Greedy Preachers

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” (1 Timothy 6:3-5)

The Bible constantly warns us to watch out for false teachers. Do you? We need to think about this more often than we do. Know what we should keep an eye out for? Greed. Greedy preachers.

Greedy for praise. False teachers “are conceited and understand nothing.” Greedy preachers are full of themselves. They love to talk about themselves. They love to talk about what they think and how good they are. They claim to know more than Jesus and his Word. Watch out for greedy preachers!

Greedy for attention. “They have an unhealthy interest in controverses and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction.” Greedy preachers crave attention and will do and say whatever necessary to get it. Often, the best way to get attention is to start controversies and seek arguments. Aren’t people quick to pay attention to quarrels and strife? That feeds those preachers’ greed for attention. Watch out for greedy preachers!

Greedy for money. They “have been robbed of the truth and think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” While the Bible clearly says that preachers have a right to earn a living through their preaching of the gospel, the gospel is never to be a means to financial gain. How many preachers through shows and podcasts and books have found a way to enrich themselves? Watch out for greedy preachers!

Instead, what should we look for? “The sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and godly teaching.” Compared to the “show” that greedy preachers generate, that sounds kind of boring, doesn’t it? Is sound instruction really what we need? Absolutely! Your ears need to hear over and over that you are a sinner saved by God’s grace. Your heart needs to be filled again and again with the grace of Jesus, who came not to enrich himself but to give his life for us.

Watch out for greedy preachers! They are nothing compared with Jesus.

Dear Lord God, the world is full of preachers seeking to use your Word to enrich themselves. Turn our ears away from greedy preachers and fill our hearts with the sound instruction of your Word. Amen.

Pastor Nathan