Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Emboldened Obedience

A quick search gives this definition:

“‘Emboldened obedience’ refers to acting with courage and confidence in response to a known command or authority, particularly within a religious context. It is a proactive, courageous form of compliance, as opposed to passive or reluctant submission.”

A Grievous Shift

It has been grievous for me to witness a well-known and influential apologist—Alisa Childers—change her convictions. What were once tethered to Scripture, rightly interpreted and applied, are now untethered from its commands. She has justified her new conviction to share platforms with false teachers if she can say whatever she wants (in a recent video) as “a matter of conscience.”

Sadly, one can’t help but notice that in her recent posts and videos—pertaining to her change in conviction—there is the obvious absence of Scripture to support her new convictions.

Multiple articles and videos have been released warning the body of Christ with sincere love and concern, noting how this shift has the potential to confuse and mislead the sheep.

A Personal Reflection

I want to acknowledge this: I have benefited greatly from Alisa’s ministry. From 2020 onward, I learned much from her teaching and discernment. I haven’t followed her content as closely in recent years, so I cannot say whether there were signs of this shift before now. But this recent change is stark and surprising—especially since her platform has been built on discernment.

From her own podcast:

“Identify the core beliefs of historic Christianity, discern its counterfeits, and proclaim the gospel with clarity, kindness, and truth.”

I even have a hoodie from her store that bears the words: Identify. Discern. Proclaim.

Her new conviction, however, undermines all three and is contrary to the sufficiency and clear commands in Scripture.

Conscience Bound To Scripture

This new conviction is not tethered to Scripture, but to her own desires, which she feels justified in following. She has effectively removed herself from the commands of Scripture she once upheld, effectively declared them non-binding, and instead left the matter to her conscience.

But Scripture is clear: our conscience must be bound by the Word of God. Where Scripture gives explicit commands, it is not a “matter of conscience.” To disregard those commands is not freedom—it is disobedience.

Reaching Out

I reached out to Alisa on X. I sought to be gracious, using the very methods I learned from her and other apologists. I brought Scripture to bear on her conscience through thoughtful questions rather than accusations.

That exchange (under Amy Spreeman’s comment), however, did not go as I had hoped.

When I asked her how her new convictions could be reconciled with the commands of Scripture—providing multiple passages—she offered no biblical defense. Nor did she provide any Scriptures to show her new conviction in alignment with God’s Word.

Instead, in her recent posts on Facebook and X, she appeals largely to emotional reasoning and personal experience as evidence that her convictions must be of God. A couple of times I have even seen her invoke the name of John MacArthur in defense of her position.

But even if MacArthur—who has been a faithful minister and defender of the Gospel—had ever leaned toward a decision that could seem to support her view, that would not settle the matter. Man is not our standard—Scripture is!

Once we untether ourselves from the clear commands of Scripture and begin to justify our decisions by experience or by appealing to the example of another leader, we risk sounding far more like the very false teachers we staunchly oppose—even if we continue to call them out.

Emboldened Disobedience

“Emboldened obedience” sounds noble. But if we are emboldened to disobey clear commands of God, then what are we truly obeying? It is not Scripture.

This moment highlights a sobering reality: it is not only wolves who lead the sheep astray. Even faithful leaders and influencers—those who for a time guarded the sheep from wolves—can themselves err in such a way that others are drawn into error by loyalty and emotional appeal.

Scripture’s Clear Warning

Alisa has indeed warned against false teachers, and in many ways still does. But her new conviction—stating she will share platforms with false teachers if invited—is not “emboldened obedience.” It is a direct violation of God’s Word.

We cannot untether ourselves from clear biblical commands and then claim it is “all by God’s grace.”

Jesus said in John 10:11–12:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.”

Paul also warns in Romans 16:17:

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

And in 2 John 9–11:

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”

Paul also makes it unmistakably clear in 2 Corinthians 6:14–15:

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?”

And the very next verses press the point further with God’s call to holiness:

“Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. 6:17–18)

A Word of Encouragement

Dear saint, do not be discouraged. Take heart. Learn to study the Scriptures for yourself so that you may discern truth from error. When someone we love and respect errs, we do not support or encourage them in that error. We expose it—for their sake and for the sake of others.

And let us beware: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).

Please pray that Alisa would consider the warnings of those who care for her and those who are following her that they would test all things according to Scripture, that she’d repent, and obey the clear commands in Scripture.

Grace and Peace, y’all

Soli Deo Gloria