False Teachers in Your Life

2 Corinthians 11:1-21
Welcome. I cannot think of a better introduction for my message than to start with the Apostle Paul’s first sentence in 2 Corinthians 11: “I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness.” My first thought in reading this is to think, well, if Paul was foolish, what does that make me? I don’t think the English language has words that will do justice to the comparison.

But I actually want to start today by having you think back on a favorite teacher, you have had, whether in school, or college, or in music or art or athletics. Do you have a favorite teacher? Looking back, I can think of several. Frankly, the ones that come first to my mind are the ones who were the most entertaining, who did the most outrageous things to keep my attention. Just thinking back on them makes me smile. But is that necessarily a good measure of what makes a good teacher? I don’t think so. Certainly a teacher shouldn’t be so boring that it makes you fall asleep in you chair in five minutes, but there has to be more to it than that.

I can think of some other teachers and what strikes me most about them is how something about the way they taught made it really easy for me to remember what I needed to know on tests. I hardly needed to study at all! But I can now see a problem with this as a measure of teaching quality: it is possible it was easy because they hardly taught me anything! In at least one case I know that is true.

I can think of other teachers who taught me a great amount of material. But in this case I can see two problems. With some of these teachers I don’t today remember a thing they taught; in some cases, I forgot most of what they taught within a week after the course was over. And in other cases I do remember a lot of what they taught, but in some cases it was just plain wrong. I can remember one teacher in 7th or 8th grade who absolutely mangled the teaching of chemistry, teaching things so wrong that I didn’t dare show them to my father, a chemist, because I was afraid he would take me out of school. And there are some other teachers I enjoyed at the time, but what I now remember I liked about them was the bad words they used, and how they made fun of authority, and encouraged rebellion.

In short, what struck me is that some of my favorite teachers growing up I would classify today as false teachers. And I think it is valuable to reflect on that thought as we go into today’s passage.

I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. – 2 Corinthians 11:1-3

If you are wondering what Paul means by “his foolishness,” as we shall see, is that finally in this letter he is going to more directly address the claims of those who have turned the Corinthians against Paul. And he will do it in the only way it can be done, by reminding them of his qualifications. It is foolish to boast, but Paul has been left with no other option than to do it. (Of course, it is not all that foolish when you are so extremely qualified that your boasting is actually more like understatement!)

Paul is “jealous for” the Corinthians. That’s an unusual phrase, “jealous for.” That’s not how we normally use the world jealous. How do we use it? We say jealous of or we just say plain jealous, but what we mean is “jealous of.” You got to go to the concert? I’m jealous! That means “I’m jealous of you.” But jealous for is an entirely different animal. For one thing, as Paul says, it is a godly jealousy, not a sin.

Remember that God Himself calls Himself a jealous God in the Old Testament. Here are some examples. From the Ten Commandments:

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God… - Exodus 20:4-5a

At God’s giving of the remade Stone Tablets to Moses:

Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. – Exodus 34:14

And in Zechariah, one example of many in the prophetic books:

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her." – Zechariah 8:2

There is that “jealous for” again. What does it mean? It describes a kind of protectiveness, motivated by love. It describes a desire to see someone avoid being swept away by other beliefs, other people, other things, anything that would pull that person away from where they should be. Look at the rest of these first three verses:

I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. – 2 Corinthians 11:2-3

Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is painting a very powerful analogy here, that of a Jewish betrothal and wedding. At least symbolically, we follow the main ideas today. First a couple is engaged, and latter, at a wedding, they are married. The Jewish marriage ceremony began at what we would call the engagement; they would call it the betrothal. And then, what we call a wedding, they would call the nuptial. Usually the time between the two was around a year. The purpose of that year was preparation – accumulating the gift of a dowry to the father of the bride, building or adding on to a home so the new couple could live together, and so on. But in addition, this period was an opportunity for the woman to prove her character, to show that she could remain chaste and pure, that she would not be tempted by other men, that she would complete learning all the skills she needed to be the woman of the household.

But this time between betrothal and nuptial was not an experimental period, to see how things would go; the commitments made at the betrothal were binding. Breaking the contract, particularly with regards to purity, breaking the vows made at betrothal had the same punishment as breaking a marriage covenant after the nuptial – according to the Old Testament law, death. When you understand this well, it makes you wonder at the whole situation Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, faced.

