow Jesus as disciples.

Build yourselves up in your most holy faith.
Pray in the Holy Spirit.
Keep yourselves in God’s love.
Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice the verbs.

Build.
Pray.
Keep.
Wait.

Active. Relational. Expectant.

This isn’t passive drift. It’s muscular devotion.

Not everyone wandering is a wolf.
Some are just confused.
Some are seduced.
Some are singed but salvageable.

Discernment without mercy is brutality.
Mercy without discernment is naïveté.

Jude calls me to both as I walk among those across both sides of the spectrum. And, having walked this spiritual journey for over 40 years, I can tell you that those on both sides of the heretical spectrum are always around.

Human nature doesn’t change.

I found, however, that there is redemption of that human nature available to me by grace through faith in Jesus, who then calls me to:

Radical grace and radical holiness.
One more day on the journey, I choose to hold the tension.

Taking tomorrow off. Our chapter-a-day journey continues to Esther on Wednesday!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well. — These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

The Question Beneath the Ash

February 18, 2026 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.
2 Peter 2:1 (NIV)

Most people know that Vincent Van Gogh had his own share of mental struggles. What many don’t know is that Van Gogh began as a preacher. Convinced that he was to spend his life in vocational ministry, the young dutchman spent time serving among a desperately poor population of miners as a missionary evangelist.

Van Gogh took Jesus’ teaching seriously.

Jesus told the rich, young ruler, “Sell everything you have and give it to the poor.”

Vincent took Jesus’ words at face value.

He gave away his clothes.
He slept on straw.
He lived in the same conditions as the miners.
He gave his food and income to those poorer than himself.

He didn’t just “minister to” the poor.
He became one of them.

Van Gogh embraced the kind of radical, living incarnation of God’s Message that history records in the lives of the ancient prophets, the desert fathers, and saints like Francis of Assisi.

Van Gogh’s superiors were embarrassed. They didn’t want a modern day prophet who gave away his shoes to the poor and walked barefoot (like Isaiah). As good Dutch Reformers, they valued dignity and respectability. Van Gogh chose identity with those to whom he ministered. In Vincent’s mind, he was walking in Jesus’ footsteps, who left the comforts of heaven to become poor and live among us.

So the church leaders rejected Vincent as unfit for ministry.

God had other plans for Vincent. He would preach with a paintbrush.

Peter would have recognized the tension immediately.

In today’s chapter, he does not mince words as he addresses the problem of false teachers. He is not subtle. He points out that false teachers have always been present throughout history and the Great Story. He points out the consistent thread of their heresy:

Moral compromise
Institutional greed
Cultural accommodation

They deny the Master, exploit others, and are driven by their personal indulgences of appetite. A veneer of godliness cloaks their greed. They observe the sacraments even as they feast on sensuality. They don’t worry about truth, preferring to embrace beliefs that justifies their self-centered desires, even if they have to make a few things up along the way. They appear to embrace God, but they are simply leveraging religion to feed personal extravagance and fleshly pursuits.

Peter quotes an ancient proverb about washing a pig only to watch it return to wallowing in the mud.

God’s word has not penetrated. Jesus’ teaching has not transformed. The fruit of God’s Spirit is not increasing in “greater measure” which Peter described as evidence of “participating in the divine nature” in yesterday’s chapter.

Jesus came to teach a righteousness that comes from simplicity, surrendering, and sacrificial love.

False teachers use religion to self-righteously feed the appetites of self at the expense of others.

In the quiet this morning, my mind wanders back to poor Vincent rattling the sensibilities of his institutional religious superiors. They didn’t know what to do with one who embraced simplicity, surrender, and sacrificial love to excess, and found divine beauty in earthly poverty.

False teachers exploit the poor.
Van Gogh emptied himself among them.

False leaders use position to elevate themselves.
Vincent stripped himself of position.

I think Peter would have preferred Vincent to those who use religion to line their pockets, who wash their guilt in the baptismal fountain only to return to wallowing in the mud, and who partake of the Communion cup even as they intoxicate themselves on self-indulgence.

The question for me in the quiet this morning — is this:

Am I using faith to climb?
Or am I letting it keep me on my knees?

Along my spiritual journey, Jesus has continuously asked me to set fire to my personal ladders.

