In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.
Summary: In today’s passage, Peter gives us a five-star summary of what a false teacher is and does.
At the beginning of chapter two, we mentioned that Peter’s goal in this chapter is to educate us about the false teachers among us. In this one passage today, he tells us four important things. In these eleven words, he summarizes WHO is doing this, WHY they are doing it, WHAT they are doing, and HOW they do what they do.
The “who” we already know. “These teachers” Peter mentions are the “false teachers” that he mentions in verse one. These are the people who are passing off “destructive heresies” as the truth about God. They deny the sovereign Lord by failing to honor him and subverting his divine will.
“Why” do people do this? Peter tells us that they are driven by greed, a desire to have more. More of what, though?
“More” is a relative word. There is no upper limit to more. Interestingly, there is no lower limit, either. When my boys were little, they both took part in Cub Scouts. The local Cub Scout organization was not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. People from all walks of life participated, and we all chipped in with leadership, treats, supplies, and whatever else was needed.
The organization had the usual officers, one of which was a treasurer. The “treasure” they were responsible for was extremely small. Their job was to collect the money given by the boys to purchase things like merit badges. Believe it or not, one year the “treasurer” absconded with some of the money. That example of greed always stood out in my mind as low. Even so, it illustrates that there is no ‘bottom of the barrel’ when it comes to greed.
“What” do believers have that a greedy person might want to exploit? Two things that come to mind are money and power. As illustrated by the Great Cub Scout Heist of yesteryear, the money can be any amount. Yet, churches, if they grow to even a modest size, handle fairly large amounts of money. It does not take much imagination to figure out why a greedy person would be attracted to God’s faithful.
The second motive people might be greedy for is power. Power over other people. I remember hearing of a young man (years ago) who fell in with a false teacher. The teacher must have been very charismatic because the young man gave all his time to him. Whatever the teacher wanted, the young man would do. Call him an unpaid employee or a virtual slave. The effect was the same. The false teacher had almost total control over him.
That leaves us with one question; “how?” How do these false teachers exploit people to feed their greed? They use fabricated stories. It is easy to imaging someone playing on a person’s fears to manipulate them. If you are not afraid to tell a false story, there are no limits on what people might say to manipulate the gullible.
Application: Be aware of false teachers, what they do, how they do it, and why they do what they do.
Food for Thought: What is the antidote to being taken in by a false story?
Follow Christ only. Be His disciple. Know His word and submit to the truths only laid out in His word. Make sure the relationship is not submitted to a person but to God only. Most cult leaders require absolute commitment and submission. So we can make sure that Christ is the priority and we submit to Him. Fall passionately in love with the Savior and there will be no room for other Lords. In other words, obey the first commandment.
Thank you, Rich.
I appreciate your thoughtful reply. I agree with you wholeheartedly as well. As you know, I have dealt with church groups in the past where church leadership inserts itself between the congregation and Jesus. At best such a situation is confusing. At its worst it is misleading.
I am thankful for your leadership, your example, and your faithfulness to our Lord and His Word. You model humility that I aspire to (if one can aspire to be humble! 🙂 ) and faithfulness to God in Word and Prayer that I strive to emulate as well.
Thank you for your service to our Lord, and to all of us who know you and benefit from your stewardship.
Word and Christ. Theres only one person we should strive to be like and reflect. Always keeping our eyes and everyone else’s eyes on Christ. Giving glory to who really deserves it.
Amen, Mr. T!
Concise and well said! 🙂
Christ alone is the head of the church.
Nathan,
What a blessing to hear from you! Thank you for sharing with us this morning!!
Thank you for your comment today Pastor Nathan.
Always great to hear from you Nathan. And well said.
10-24-2021, 2 Peter 2:3a, What is the antidote to being taken in by a false story?
Great comments today.
Beginning with the first book in the Bible, God shows us the disastrous results of failing to fully understand, obey and follow His words of wisdom which are today recorded in our Bibles. This pattern of disobedience leading to disaster is first seen in the lives of Adam and Eve and is recorded throughout the Bible as we see God’s people setting His guidance aside and choosing to follow their own path.
Genesis 2:17, 3
This same pattern can be seen in our own lives as we choose to disobey what we know in our hearts to be true. Choose to set God’s teachings aside for just this one moment as we choose to do our will over His. Think for just a moment that the approval of another, the possession of an object, or any path other than the walk with our God has value. God is Holy, He will not allow a single “quark” of sin to be in His presence. Romans 6:23 tells us the payment for sin is death, separation from the life-giving presence of God in our lives. We must choose wisely, WHAT WOULD JESUS DO, as we as we daily make our moment by moment choices.
John 1:1-4, and 1:14
quark, Estimated to be 43 billion-billionths of a centimeter