Now, it was the job of the father of the woman betrothed to be married to watch out for his daughter during the period between betrothal and nuptial. It was his job to keep any other men from becoming too friendly. It was his job to preserve her purity, in deeds, and in thoughts. And at the nuptial, it was his job to present her to her betrothed husband, pure and spotless. And even today, in a modern wedding ceremony, we have hints of this, as it is the father of the bride who brings his daughter down the aisle. And traditionally, the pastor asks a question, something like, “Who presents this woman for marriage today?” And the father says, “I do,” and he takes his daughter by the hand and literally presents her to the groom.

With that picture in your head, listen to what Paul is saying:

I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. – 2 Corinthians 11:2-3

It’s a powerful picture, isn’t it? Paul, who led the first Corinthians to Christ, sees his job as one like that father. We all, as believers, are like the woman betrothed. We are betrothed to Christ.

And I love the passage in John 14 where Jesus says he is going to go away but you need not be sad, that He will go to prepare a place for you. This is exactly the same imagery. This is just like a groom who says he will go away to prepare a home for them, and when it is ready, he will come back to get them.

We are betrothed to Christ. And so one of the roles of someone in a pastor-type role is to be like that father of the woman betrothed, watching out for her. To switch to another picture, we are like shepherds; we guard the flock. It’s not our flock, but it is our responsibility to watch out for the flock, to see that they don’t go wandering away where the wolves can get them.

This concept is not just for pastors. It is for all of us. Elsewhere, Scripture is clear about this. We all are to watch out for one another, even to the point of being jealous for one another. This is love. Tolerance isn’t love! Tolerance might even be the opposite of love. Tolerance would say to let them go without even saying anything. Love says to do what you can; ultimately the choice is theirs, but we are to do what we can, like that father of the bride-to-be.

But with regards to the Corinthians, Paul is worried, even afraid. He is afraid that they will be deceived by clever talking, that they will mistake these false teachers for good teachers. And this is exactly what happened to Eve. When you act on what someone says, in effect you are declaring them to be good teachers. Eve decided that Satan was a good teacher, even better than God Himself.

For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. – 2 Corinthians 11:4-6

Look just at that first sentence. You put up with it (the teachings of false teachers) easily enough. How that phrase describes our culture, even our Christian culture! How that phrase actually describes every culture, back to the Corinthians, back to the Old Testament, back even to Eve. We put up with it. It doesn’t say we love it, or that we totally buy it hook and sinker, it says that we put up with it. We go along with it. How perfectly that describes humanity! We go along. We listen to false teachers and we go along.

Let me ask the question: What are the false teachers in your life? Do you know? Let’s be clear about this: just as the gospel is not preached without a preacher, without words, oral or written, false teachings don’t just happen; they must be communicated. This takes words, oral or written. What are the false teachers in your life? It can be your friends, your coworkers, your family. It can be what you read, in books and on the internet. It can be what you watch and hear, on TV, or radio, or the internet, or movies. These are the false teachers in your life.

Listen – this is so important! Just because a “teacher” doesn’t promote a false religion doesn’t mean that it is neutral, or harmless. The message of a false teacher can be subliminal. It can be delivered through what they don’t say rather than what they say. It can be through what they do, and not what they say directly.
In verse 3 it says that Eve was deceived. Do you know what that means? It means her thinking betrayed her. At least partly she thought she was making a good decision. This is what false teachers do. We can be deceived. We are not masters of our brains. We are not masters of what we think. By allowing false teachers into our lives it is like we are downloading a bunch of computer viruses into our brains. Maybe it will be OK, or maybe they will silently start to corrupt our most important files. This is the danger we are playing with when we entertain false teachers.
Now, beginning with verse 5, Paul finally begins to defend himself. Why is he doing this? For his own reputation? No! He does this to preserve his role as father of the bride. He does this so that he can fight off the effects of these false teachers. He needs to remind them who he is so that he can be “jealous for” them and help them to see the truth.

