Chapter 7 - The Greed of Wolves

The Dorian Principle, A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity.

By Conley Owens. Chapter 7. The Greed of Wolves. Feature vs.

Essence. About a year ago, I moved into a new home with a small tree in the backyard.

I was thinking about removing the tree, until winter came around and one of my kids found something interesting on it.

It was an orange, and a tasty one at that. I decided not to uproot the tree, but keep it.

As Jesus said, a good tree bears good fruit. However, unlike me and my orange tree,

Christ's concern did not revolve around identifying literal dead plants. Specifically, he wanted to equip his disciples to recognize and reject false teachers.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?

So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Matthew 7, 15 -20

A bad orange tree might produce bad oranges, or even no oranges at all.

But what does a false teacher produce? Of course, false teaching is the characteristic staple of a false teacher, but Jesus reveals something more in this passage.

He describes these malefactors as ravenous wolves, implying an underlying motivation of greed.

One may play down greed as merely a peripheral feature of false teachers, but the recurring drumbeat of the

New Testament places it at the heart of all false teaching. We could imagine a false teacher who lives a life of poverty, but the issue does not revolve around money so much as it does the pursuit of personal benefit.

Indeed, if one does not serve Christ, he has in mind his own gain. C .F.

Matthew 6, 24 In other words, the falseness of a false teacher does not merely hinge on erroneous doctrine, but on the teacher himself.

Dentures are regarded false teeth, though they may bite and chew like real teeth. Likewise, one who seeks his own gain in ministry is a false teacher though he may promote a similar authentic doctrine.

As we saw in the previous chapter, Paul's rejection of ministerial reciprocity extends from his sincerity, i .e.,

his lack of ulterior motive. Conversely, all who minister with an eye toward material payment possess an ulterior motive, unveiling themselves as less than sincere as false teachers.

This observation elevates the Dorian Principle beyond a nice -to -have idea.

If the New Testament anticipates that we should be able to distinguish false teachers from true teachers by their disposition towards reciprocity, then the

Dorian Principle is an essential component of God -honoring ministry. In this chapter,

I would like to walk through several examples of false teachers in the New Testament. In each one, we will see greed tied tightly to their identity, further establishing that true ministry needs to be marked with the sincerity of the

Dorian Principle, the scribes and Pharisees.

Notably, the scribes and Pharisees fall directly into this category of false teachers.

While some of their expansive rules and allowances are at odds with a proper understanding of God's law, the

New Testament regards the Pharisees as the contemporary sect of Judaism with the highest doctrinal fidelity.

In other words, they taught with more accuracy than any other group of their day. cf.

Acts 23 .6, 26 .5, Philippians 3 .5 Nevertheless, Jesus condemns them as false teachers largely on account of their greed.

Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers.

They will receive the greater condemnation. Luke 20, 46 -47, cf.

Matthew 23, 15, 25 Each of these criticisms focuses on covetousness rather than doctrinal error.

The scribes desire honor in the form of recognition and material gain. Jesus presents this greed not merely as an arbitrary vice that attends the actions of the scribes, but as something central that drives their evil deeds.

Notice also the pattern by which Jesus exposes the heart of covetousness in this passage.

It is not the long robes or greetings that are wrong, but the love of prestige that is.

Long prayers are not problematic, but pretense is abhorrent. However, Jesus interrupts this pattern when he speaks of widows' houses.

Here, the matter goes beyond the intentions of the heart. Christ describes the action itself in such a way that it could not accord with pure motives.

To devour another's property is to maliciously harm them. At this point, when material wealth is in view, the heart issue present in each of the other circumstances becomes most directly manifest.

This identity between insincerity and the pursuit of wealth echoes in John 10, where Jesus alludes to the

Pharisees of the previous chapter, describing them as hired hands. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. John 10, 12 -13

Jesus offers no accusation of excess, as though ministers should strive for some ethic of moderation that the hired hand has violated by demanding more than reasonable compensation.

The ulterior motive of gain, in any quantity, sufficiently incriminates the hired hand, differentiating him from the shepherd.

