How many of us have either
heard or understood the following phrase, “Send your prayers to
Jesus, but send your money to me?” If there has ever been a strong
motivation for Paul sharing the qualifications of an elder with
Titus, this is about as strong as it gets. There were people in
Paul's day as there are in our day who were nothing more than
charlatans who used spiritual advantage to pad their own pockets.
This drew the attention of Paul as he continues his discourse to
Titus in chapter one and verse eleven where he wrote:
Whose mouths must be
stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought
not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Paul is
adamant with this phrase, “Whose mouths must be stopped.” Paul
knows the danger of false prophets and teachers and those in
leadership who take advantage of their congregations. Jesus Himself
said to “beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's
clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves,” but how is one to
know who is a false teacher? The best way to examine what they feed
upon. Sheep do not eat sheep. Wolves do, and for those who take
advantage of people over and over again just to pad their own pockets
or make themselves in a better positions are indeed nothing but
wolves. Their mouths must be stopped or else they will continue to
deceive and people will be used for advantage.
Paul
adds the level to which these deceivers operate, “who subvert
whole houses.” These pernicious false teachers were able to
convince entire houses that they were true. Don't we marvel at how
many people can be duped into believing falsehoods even when they are
being taken advantage of by their leadership? Remember the Jim Jones
tragedy? These of whom Paul speaks are so convincing in their talking
that they overthrow, overturn and destroy whole houses of people.
They must be stopped.
Paul
next tells us what these deceivers were doing, “teaching things
which they ought not”. It is overwhelming how many teachers
within Christian churches teach things other than the Bible. Why in
the world leaders within the Christian churches would opt to teach
other books, writings and poems is wonder enough, but when the ideas
are presented that have nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus
Christ, these teachers are teaching things which they ought not.
Finally
Paul provides the motive for these false teachers and doctrine. He
wrote, “for filthy lucre's sake.” In
other words they are teaching in this manner to make money. As we saw
in a previous teaching Paul wrote, “For the love of money
is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10).
These teachers in Paul's day were greedy for money, and even if it
meant teaching lies and falsehoods within the church to get it, they
would do so. Can we blame Paul for writing, “Whose mouths
must be stopped?”
What
about today? Do we continue to have people in leadership positions
who teach ideas that are contrary to the gospel within churches? Are
there elders, bishops, overseers or pastors who preside over
congregations who take advantage monetarily of the people they are
serving? If Paul the apostle were to come back today would he warn us
of some who are continually asking people for their money rather than
serving them with the gospel of Jesus Christ? We can suppose that
there are leaders who have these traits, but then again, what if the
mirror was turned upon us? Do our motives align with God as they
should within the church, and if we find the answer to be “no”,
then perhaps today we should turn to Jesus who always has the
interest of others in mind and not just the interest of Himself.
Next
time we will continue to explore these false teachers and why Paul
warns Titus against us, so read ahead, and we shall join together
then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites,
www.amazon.com
; www.barnesandnobles.com
; download
to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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