There’s a lot of sarcasm in this passage. In fact, there is a lot of sarcasm throughout this letter. For those of us who tend to say sarcastic things, I guess this is encouraging. There is a godly sarcasm! He calls these false teachers “super apostles.” I presume this is because this is what they call themselves. That takes a lot of chutzpah, to project yourself above even the 12 apostles. Being sarcastic here is actually gentler than calling them what they are. So if you are wondering what godly sarcasm looks like, it is a way to call something by a gentler name than what the unadorned truth would do.

Paul admits he is not a professionally trained speaker. Literally you could translate this as “rude in speech.” The Greek word is idiotes, from which we get the word idiot. Again, in that Greek-based culture, delivery was at least as important as content. Paul reminds them that content is what really matters, and on content he has delivered nothing but truth.

Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. – 2 Corinthians 11:7-9

“Come on, you listen to that Paul guy? He’s a rank amateur. (This is the real meaning of idiotes.) Paul? He doesn’t even charge any money. He’s no professional, not like us. You can know how good we are by how much we charge.” You may laugh, but this is apparently what the false teachers were saying. And you know, in the business world there is a bit of truth to it. In normal economic times (and these are not normal economic times), if you are a consultant and you charge too little, people will assume you are not professional, or not qualified, or that there is something else wrong with you. Even at yard sales, it is often difficult to get rid of stuff marked as “free” for the same reason. If it’s free, the thinking goes, I guess that means it must be junk.

In Greek culture, just as with modern consultants, you could judge their greatness by the size of the fee they could require. Paul did not charge for pouring out his life to the Corinthians. Was this a bad thing? Of course not! Paul did not charge because he felt it could be a hindrance to the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:12). In the same way, here at Clemson Community Church we do not make a public show on Sunday mornings of our giving, we do not pass the baskets with music playing, because we feel it could be a hindrance to the gospel.

Maybe times are not that different. Paul’s reasons make sense today. People today see TV preachers constantly begging for money and conclude that that is what Christianity is all about. Can you imagine if some of them found out about us and berated us for what we do? Maybe we are rank amateurs too. If so, we are in very good company.

By the way, a comment about that “robbed other churches” comment: this is more sarcasm. He didn’t actually steal from other churches. But they helped him out while he was establishing this new work in Corinth. This had been his pattern in city after city. Not that he didn’t also work; he did. Forgive the play on words, but he took it out of his own hide. (He was a tentmaker, a leather worker.)

As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. – 2 Corinthians 11:10-12

What is the charge here? Why does Paul say, “Because I do not love you?” It had to be because this was another one of the charges of the false teachers. They were claiming that he didn’t love the Corinthians. Perhaps the grounds for this they used was that he had been harsh with them in the past; as you can see in both 1 and 2 Corinthians, he had been. But that didn’t mean he didn’t love them; it meant he did. He loved them enough to wade into uncomfortable things with them. By the way, the “I do” part is not actually in the text, but it is implied. Paul replies “God knows” to the question of whether he loved the Corinthians. I find this a very emotional, very tragic reply. Maybe I am reading into it, but what I see there is the thought, “If you don’t know it by now, how much I love you, what more can I say? God knows.”

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. – 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

Now Paul lays out what these false teachers are really like. They are false. That means they are liars. They are deceitful. That means they lie. Paul is being very upfront here. He is not being politically correct. He is not even being polite. He is being harsh. He is calling these people Satan’s servants.

But when we are talking about false teachers whose teaching lead to many having shipwrecked faith and many more never coming to the real Christ at all, can any words be harsh enough? Think about the founders of all the various cults in the world, all the false religions. I’m talking about the founders, not the followers. How much harm have they done? How much damage have they caused? I am talking about those within Christianity (as Paul is) as well as those outside. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). There is no other name under heaven by which we are saved (Acts 4:12).
We could talk about all the various cults, but how much damage has just liberal Christianity caused? Do you know what I mean by the term? Here is a description on Wikipedia:

"Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century onwards. The word “liberal” in liberal Christianity does not refer to a progressive political agenda or set of beliefs, but rather to the manner of thought and belief associated with the philosophical and religious paradigms developed during the Age of Enlightenment…"

