#387

Perilous Times: Lovers Of Self, Lovers Of Money

Getting Into The Details

In our last lesson we generically read the list of descriptions given to Timothy by his mentor Paul concerning the people to stay away from in what the apostle called perilous times. Now we’re going to actually take a closer look at the individual terms to see if we can identify them in our times. As we will quickly see, Paul could have easily been living in our day as the people depicted could be your leaders, co-workers, neighbors and even family members, but sadly those you attend church with and sit in the pews with. Actually, those mentioned are primarily believers, albeit at the very least carnal ones. It is a harsh reality to take in, but many commentators say exactly that so the admonitions Paul gives are more than a little prescient for us today.

Lovers Of Self

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For men will be lovers of themselves… (2 Tim 3:2, NKJV)

This and the next one is fairly easy to explain, but we do need to be specific if we want to glean the most from all twenty terms. In the original language, this phrase means pretty much what you’d think it means. The word used is unique to the New Testament and only used here and it is phílautos (an adjective, derived from 5384 /phílos, "lover" and 846 /autós, "of self") – properly, a lover of self, describing someone preoccupied with their own selfish desires (self-interests). Those who know that the Greeks had numerous words for love will recognize this one as a derivative of the word for brotherly love and we can see it used in the city of Philadelphia. But make no mistake, the selfishness referred to is very common. Have you ever worked with a believer who said all the right things and did all the right things, but you could see that it was all show and meant to draw and lift up them and not God? That’s exactly what is meant here and in the next phrase. The kind of Christians in the very last days will have this hallmark.

Lovers Of Money

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…lovers of money…(2 Tim 3:2, NKJV)

Not surprisingly, the same word for “love” is used in relation to money. It is slightly different as it is philárgyros (from 5384 /phílos, "lover" and 696 /árgyros, "of silver") – properly, a lover of money (literally, silver) – i.e. someone (literally) "in love with personal gain (having money)." Again, this is fairly easy to define, but in combination with lovers of themselves we see a pattern that makes sense. The object of the love is different but the root is very much the same and the goal is in line with the prideful nature of their concerns. These people who call themselves Christians will give money to all manner of good causes and even tithe dutifully. But if you are discerning you will see even subtle ways their giving is noted and mentioned so as to draw attention to themselves. I think the best example of this is the infamous New Testament couple Ananias and Sapphira found in Acts 5. Here are the verses of that account:

But there was a man named Ananias (with his wife Sapphira) who sold some property 2 and brought only part of the money, claiming it was the full price. (His wife had agreed to this deception.)

3 But Peter said, “Ananias, Satan has filled your heart. When you claimed this was the full price, you were lying to the Holy Spirit. 4 The property was yours to sell or not, as you wished. And after selling it, it was yours to decide how much to give. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us, but to God.”

5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor, dead! Everyone was terrified, 6 and the younger men covered him with a sheet and took him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Did you people sell your land for such and such a price?”

“Yes,” she replied, “we did.”

9 And Peter said, “How could you and your husband even think of doing a thing like this—conspiring together to test the Spirit of God’s ability to know what is going on? Just outside that door are the young men who buried your husband, and they will carry you out too.”

10 Instantly she fell to the floor, dead, and the young men came in and, seeing that she was dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Terror gripped the entire church and all others who heard what had happened. (Acts 5:1-10, TLB)

Too Harsh?

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There are those who read this account and think that the punishment didn’t fit the crime. Why would God kill this couple for simply lying about giving money to the young church? They say that others in the Bible have lied and not had their lives taken from them as the discipline. Sure, there were consequences, but death? What made this man and wife different? There are a few reasons that God made an example of this incident, some of which are noted in an article from the web site gotquestions.org:

The case of Ananias and Sapphira illustrates the fact that even believers can be led into bold, flagrant sin. It was Satan that had filled their hearts to lie in this way (Acts 5:3) and “to test the Spirit of the Lord” (verse 9). Covetousness, hypocrisy, and a desire for the praise of men all played a part in their demise.

The sudden, dramatic deaths of Ananias and Sapphira served to purify and warn the church. “Great fear seized the whole church” (Acts 5:11). Right away, in the church’s infancy, God made it plain that hypocrisy and dissimulation were not going to be tolerated, and His judgment of Ananias and Sapphira helped guard the church against future pretense. God laid the bodies of Ananias and Sapphira in the path of every hypocrite who would seek to enter the church.

Furthermore, the incident involving Ananias and Sapphira helped to establish the apostles’ authority in the church. The sinners had fallen dead at Peter’s feet. It was Peter who had known of the secret sin and had the authority to pronounce judgment in the church (see Matthew 16:19). If the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira had succeeded in fooling Peter, it would have severely damaged the apostles’ authority.

Look Around

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As Paul rightly warned, this kind of believer will always do what is good for themselves if not all the time but certainly in the end and cannot be trusted to work with and even around. They will find a way to get what they want at the expense of others and ultimately to the detriment of a good witness. As alluded to in the quote above, these are dangerous people, those who love themselves and money more than God. We must realize that the damage they do to the body of Christ is more than just a passing fancy. They hurt our witness and are used to deride the church overall. Many evangelists and pastors are criticized for their lavish lifestyles even if they have good hearts and are blind to the things they do and say about money and possessions. And if we say we are discerning and not recognize and deal with this unhealthy love both in ourselves and others, it gives those outside the church reasons to criticize us and the God we lift up. And it will be dealt with as we see in this verse:

“But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Rev 21:8, NLT)

We must also realize that the punishment for lying will always catch up to the liar. And even though it may be different for each instance, we know that ultimately the liars are thrown into the lake of fire just like the others listed in Revelation. However, the damage that people who live like this can’t be measured in conventional terms.

The Love Of Money

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Yes, the person who loves money and themselves contributes to the perilous times. However, it isn’t money that is the problem. It’s the love of it as noted in this verse that is often misquoted:

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (1 Tim 6:10, NLT)

A casual reading of the original words used here by Paul lets us know that a lot of pieces of evil build to all kinds of evil. And this love of money can even take them astray from their first love, from where they truly belong. The last part of the verse is the most tragic as they are wounded deeply as a result of this unholy love of things. The Greek word for “sorrows” is odýnē – intense emotional pain (personal anguish); consuming grief, which is emotionally lethal if experienced apart from God's grace which comforts. Yes, it is a poor witness, yes it causes suffering to the whole body, but to the individual it is emotionally lethal. I like how Matthew Henry summarizes this point:

Even in gospel times there would be perilous times; on account of persecution from without, still more on account of corruptions within. Men love to gratify their own lusts, more than to please God and do their duty. When every man is eager for what he can get, and anxious to keep what he has, this makes men dangerous to one another. When men do not fear God, they will not regard man.

What Are We To Do?

That is the question and Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:5 to run away from or shun these people. He literally tells him and by extension us, to have nothing to do with these people and that seems to be a hard saying. Afterall, how do they have any hope of changing? The tacit implication is that there are people in the last days that will drag us down as we try to lift them up. We love them, but Paul is telling us that if we try to redeem them it will come to naught and harm us and the church. These people are not novice sinners or young believers. Rather they have been perfecting this lifestyle and are entrenched in their self-deception. They most likely surround themselves with like-minded people and will not listen to our pleas and cries to change. There are some people only Holy Spirit can reach and we are not equipped to do the work. It is a waste of our time and energy and our efforts are better spent elsewhere. What we can do is pray for them which is not a trifling work. Unlike some who disparage prayer, we know better. We must ask God for His wisdom to discern who falls into this category and to act accordingly.