#I was very uneasy about Jackie Hill Perry’s partnerships a few years ago and that combined with some of the things she was saying online

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

just want y’all to know it is possible to get a consistent, robust, and holistic true theology from many many preachers today. you do not need to—and should not—be going to people who you know teach false ideas just because they occasionally have a grain of wisdom to share. you can and must have a clean baby and clean bathwater.

why?

1. because good, true preachers are only preaching one thing: the Bible. if it’s truly wise, you will find it in the Bible, and you will eventually find it in the teaching of solid preachers committed to the truth of Scripture. if it’s not there, it’s not wise.

2. because you are not strong enough to absorb false teaching on a regular basis and simultaneously be able to discern the truth from the lies. I don’t care how old you are or how learned you are, you’re not spiritually, intellectually, or morally strong enough. even Charles Spurgeon’s heart was an idol factory. even St. Paul wrestled bitterly with the flesh. just look at the various once-orthodox preachers in America today who have been fooled and beguiled by listening to unbiblical ideas (Tim Keller).

Beth Moore, Steven Furtick, Carl Lentz, Joyce Meyer, Brian Houston, et al. These are not people you need to be listening to anymore. There are plenty of fantastic preachers (maybe not as famous) who are preaching the Word as it is, not as they would wish it to be. The teaching fellows at Ligonier. Voddie Baucham. John MacArthur (with whom I have disagreements, sure, but he is still far more reliable than some in my own denomination). Etc. And when in doubt, revisit the oldies. A.W. Pink, Martin Lloyd-Jones, John Owen. The late saints are an expansive ocean of timeless wisdom.

Everyone falls short. But. It is not only okay to be very, very picky about the teachers to whom you subject yourself, it is good. So long as your standard for picking is Scripture.