I hope you realize the pride and hubris in even calling something the Age of Enlightenment – this implies that everything before this age was unenlightened. If anything, the opposite is more accurate. Perhaps a better name would be the Age of Foolishness. Immanuel Kant described Enlightenment as the freedom to use one’s own intelligence. Again, what has today’s passage taught us? That we are easily deceived, even gullible! Trusting solely in one’s own intelligence is a recipe for failure. And one of the prime features of this age was the questioning of anything and everything, especially religious orthodoxy and morality. Is anyone surprised? Continuing with the description:

"The theology of liberal Christianity was prominent in the biblical criticism of the 19th and 20th centuries. The style of scriptural hermeneutics [how you interpret the Bible] within liberal theology is often characterized as non-propositional. This means that the Bible is not considered a collection of factual statements but instead documents the human authors’ beliefs and feelings about God at the time of its writing – within a historic/cultural context. Thus, liberal Christian theologians do not claim to discover truth propositions but rather create religious models and concepts that reflect the class, gender, social, and political contexts from which they emerge…"

Do you follow what this is saying? We don’t read 2 Corinthians to learn what is true, but to learn what Paul believed and felt when he wrote it. We, of course, are of a later age, an “enlightened” age, and so we can make enlightened decisions about faith and theology beyond the constraints of the Bible. (That was sarcasm!)

"Contemporary liberal Christians may prefer to read Jesus’ miracles as metaphorical narratives for understanding the power of God. Not all theologians with liberal inclinations reject the possibility of miracles, but may reject the polemicism [arguments that stem from taking a strong stand] that denial or affirmation entails…"

I just have to ask, where is faith? Not faith in faith, but faith in Christ? If you don’t trust the miracles, if you don’t trust the Bible, how can you have any sort of faith in Christ to save you? Of course, if you are mostly interested in what the authors believed and felt and feel you can rise above all this, then you probably don’t feel that you need any saving. It’s a different Jesus, a different Spirit, and a different gospel, as the passage said previously.

Look again at what Paul said about his contemporaries, and see if today’s situation is any less appropriate.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. – 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

By the way, the name of today’s background image, by Mark Lawrence, is "2 Corinthians 11:13-14." It is abstract art, so we don’t know exactly what the artist was thinking (wait, I sound like a liberal theologian!), but when I look at it I think about Satan masquerading as an angel of light. Liberal theology would not have captured the hearts of over 100 million people if it were not attractive. People are attracted to the idea that you can rely on yourself to understand God, that you are not in need of saving, that such ideas are primitive notions from an earlier time. For some people liberal theology is like comfort food – it just makes you feel warm inside. You go to church, you hear a smart person talk about life, using the Bible as an example of what principles he or she is bringing forth, along with examples from modern life, all culminating in some perhaps truly decent thoughts about caring about others or something like that, and you feel good. For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

Here is the rest of the passage:

I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. – 2 Corinthians 11:16-18

You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! – 2 Corinthians 11:19-21

Paul feels forced into this. For the sake of the Corinthian church, which he guards and protects like a father protecting a betrothed daughter, he has to do this. He has to defend his credentials. In a way, he is answering a fool according to his folly. But he needs to do it for the sake of the church.

So he does a “little” boasting. The Greek word there is micron. He does a micron of boasting. But he disclaims it. He is loathe to do it. And then beginning in verse 19 there is more sarcasm. You’re wise, are you? Sure! You’re so wise that you put up with those false teachers, and believe what they say, those fools. And not just them, but anyone who enslaves, or exploits, or takes advantage, or pushes forward, or even slaps you in the face. You are so wise that you allow these horrible false teachers into your life. Yeah, that’s real wise.

Let me turn off the sarcasm and just be straightforward. If you are watching the TV in the morning or reading the news on the internet instead of having a quiet time, time in the Word and in prayer, you are letting false teachers into your life, and not only that, you are listening to them instead of to the truth. As I’ve said many times, I’m not saying all TV watching is bad, or all internet news is bad. What’s bad is letting anything become more important than spending time with your Savior. The only way we can withstand the false teachers, the only way their arrows miss their mark, is when we are daily being refreshed in Christ and refilled in the Spirit. Let us all be truly wise and daily depend on Him. And let us jealously guard one another, keeping one another pure until the day of His coming.