Even here, in the pages of the Gospels, the New Testament prepares us to identify greed, the pursuit of ministry for the sake of earthly recompense, as the identifying marker of false teachers.

Simon the Magician The narrative of Simon the Magician in Acts stands out among encounters between money and ministry.

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying,

Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the

Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.

You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Acts 8, 18 -21

Do not mistake the ethical transgression for a misunderstanding about the mechanics of impartation.

Explicitly, Peter rebukes Simon because he thought the gift of God could be obtained by money.

Implicitly, the apostle rebukes the magician because he thought the gift of God ought to be given for money.

Simon treats Peter as a minister for profit, and potentially sets himself up to be one as well, doling out this power to others who have the coin to spare.

By virtue of its narrative form, this passage centers around the particulars of one individual,

Simon. However, the prominence of this event in the fledgling church signifies the divine delivery of a generalized principle.

Not only is it impossible to facilitate the distribution of the gift of the Holy Spirit by means of financial exchange, it is dishonorable to make any such attempt.

Broadly speaking, any ministry, miraculous or non -miraculous, constitutes an attempt to impart the blessing of the

Holy Spirit. In this light, the passage condemns all ministerial reciprocity.

In the words of D .A. Carson, those who charge for spiritual ministry are dabbling in simony.

The Balaamites Both Peter and Jude compare false teachers at large to Balaam, the prophet willing to prophesy ill for a price.

After two explicit mentions of greed, 2 Peter 2 .3 .14, Peter speaks broadly of the false teachers who will arise.

Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Baor, who loved

Gain from wrongdoing. 2 Peter 2 .15. Jude offers a similar description of false teachers.

Woe to them, for they have walked in the way of Cain, and abandoned themselves for the sake of Gain to Balaam's error, and perished in Korah's rebellion.

Jude 11. By evoking the name of Balaam, Peter and Jude describe false teachers as primarily motivated by greed.

Additionally, both Peter and Jude employ the descriptor sensuality to characterize false teachers' desire for worldly pleasures.

2 Peter 2 .2. Jude 4. While this likely refers to the licentious teaching of the false teachers, the connection to material greed should not be missed.

Peter offers greed as an immediate expansion on the term sensuality, 2 Peter 2 .2

-3. Jude associates Balaamistic greed with animalistic impulses,

Jude 10 -11. Though sensuality primarily connotes sexual implications, it more broadly refers to all the desires of the flesh.

Note that even the tenth commandment, thou shalt not covet. unites the notions of greed and lust.

Peter's introduction of Balaam hints to this link, spelling his father's name in Greek as bosor, rather than beor.

That is, Peter identifies Balaam as a son of the flesh, transliterating the

Hebrew word for flesh rather than the actual name of Balaam's father. Jude further exposes this connection between greed and fleshly desire in his mention of shepherds feeding themselves,

Jude 12, an allusion to Ezekiel 34, 1 -10, and the shepherds of Israel who preyed on the sheep.

Similarly, Paul speaks of false teachers as being motivated by their appetites,

Romans 16 -18, and having their bellies as their gods, Philippians 3 .19,

most likely referring to their desire for compensation. 2

Peter and Jude place greed at the heart of false teaching. The motivation of wealth stands at odds with the path of a true teacher.

The Money Lovers Whether they represent a single party or not, Paul depicts the false teachers of the pastoral epistles as lovers of money.

Though their origin and many of their beliefs are uncertain, what is clear from Paul's words in the pastoral epistles is the motivation of false teachers.

It is greed. In 1 Timothy 6 .3 -10, the apostle warns against false teachers, listing their various qualities.

Finally, he settles on the assertion that false teachers consider godliness to be a means of gain, 1

Timothy 6 .5. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our

Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.

He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain, 1

Timothy 6 .3 -5. Notably, Paul phrases his rebuke to address all false teachers, speaking of any who teach a different doctrine.

He may have in mind particular false teachers, but that does not limit the scope of his application, which is put forward as a general principle.