Thus, I find that question an apt one to ponder on this Ash Wednesday as I begin my annual 40-day pilgrimage to the Cross.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Decapitated Religion

June 19, 2025 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
Colossians 2:8 (NIV)

The early years of the Jesus Movement were messy. You have to think about it. All of the scripture we trek through on this chapter-a-day journey, the texts on which Christian theology has been established for 2,000 years hadn’t yet been written. They were being written as handwritten letters by Paul and the other apostles, delivered by personal carrier, distributed to each local gathering of Jesus’ followers, and read to the believers.

The first century world in which the Jesus Movement emerged was filled with religions. There was certainly the Jewish religion from which Jesus and His followers emerged. There was a pantheon of Roman gods and Greek gods that each had their own temple, cult, worship, and traditions. There was a cult worshipping Caesar as god. There were also Greek philosophies that had all the hallmarks of being religions in-and-of themselves. As local gatherings of new believers in Jesus met on a regular basis to worship, learn Jesus’ teachings, and encourage one another to live their lives daily as His disciples, they were confronted from within and without with other religious and philosophical thoughts that some individuals wanted to connect to and with Jesus.

Reading between the lines of Paul’s letter to the believers in Colossae, it is obvious that he is addressing this very reality. Others were introducing religious thoughts, traditions, and philosophies into the local gathering that had nothing to do with Jesus. Over the centuries, scholars have argued about what competing religion or philosophy Paul is addressing. I don’t think it’s one. I think he’s addressing all of it: Jewish legalism, pagan rituals and traditions, Greek philosophy, and even the worship of angels are all described by Paul’s words.

What I have found fascinating while meditating on the letter yesterday and today is to circle and count the number of times Paul uses the word “Christ.” Ten times he uses it in today’s chapter. He’ll use it 30 times total in this brief letter. So, I took some time to consider what Paul is saying about Christ:

Christ is the mystery of God.
All creation was created in Christ, through Christ, for Christ.
In Christ, all of creation holds together.
Christ is the fullness of God in bodily form.
In Christ we are brought into that fullness.
Once dead in our sin, we are made alive in Christ.
Christ is the reality of God.
Christ is the head of all power and authority.
Christ is supreme.

I then listed and compared the adjectives Paul uses in describing these competing religious and philosophical thoughts that others are trying to introduce and merge into Jesus’ teaching:

fine-sounding arguments
hollow
deceptive philosophy
human tradition
elemental spiritual forces of this world
shadow
false humility
idle notions
rules of this world destined to perish
merely human commands and teachings
mere appearance of wisdom
lacking any value in restraining sensual indulgence

Wow, what a contrast. Paul then makes a point that all of these religious and philosophical notions have “lost connection with the head” and he had just identified “the head” a few paragraphs earlier as Christ. We all know of what worth the body is once it’s been decapitated.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on Jesus who is the Christ. Paul will make this point 30 times in this letter. He will make it 50 times in his letter to the believers in Ephesus. The point he is making is that the crucified and resurrected Jesus is the “anointed one,” the “messiah,” the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Reality of God, Mystery of God and Supreme Head over everything.

As a disciple of Jesus, I believe that if I diminish Jesus the Christ in any way, I’ve lost connection to the head and have become decapitated from the Truth.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

Truth & Wackiness

October 11, 2023 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
Colossians 2:16 (NIV)

I have been something of a denominational nomad during my faith journey. The ancient Apostle’s Creed says “I believe in the holy catholic church” which confuses a lot of modern believers. They get it confused with the Roman Catholic tradition. The word “catholic” means “broad, universal, comprehensive.” In other words, the “church” is not contained by one denomination or tradition. I’ve always embraced this belief. Thus, rather than play for one team, I’ve been a bit of a free agent. I feel at home in many different denominational traditions, even though I may not agree 100% with the jots and tittles of their particular doctrinal statements.

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve encountered a number of individuals and groups that hold what I consider to be wacky beliefs. There are the Pentecostals who equate “speaking in tongues” with spiritual elitism (“You don’t have to speak in tongues, but why go Greyhound when you could fly first class?”). I’ve never had to work hard to find all kind of legalism that still exists around the Sabbath (“You can go outside and play catch, but don’t you dare play an actual game!”). I have a friend whose parent refused to attend their wedding unless they were baptized three times. Silly.

