How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?

How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? – Numbers 23v8

Part of what I have grown with in my Christian life has been a stress on pointing out real or imagined false teachers. I don’t want to downplay that, it is a Bible principle, but I think if we are not careful we can use that as an excuse to attack those who don’t fit our preferences.

Paul wrote the following to the Philippians regarding his own opponents:

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

The most important thing to Paul was that the gospel was being preached, even by those who opposed him and his way.

I am thinking of a particular pastor at the moment. Some of my brethren have labelled this man with a particularly odious label in conservative circles. This is seen as a way to dismiss him as a serious Bible teacher and Christian leader. The more I learn about this man the more I realise how wrong that label is. I don’t know everything about this man, but I am convinced that he is not a dangerous false teacher.

It appears to me than men’s preferences instead of God’s word are behind the ‘cursing’ of this man.

Balaam was in a similar situation. Balak wanted him to use his influence as a prophet to curse the people. Balaam resisted the urging with these words, ‘How shall I curse whom God has not cursed and how can I denounce whom God has not denounced?’

I think we have an example worth considering here. If false teachers are truly false teachers according to the word of God then we have no choice but to expose their false teaching. However, can we curse and denounce men simply because they do not suit our preferences?