The apostle's profile of a false teacher includes the invariable element of greed, that fundamental component which compromises sincere ministry.

Paul addresses lovers of money in 2 Timothy 3 .2, again describing them as having a superficial godliness, 2

Timothy 3 .5. Additionally, he compares them to Janus and Jambers. Just as Janus and Jambers opposed

Moses, so these men also opposed the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith, 2

Timothy 3 .8. These two are not mentioned in the Old Testament, but Jewish tradition records them as magicians in the employ of Pharaoh, apprentices of the prophet

Balaam. Not only does service to Pharaoh indicate the pursuit of riches, cf.

Hebrews 11 .25, but as we have already seen, the apostles used

Balaam's name synonymously with greed -driven prophecy. This issue of false teachers and the love of money is undoubtedly the same warning that was issued in the previous epistle to Timothy.

Once again, Paul highlights the love of money as the standard trait of false teachers.

Likewise, in his epistles to Titus, Paul contrasts true teaching with false teaching.

In particular, he warns against the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach,

Titus 1 .11. The doctrines of the circumcision party are not altogether certain, but the

New Testament presents this faction as a prototypical band of false teachers, cf.

Galatians 2 .12, Acts 11 .2. This is significant. By limiting itself on the details of their beliefs, but painting a robust picture of their motivations,

Scripture offers a generalized teaching in a particularized context. The core accusations applied to this sect are intended to apply broadly to false teachers of any sect.

This passage does not merely offer greed as a potential trait of false teachers, but as something that universally characterizes them.

All false teachers are motivated by greed, and all teachers motivated by greed are false.

In the New Testament, established requirements for elders function as guards against false teachers assuming the office.

It is significant, therefore, that these listings of qualifications invariably prohibit greed.

Each passage regards greed not merely as an unbecoming attribute of a true teacher, but as a mark of a false teacher.

This connection appears most strikingly in Titus, where the description of a true teacher

Titus 1 .5 -9 is placed in immediate contrast with the description of a false teacher

Titus 1 .10 -16. In particular, an elder is not to be greedy for shameful gain,

Titus 1 .7, because there are many false teachers who teach for the sake of shameful gain,

Titus 1 .11. 1 Timothy 3 .3 plainly forbids an elder not to be a lover of money.

Later, in the same epistle, Paul describes the lover of money as the hallmark of false ministry, a root of all kinds of evil, 1

Timothy 6 .10. 1 Peter does not directly address false teaching, but its prohibition against greed stands in line with the previous passages.

1 Peter 5 .2 requires that elders minister eagerly, not for shameful gain.

While the contrast is not immediately apparent, these two are offered within a list of opposites.

An elder is not to minister under compulsion, but willingly. He is not to be domineering.

But an example. In this light, eagerness stands opposed to shameful gain.

Those who desire money for ministry have a competing motive. We might be quick to reduce this competing motive as problematic only when it is central to the minister, but the text does not warrant such qualifications.

Any competing motivation compromises the sincerity, i .e., the eagerness, of a minister.

In the words of one theologian, at the very least, this passage implies that Christian leaders should not be motivated to minister by the thought of remuneration or any particular level of payment.

Conclusion Each of these passages we examined regards greed as the telltale characteristic of a false teacher.

Wolves are not wolves apart from their ravenous appetite. So to answer our original question, what is the fruit of false teachers?

Their greed. In more concrete demonstrations, it is the acceptance of reciprocity, their exchange of ministry for money.

The New Testament does not merely offer the Dorian principle as a way to honor God in but additionally as a way of discerning true teachers from false teachers.

In a world that has lost this standard, it can hardly function as such. However, if restored, this ethic could operate as intended, as a marker of legitimate servants of the

Lord. True ministers would be known for freely offering the gospel. False teachers, motivated by greed, would be recognized by their receipt of reciprocity.

Lack of adherence to the Dorian principle would raise a red flag, marking out wolves among sheep.

In the next chapter, we'll take a look at a particularly notable set of false teachers, the super -apostles of Corinth.