For or Against?

"Jesus drew a stark line in the sand: "He who is not with Me is against Me." (Matthew 12:30). That statement, it appears, was mainly for the benefit of those in the multitude who were not fully committed disciples yet. They could not remain halfhearted and aloof while pretending to be His followers. By trying to sit on the fence between Jesus and the Pharisees, they were actually hardening their hearts against Christ. The proof that they were "against Him" would eventually be manifest in their own apostasy. Judas was the classic example of this. He had never once been overtly hostile to Jesus, until the day he betrayed Him for money. But that made it clear that Judas was never really 'with' Jesus to begin with (cf. 1 John 4:19). I'm convinced there are more people like that in evangelical churches than the typical Christian imagines, even today. They may identify with Jesus superficially and blend in well with true disciples, but they are not truly committed to Him and therefore they are against Him. Jesus' line in the sand was a challenge for such people to examine themselves honestly and commit themselves to Him in earnest."

John MacArthur
from The Jesus You Can't Ignore

What Would Jesus Do?

"Simply put, Jesus never took the irenic approach with heretics or gross hypocrites. He never made the kind of gentle private appeals contemporary evangelicals typically insist are necessary before warning others about the dangers of a false teacher's error. Even when He dealt with the most respected religious figures in the land, He took on their errors boldly and directly, sometimes even holding them up for ridicule. He was not 'nice' to them by any postmodern standard. He extended no pretense of academic courtesy to them. He didn't invite them to dialogue privately with Him about their differing points of view. He didn't carefully couch his criticisms in vague and totally impersonal terms so that no one's feelings would be hurt. He did nothing to tone down the reproach of His censures or minimize the Pharisees' public embarrassment. He made His disapproval of their religion as plain and prominent as possible every time He mentioned them. He seemed utterly unmoved by their frustration with His outspokenness. Knowing that they were looking for reasons to be offended by Him, He often did and said the very things He knew would offend them most."

John MacArthur
from The Jesus You Can't Ignore