DEVOTION – DAY 134

1 Thessalonians 2:4-6 “False Teachers”

1 Thess.2:4-6 “On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed – God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.”

In these verses, Paul gives us a useful guide to discern if someone is a false teacher. Paul used himself as an example of someone sent by God to teach His people in Thessalonica. Paul’s passion was to give out the gospel message to people. Paul always spoke the truth even if the truth was a hard message to give. Paul spoke the truth for the good of the people even if they found it hard to accept. Paul never used flattery, or spoke eloquently to impress or win people’s hearts. He spoke always out of love for the people. He was never motivated by greed. He never spoke a message for the sake of money. Paul never sought the praise of his fellow man. Even though he had a right to be financially supported by the local church, he never insisted on using his rights. This was what he meant by not “asserting his authority.” In contrast, false teachers were always crowd pleasers motivated by personal gain and ambition. False teachers never cared for the truth nor cared for the people. False teachers were selfish and always gave the people what they wanted to hear. In other words, the false teachers were the opposite of Paul.

There is an American televangelist called Kenneth Copeland. He also writes books. He is known to urge his followers to donate to his ministries and he claim that God would bless their donations by returning them a hundred times on their investment in him. He is on the forefront of what is known as the prosperity gospel. He tells people that God wants to bless everyone and wants everyone to be rich. His message is very popular because he says things that people want to hear. It appeals to people’s desire to get rich. He has gained a great deal of wealth as a result of the money he received from his supporters. His wealth is estimated to be in several hundred million. He has mansions, private jets and even an airport named after him. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he urged people to continue to offer their tithes even if they have lost their jobs because God will reward them. He also claimed that the Covid-19 virus was no more than a kind of flu and by the power of prayer, people do not need to fear it. Here is an example of the kind of false teachers that Paul warned us about. His success shows that he has an ability to fool many. Let us be wise and heed the warning of Paul by looking for teachers of God’s Word with qualities like those of Paul and not people like Kenneth Copeland.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, please help us to be alert to false teachings and false teachers. Protect us from being led astray and may we never take our eyes off the Lord Jesus. In His precious name we pray. Amen.

Questions

1. Why do you think many people fall for the teachings of false teachers? Discuss.
2. What are some typical false teachings you find today? Discuss.
3. From the verses in this devotion, how can we tell genuine teachers from false teachers?
4. How can you guard yourselves from false teachers? Discuss.