Being Real

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS

BEING REAL

1 Thess 2:1-6

2:1 You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed — God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

NIV

From a historical view, we know from the book of Acts that Paul was beaten and thrown in jail while he was bringing the gospel to the city of Philippi. On several occasions, Paul encountered opposition as he preached the gospel message, but that never stopped him. Once again, he is making a comparison between himself and some false teachers or preachers that were also making the circuit with wrong motives, as they were trying to make a living, or even more than that, gain wealth, from the gospel. From what Paul says about himself not wearing a mask to cover up greed, these false preachers must have been guilty of that very thing. These types of men were also trying to please men instead of God. That is always the way of those who preach falsehoods or twist the gospel message. With their smooth talk and big smiles, they preach some feel-good message simply to gain enough followers to support their thirst, their greed for wealth. It sure seems nothing has changed over the centuries, as we still have these mask-wearing preachers looking only for the praise from men, covering up their greed for wealth. However, today they need not travel from town to town, as those who Paul was speaking about. These charlatans, these men-pleasers have a host of media outlets available to them and they use them most proficiently or artfully for their own benefit and accumulation of wealth. Today, there are methods to track the more famous of these false preachers' net worth and it is astonishing that some have net worth’s in the multimillion of dollars. What we have learned over the years is to avoid these men as though they are a plague, a cancerous disease that would sap our very life, leaving us dead in their wake. We also have learned that we have to be true to the gospel message so that we please God rather than men. It is always a danger with our human nature, wanting to be liked, to be thought well of, which is in essence making some effort to be pleasing in the sight of our fellow believers. This can be the case in these newer methods of evangelism, making friends first with the non-believer, then after many days, months, or years, give them the message. That may well fit into the mold of pleasing men rather than God. We have to be careful as to how much we try to fit in, to gain their trust, to tell them about Jesus. This also applies to living among the community of faith. We need to make sure we are pleasing God, rather than putting on that mask, that façade, so everyone is pleased with our words. The mask only covers up the real, it is always better to just be real as we work to bring praise and honor to our Lord.