God’s News In The News

Week 424

Perilous Times

Slanderers, Without Self-Control, Brutal, Despisers Of Good

Really Bad Hombres
…slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,… (2 Tim 3:3, NKJV)

As we continue with our deep dive into each of the words the Apostle Paul uses to describe people in and outside of the church in the last days, we come upon a particular heinous listing of traits. These four characteristics all by themselves would make one cringe especially when you know that people like this were actually in the church Timothy pastored. In some commentaries they are paired into groups of three and contrasted with other portions of Scripture, all written by the Paul. As we look at these verses it is more and more obvious that the esteemed author of a majority of the New Testament knew exactly who these “believers” were because he encountered them in his travels and, in some cases in this the last of his epistles, he seems to be documenting the first of many declines in Christianity. A bigger divide would occur before revival would bring some back into the fold, although readers of a similar list in Romans might disagree as these self-disgraced people are more likely to be given over to a reprobate mind that become saintly.

Like Their Father

The word for “slanderers” is diábolos (dee-ab'-ol-os) to slander, accuse, defame – properly, a slanderer; a false accuser; unjustly criticizing to hurt (malign) and condemn to sever a relationship…in secular Greek means "backbiter," i.e., an accuser, calumniator (slanderer) … is literally someone who "casts through," i.e., making charges that bring down (destroy). If the word sounds familiar it’s because it is. It’s the same word that we use for Satan as he is The Devil, the accuser of the brethren. When you see people like this falsely accusing others you are seeing them act just like the evil one does over and over again. In the book of Job you see how it must play out for us as well:

Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth—a good man who fears God and will have nothing to do with evil.”

9 “Why shouldn’t he when you pay him so well?” Satan scoffed. 10 “You have always protected him and his home and his property from all harm. You have prospered everything he does—look how rich he is! No wonder he ‘worships’ you! 11 But just take away his wealth, and you’ll see him curse you to your face!”

12-13 And the Lord replied to Satan, “You may do anything you like with his wealth, but don’t harm him physically.” (Job 1:8-13, TLB)

As a little aside, although it is a tad off topic we should note that Satan can’t do anything to us unless God allows it. And I might add unless it also serves God’s purposes so the Devil is allowed to wreak his havoc only if it pushes His agenda overall. Let that sink in for a moment.

They Just Can’t Help Themselves

The next word is translated often as “without self-control” and on the surface this is easy to understand, however it is not a trait that one can simply say they had no choice in the matter as a person with a physical injury that keeps them from say standing up or performing basic functions. Rather the Greek word here gives us a greater insight to this term as it is akratḗs (ak-rat'-ace) (an adjective, derived from A "without" and krátos, "prevailing power") – properly, in continent, i.e., lacking self-control (self-discipline, self-restraint). This is a willful wildness and it stems from a love and desire for carnality and really a love for darkness rather than light. In Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible it is described this way:

Incontinent; though they pretend to the gift of continency, yet give themselves up to all lasciviousness, and work all uncleanness with greediness; or "intemperate" in eating and drinking, indulging themselves in rioting and drunkenness: "she hath lived deliciously", Revelation 18:7.

This speaks to a “Christian” who is pious on Sunday, but profane for the rest of the week. They bless God in services but blaspheme Him when they are not; saintly around believers but sacrilegious around everyone else. Although we could come up with a whole host of vices to help illustrate this, David Guzik in his bible study of this verse gives this example:

In the 1990s the Los Angeles Times published an article about Michelle, who was a successful writer and editor. She feared the day her husband might discover her secret stash of credit cards, her secret post office box, or the other tricks she used to hide how much money she spent shopping for herself. “I make as much money as my husband… If I want a $500 suit from Ann Taylor, I deserve it and don’t want to be hassled about it. So the easiest thing to do is lie,” she explained. Last year, when her husband forced her to destroy one of her credit cards, Michelle went out and got a new one without telling him. “I do live in fear. If he discovers this new VISA, he’ll kill me.” A schoolteacher explained more: “Men just don’t understand that shopping is our drug of choice,” she joked, even while admitting that some months her salary goes exclusively to paying the minimum balance on her credit cards. “Walking through the door of South Coast Plaza is like walking through the gates of heaven. God made car trunks for women to hide shopping bags in.” A young professional named Mary explained: “Shopping is my recreation. It’s my way of pampering myself. When you walk into [a mall] and you see all the stores, it’s like something takes over and you get caught up in it.”

