Remember Their Motives

2 Peter 2:2

I heard an interview one time with a prominent professional athlete who was known for his riotous living, boisterous demeanor, and sexual promiscuity. The reporter asked him about the effect he was having on young people who looked up to him because of his stardom. He responded with the sentiment that he hadn’t asked to be anyone’s role model and, furthermore, didn’t want to be anyone’s role model. Not long afterward another athlete responded to the star’s flippant dismissal of responsibility. He wisely said, “That’s not his call; it comes with the territory.” The second athlete was right. Some things in life just can’t be separated. Conduct and influence are inseparable. In verse 2 Peter asserts that godless conduct among professing Christians will always be followed by damage to gospel credibility in the eyes of the world.

In every age teachers are role models to their students, not just conveyors of information (Davids, Letters, 222). So when it comes to the influence of false teaching, the body count is never minimal. Casualties always abound within the community of faith, and the carnage has a tendency to spread like gangrene (cf. 2 Tim 2:16-18). Peter says that “many” will be deceived by the false teachers and become devoted to their godless conduct. And their influence was all the more tempting because of its erotic nature. The word translated “depraved” (aselgeiais) in the New Testament usually refers to sexual sin (Rom 13:13; 2 Cor 12:21; Gal 5:19; Eph 4:19; 1 Pet 4:3). Jude actually uses the idea to compare the sins of false teachers to those of Sodom and Gomorrah:

For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. . . . Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 4,7)

Peter will use the word two more times in this chapter to convey the same idea (see vv. 7,18). And in a sex-crazed culture like ours, large numbers of people are ready to jump on the bandwagon when such tantalizing merchandise is being peddled.

This “trendy” nature of following false teaching into godless conduct shouldn’t surprise us. Jesus made clear that a whole lot more people will choose the broad road that leads to destruction than the narrow road that leads to true life (Matt 7:13-14; cf. 24:10-12). Much of the fault for this tragic reality can be laid at the feet of false teachers who clothe the broad way in appealing attire and promise that it leads to happiness and fulfillment. MacArthur rightly observes, “Their message of independence, personal freedom, and self-exaltation is inherently appealing to fallen human hearts, who would rather serve themselves than submit to Christ” (2 Peter, 76). Jesus was also clear that “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matt 7:21). It doesn’t matter what people claim about faith in Christ but what they demonstrate in obedience to him (cf. John 15:14-16; Jas 1:22-25; 1 John 2:3-6; 5:1-5).

The malignant effect of the temptation to godless living, however, isn’t the most devastating result of this strand of false teaching. Its ultimate end is that the gospel “will be maligned” (v. 2) before the world “because of” these apostates who abandon it. The reference to “the way of truth” is clearly a synonym for the gospel. Early disciples of Christ often were referred to as followers of “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9,23; 24:14,22) or the “way of the Lord” (Acts 18:25; cf. v. 26). The designation was a reminder that Christianity isn’t so much a set of propositional truths to be believed as it is a way of life to be lived (Davids, Letters, 222).

So when a self-identified Christian’s way of life is contrary to Jesus’s life, it scandalizes the gospel and tarnishes its credibility. Schreiner describes it well:

The unbelieving world sees the impact on the church and responds by maligning and ridiculing “the way of truth.” “The way of truth” is a reference to the gospel. When unbelievers see the moral effect produced by the opponents in the lives of their followers, they will conclude that the way of truth is a way of error. They will think that any message that leads to dissolute behavior cannot be from God (Schreiner, 1 and 2 Peter, 332).

The embrace of false teaching always results in the gospel’s being maligned. Appealing to Isaiah 52:5, Paul charged the Jews: “For, as it is written: ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you’” (Rom 2:24). When professing Christians default on their faith, the gospel takes the hit. People will soon forget about the offender, but their distaste for the gospel will hang around for a long time.

The New Testament isn’t silent about calling Christians to righteous living for the sake of the gospel’s reputation. Christian slaves were to honor their masters so the gospel wouldn’t be criticized (1 Tim 6:1). Young believing wives were to live godly lives so people wouldn’t revile the gospel (Titus 2:5). Paul said he put no obstacle in anyone’s way so no fault would be found with the gospel (2 Cor 6:3). In his first letter Peter told his readers to live honorably and do good so that critics of the gospel would be silenced and put to shame and instead they would glorify God (1 Pet 2:12,15; 3:16). When it comes to the lives we lead, our first concern shouldn’t be for our reputation; it should be for the reputation of the gospel. And the only way to make the gospel believable is for Christians to live the kind of righteous lives that make it believable.

So, fellow disciple of Christ, live in such a way “that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world” (Phil 2:15; cf. Matt 5:16; Eph 2:10; 5:8; 1 Thess 2:12; Titus 2:5,7,14; 1 Pet 2:9-12). If you’re a star athlete, you’re a role model whether you like it or not. If you’re a Christian, you bear the reputation of the gospel, and your godliness—or lack thereof—will always affect it. As you remember the motives of false teachers around you to discredit the gospel, let it compel you to remember the holy life for which that gospel saved you.

