Preachers Motivated By Greed
Posted on January 30, 2010 by Kris
Filed Under Minor Prophets, What I'm Studying... | 2 Comments |
The prophet Micah reveals the mind of God concerning many of the problems in Israel during the time of his work. One that stands out is the problem of the false prophets. There were many during this time that were promising that nothing bad was really going to happen (contrary to the word of Micah, Isaiah and Jeremiah). But, Micah put his finger on the real problem in Micah 3:5:
Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets Who make my people stray; Who chant “Peace” While they chew with their teeth, But who prepare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths…
The problem with these prophets was that they were looking for someone to pay them for their words! They would give good messages to the people who would give them money or food to provide for them. But, to those who refused, they would prophesy bad things. They were being motivated by greed, rather than being concerned about doing what was right! They obviously were not receiving their words from God, as the message changed depending on what gift was given to them (or not given to them). This was a problem for nearly every prophet of God, as the false prophets were present during every period of time.
This general problem is one that runs rampant today as well. There are “mega-churches” that exist because there are men who are willing to tell people what they want to hear, the things that will make them feel good. They are not going to tell the people what they need to hear because that would cause them to lose numbers, and therefore lose money. Paul, as he wrote to Timothy, warned against this very problem:
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
–2 Timothy 4:1-5
This is the passage that was used to come up with the name of this blog. We have an obligation to preach the word of God without change, and without concern about how it will be accepted. We must teach what is needed, not what is wanted. It is common place to find men changing the will of God so that people will like them, and accept their word, but those changes do nothing to help with the salvation of souls! Once we become greedy, and are willing to make changes to God’s word in an effort to try and protect a paycheck, we have ceased being God’s servants, and become a hireling to mere men. Surely that is not the position we want to find ourselves in! Peter warned that there would be false teachers who would be motivated by covetousness (2 Peter 2:1-3). He continues that same line of thinking later in the chapter, rebuking the covetous hearts of those who would proclaim a false message (2 Peter 2:12-16).
Even in the Lord’s church, this seems to be a problem. How often is a man’s position dictated by where he preaches, and the acquaintances he keeps? While I am sure that no one would admit that this impacts their method of coming to a conclusion, it seems irrational to me to believe that there are “geographical pockets” of men who are closely associated with one another who all come to the exact same understanding of a doctrine that seems to divide others. It seems odd to me that some churches are heavily aligned with particular “brotherhood papers,” and their preacher always lines up with the positions proclaimed by those papers. It seems odd that some churches are infected by false doctrines, and no one ever addresses those issues when preaching there (either the local preacher, or visiting preachers). Every preacher needs to evaluate his own heart, and make sure that he is preaching what he deems to be the Truth, as expressed in the word of God. If he strays even once from that desire, to preserve his job, or to get more meetings, or to not “rock the boat,” or for any other reason, then he has become much like the false prophets of Micah’s day!
One of our sisters recently told me that a preacher ought not become so comfortable in a location that he is tempted to preach something contrary to God’s word to protect his comfort. Perhaps this is why a lot of preachers move frequently. I have heard some preachers say that they never unpack everything when moving to new location, just so they don’t have that “comfortable” feeling. I don’t know about the moving frequently part, but I do know that she was right about our comfort! We must be willing to preach the will of God, and not worry about the consequences to teaching truth. God will provide for those who will take a stand, and preach the word “in season and out of season!”
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There is definitely an advantage to “tent-making.”
Yes, Eva, I agree. Thanks for reading!