False teachers: Who are they, part II

 They are "teachers" - those with authority to "teach" the Word (another point, below) who do not live in the same way that they teach. Who say "do this," and don't "do this" that they teach. 

In terms of "teaching the Word," many are teaching modern psychology (without being trained psychologists) or self-help methods rather than doctrine and truths from the text. Case in point, character studies. I find no warrant for those. The only character (bad choice of words, better, person) in the Bible about whose character we should study is Jesus Christ alone. All the Word teaches, points to, extols Him, and anything else is off point and becoming man-centered. 

Is there really any character in the Bible other than the Alpha and Omega who needs to be studied? Let's face it; Bible personages are pretty much a mess, with a few exceptions, and for those who aren't displayed as messes, it's largely because they are not major and we don't know much about them! They are messes like us, big and small. Abraham. Noah. Moses. David. Solomon. They are messes on a grand scale. Some of the women, too. 

Detoure: Note that in ancient literature women fall into two camps: goddess and prostitute, and sometimes both at the same time; e.g., Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Bible, women are valiant (Hebrew midwives, Deborah), obedient (Ruth), smart (Rahab), and at times, messes (Sarai). They run the gamut, only a few prostitutes if any; capable of telling their husbands what for,  victims (Hagar), and spoken to and dealt with by God directly. We may have some issues with how women are portrayed in the Bible--mostly Paul's comments that are often misunderstood, considering how much he depended on women in leadership) but it is revolutionary compared to all other cultures.

I'm not saying extra Biblical sources do not belong in teaching the Bible; of course they do. I'm talking about when a Bible lesson becomes something else and the Bible in its entirety and its ultimate focus on Christ are not even there.