2 Peter 2:3a

Bernie Madoff arguably is the most notorious American fraudster in history. In 2009 the former stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier admitted to operating a Ponzi scheme that is considered the largest financial fraud ever. Prosecutors estimated that Madoff swindled about $64.8 billion out of his 4,800 clients. On June 29, 2009, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Madoff’s arrest and conviction came after his two sons—who were employed by his firm—told authorities their father had confessed to them that the asset management unit of his firm was just a massive Ponzi scheme. They quoted him as saying it was “one big lie.”

A discernable link often exists between falsehood and greed. Destroying lives and undermining the gospel weren’t the only motives of the false teachers in Peter’s day. They were in it for personal gain as well. Peter says “their greed” (v. 3) also drives them to infiltrate the Christian ranks and wreak havoc in people’s lives. The verb “exploit” is a commercial term that suggests a monetary motive. The false teachers saw Peter’s readers as a source of financial gain. Peter will go on to describe these religious charlatans as having “hearts trained in greed” (2:14). This indictment and characterization of false teachers is common in Scripture (see Jer 6:13; 8:10; 1 Tim 6:3,5,9-11; Titus 1:7,11; 1 Pet 5:1-3; Jude 11,16). They crave wealth and are experts at swindling people in the church out of their money (MacArthur, 2 Peter, 78).

The approach these tricksters used to cheat people wasn’t divorced from their false doctrine. They used “made-up stories” (v. 3)—or cunning precepts they simply fabricated—to swindle the unassuming listeners. They manufactured bogus arguments to sway people over to their side. And these wolves in sheep’s clothing were making a good profit off of those who bought in to their teaching and made contributions to them (Bauckham, 2 Peter, 243). “These teachers were not selling a product to help their hearers. They were hawking defective goods (morally speaking) for their own financial advantage” (Schreiner, 1 and 2 Peter, 333; cf. 2:14).

This ought to sound all too familiar to believers today. Observe the frequent relationship between false teaching and materialism. Christian television, publishing, conferencing, and numerous other vehicles of mass communication are big business today. When used to disseminate the true gospel with integrity, these avenues are effective means for spreading truth and advancing Christ’s kingdom. But when these mediums are infiltrated and hijacked by false teachers, they become ready resources for distributing intoxicating and cancerous information. All the while, the propagation of false teaching yields flowing streams of income that pad perverted pockets.

Obviously the biggest lesson here is the need for us to avoid buying in to false teaching and reaping its devastating spiritual effects. But we also must be discerning when it comes to where we invest our money in “kingdom” work. The satanic agenda to shipwreck faith isn’t usually discernable to the naked eye. But the lucrative lifestyles, pretentious presentations, and comic commercialism that characterizes the ministries of some preachers and teachers is often blatant. Their flamboyant auras, atmospheres, and appeals should serve as red flags to the false doctrine lurking in the shadows. I believe this is just one of the reasons that accountable giving through one’s local church is the New Testament’s primary model. Contributions beyond that practice should always be made only after thorough examination of doctrinal beliefs and careful scrutiny of financial practices.

The first three verses of 2 Peter 2 are incredibly telling and eerily characteristic of our own Christian culture. The tactic of false teachers is to introduce their erroneous doctrine by stealth, not in apparent fashion. They also slander the gospel through sexually licentious lifestyles, and they rip off people’s money because of their greed. These verses need to serve as a sobering reminder of Satan’s schemes. As Peter previously charged, “Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour” (1 Pet 5:8). And the believer’s primary defense is a working knowledge of and unwavering obedience to the authoritative word of the apostles and prophets recorded in the Bible.

Every generation between Peter’s and ours has faced the same challenge. For example, the nineteenth century was at a period when society’s views on human freedom were challenging the nature of biblical authority. In October 1855, Vincent van Gogh, the gifted yet conflicted artist, finished an oil painting he titled Still Life with Bible. The painting features an open Bible sitting on a table. To the right of the Bible is a burned-out candle in its holder. In the foreground of the painting van Gogh positioned a small yellow book, the binding of which identified it as Emile Zola’s The Joy of Life. David Helm interprets the scene:

By placing a burned-out candle beside the Bible and by putting both in the background, van Gogh is telling us that the time for walking through this world by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, who shines down upon God’s Word, is past. Biblical authority no longer holds sway. People are guided by different, if not lesser lights. That is what he is saying. Even the flaming color of yellow is now reserved for the cover of another book. Humanity’s new pursuit is governed by whatever brings us the joy of life. (Helm, 1 & 2 Peter, 223)

The apostle’s words recorded in 2 Peter 2:1-3 not only described his own day but predicted the climate of van Gogh’s long before it arrived. In both eras, “people were following another path, carried along by a candle of a different sort” (Helm, 1 & 2 Peter, 223). Peter’s words, however, merely reflect the reality that every generation will face: the threat of society to extinguish the light of God’s Word and instead chase after relativism, sexual promiscuity, and monetary wealth. May it never happen on our watch.