I find it fascinating that Christianity began as a spiritual movement. Jesus did not fret too much about structure. Twelve marginally capable men and a handful of dutifully faithful women were directed with little detail to spread Jesus’ love and teaching to the ends of the earth. Peter was given a leadership role, but no real job description. It wasn’t an organization as much as it was an organism.

As the Jesus movement spread, the reality is that there were a number of wacky beliefs that emerged in various locations. Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae was specifically written to address some of these. Paul doesn’t name any specifics. It’s likely that it wasn’t a single, organized false teaching but rather a loose number of strange things different individuals were spouting. What Paul does make clear to the believers in Colossae is that they were to hold fast to the simplicity of Jesus’ core teaching:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

In the quiet this morning, I am prepping for a message I have to deliver on Sunday from the book of Revelation. Talk about a book that spawns a wide range of thoughts and beliefs (and, yes, some of them are wacky). I find John’s Revelation is a lot like what Paul was communicating to the believers in Colossae. One can get spiritually distracted by all sorts of things. For the Colossians it was dietary restrictions, Sabbath regulations, and New Moon festivals. In John’s vision it’s beasts and horsemen and plagues. As I get to the core of it, however, the vision is about one thing: Jesus Christ is Lord. Paul was telling the Colossians to ignore the wackiness stay focused on that.

I’ve always found that to be a good plan.

I’ll stick with that.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Indulgent Thought Both Then and Now

May 19, 2017 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Jude 1:19 (NIV)

The letter Jude wrote to Jesus’ followers in that day was prompted by one specific reason. There were individuals coming to various local gatherings of Jesus’ followers and spreading the belief that if all their sins are forgiven then they have carte blanche to do whatever they want. In the minds of these individuals they had a spiritual “get out of jail free” card and they were going to use it wherever their unbridled appetites took them. This was, of course, a tempting message for those longing to unbridle their appetites with a neighborhood shrine prostitute. The result was trouble in River (of Life) City.

“There is nothing new under the sun,” we are told in the book of Ecclesiastes. Get any group of humans together and you’ll find a few (or more) individuals working the angles, looking for the loopholes, and seeking ways to twist things to their own advantage. This is human nature. The skewed thinking Jude addresses was not an isolated issue. Paul addressed similar troubles and similar lines of thought in his letters to Jesus’ followers in Rome and in the city of Corinth.

Fast forward 1500 years and we see the Roman Catholic church turning such thought into a lucrative racketeering opportunity. In those days the church sold “Indulgences.” These indulgences were basically guaranteed forgiveness, an actual “get out of hell free” card which could be used on demand with any future sin you might commit.

“Headed to your brother’s bachelor party at Brunhilda’s Bawdy Bordello? Stop by the church and stock up on indulgences, then have a great time!”

“Your friend’s spouse has been overly flirtatious lately and you’re tempted to see just how far things might go? Don’t go there until you buy yourself an indulgence from Brother Maynard over at the monastery! Come to think of it, buy two: one for you and one for your lover. You don’t want the threat of their soul being in mortal danger to cool off your mutually hot passions!”

Back in the day this lucrative money-maker for the Roman Catholic church and it was predicated on the same twisted thinking as what Jude was addressing in his day. In fact, it was this very religious racketeering that led Marty Luther to publish his medieval blog post on the local church door in Wittenberg (see featured photo) 500 years ago this October. His “95 Theses” post went viral and led to the Protestant Reformation.

Of course, along my life journey I’ve come to understand that human appetites come in all forms. There are “pretty sins” which we commonly overlook because they are covered in the religious veneer of self-righteousness. “Pretty sins” are simply appetites of human pride and ego-centric power which lead me to diminish and judge others in order to exalt myself and my ego. It was these same appetites which Jesus condemned in His rant toward the religious people of His day. Those “pretty sin” appetites are every bit as powerful and tempting as the “ugly sins” we routinely march out in order to shame people (and make ourselves feel better). In fact, I believe the pretty sins and their underlying appetites may be even more insidious and more dangerous.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. People are people. There is nothing new under the sun. The same human foibles Jude warned against in his letter were present in Martin Luther’s day, and they are present today. This morning is a heart-check for me. I don’t want Jude’s warning to stimulate my “pretty sin” appetites and send me off on a personal witch hunt looking for heinous local heretics who think such things today. I find myself more inwardly focused and asking:

“Are there any places in my life that I am glossing over destructive thoughts and behavior under the indulgent defense of ‘Oh well, I’m forgiven!‘?”