Taming A Tiger?

Our next word is translated as “savage” but other words like “fierce,” “brutal,” “cruel” and “unmerciful” are used. While other generations have been violent and brutal, it seems like the times we live in is unusually vicious and venomous. The word used here is anémeros (an-ay'-mer-os) and can mean “not tame.” I am constantly amazed at reports of the utter savagery of people as they do all manner of unspeakable things to their fellow men and women. Crime shows are all over the media and they illustrate not just hurting someone, but cruelly doing so. One stab to the heart will kill, but accounts of innumerable stabs are not uncommon. They call them crimes of passion, but really they should be labeled as untamed barbarism. Going back to Guzik we find this account of the ferocity of our times:

A newspaper article in the 1990s described how an Oxnard man was accused of murdering his roommate after the two disagreed over the brand of beer the man had brought home. The accused man brought home Natural Light, and the murdered man wanted him to bring home Michelob. As he poured the Natural Light down the kitchen sink, he was stabbed to death.

If we needed an example from the times in which Paul and Timothy lived, we need go no further than the Romans who perfected the process of crucifixion and built the Colosseum where all manner of cruelty became entertainment. Contrast that with our times when the Colosseum is replaced by the television, computer and theater screens and the salient fact that such ferocity can be accessed 24/7/365. Inhumanity is a big draw and unfortunately extremely profitable. Putting the tiger back in the cage is a lost cause for us as we simply don’t have enough tiger tamers or cages.

Not A Fan

The last of the terms used here is despisers of good and it clearly understood by the original Greek word which is aphilágathos (af-il-ag'-ath-os) (from 1 /A, "not" and 5358 /philágathos, "a friend, lover of what is good") – properly, a hater of good describing someone who is hostile to the things of God – i.e., an active opponent (enemy) of God's kingdom (good). It is difficult to see how one can be hostile to the things of God and sit in our pews week after week and pretend to be a Christian. The ethical gymnastics to pull off such a feat is staggering to perform let alone fathom. And yet Paul says there will be those who engage in such sophistry, which would be absurd on its face if we didn’t see example after example of it. I must once again go to the commentary from Guzik to sum this up:

There just seem to be too many examples of this in modern society to pick out examples. For one example, there was a time when most people thought letting people live was good and killing them was generally a bad thing. Today, we live in a culture when the simple good of life is now despised and attacked, through abortion, through the glorifying of violence and murder, and through euthanasia.

On March 6, 1996, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declared the United States Constitution gives every American the right to kill someone else. Essentially, the court said that if you think someone might want to die – even if they have never said so – you can kill them and no law can stop you. You can kill someone if you are a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, a family member, or a “significant other” to a person you think wants to die. From the Judge’s ruling: “When patients are no longer able to pursue liberty or happiness and do not wish to pursue life,” they can be killed. The Federal Judge directly tied his decision to the right to abortion on demand. The reasoning seems to be that if the state must allow us to kill humans in the womb, it must also allow them to kill them later.

Cling To God

I can’t emphasize this enough if we want to avoid having any of these traits influence or worse, dwell in us. Pray that Holy Spirit will have His way with us and use both the searchlight of holiness and the scalpel of the word of God to find the cancer and excise it. Any one of the traits in the list we are studying can do seemingly irreparable damage us, our witness and to those around us. And Paul, through the leading of Holy Spirit warns us and also provides the remedy, just as he did to Timothy all believers in the future. I pray that we will be washed by the water of His word and cleansed by the fire of His holiness until there is found no wicked way in us. Does it sound unobtainable? With God nothing shall be impossible. Let Him do the work we can’t as we do the one thing He can’t and come willingly to Him. The world is replete with sinners who became saints and saints who stayed that way through the power of God. Take solace in that.