Original Meaning
Description of the False Teacher (6:3–5)
PAUL’S LAST DESCRIPTION of the false teachers was in 4:1–5, which he followed by a contrasting word to Timothy as to how he should act as a good servant of the Lord. In the present passage, verses 3–5 describe the false teachers and verse 6 establishes a contrast triggered by the repetition of the word “godliness.”
Another major section like this occurs in 2 Timothy 3:1–9, though the contrast there is not with Timothy but with Paul’s own life (vv. 10–11). It is significant that in both 1 Timothy 6 and 2 Timothy 3 one of Paul’s criticisms of the false teachers has to do with greed. Here it occurs at the crucial middle of the section; in 2 Timothy 3:1–9 it occurs at the beginning (v. 2). In both passages, however, greed is contrasted with true godliness. Financial greed is also mentioned in yet another section about false teachers (Titus 1:10–16, esp. v.11).
The fact that Paul does not hesitate to attribute financial motives to the opponents of his gospel not only triggers his insistence on combining godliness with sound teaching, but also reflects a convention in the Greco-Roman world, that of using such charges as a means of discrediting one’s opponents.1 It must be stressed, however, that this is no mere convention here; polluting the gospel message by financial gain was, and is, a serious matter.
Verse 3 opens with a conditional clause, “if anyone teaches false doctrines.” Paul has already made it clear that there are indeed people who do this, and the conditional clause is a normal way of expressing an assumption. It might be better to translate it “anyone who” or “whoever” (NRSV). The verb for teaching false doctrines (heterodidaskaleo) appeared in 1:3 (see comments). This is still his concern.
The false doctrine runs counter to “sound instruction” and “godly teaching.” Both expressions are thematic in the Pastorals. The word “sound” represents the participle of the verb hygiaino, conveying the idea of being in good health (see comments on 1:10).2 The niv “instruction” represents the plural of logos, which has a broader meaning than just “words.” Thus, it need not refer to the specific words of Christ, though it is sometimes taken to do so (as in nrsv). The Pastorals do not cite specific quotations of Christ that the heretics contradict. Rather, their teaching is against the basic doctrines that he taught his followers. The word “godly,” which modifies “teaching,” is a significant word in the Pastoral Letters, where it refers both to the character of individuals and to doctrine.3
The person who “does not agree” to the truth “is conceited and understands nothing” (v. 4; “a pompous ignoramus,” reb; cf. 1:7; 3:6). A somewhat similar description appears in Romans 1:21–22, 25, 28. The person who rejects “healthy” doctrine has an “unhealthy” or morbid obsession with “controversies and quarrels about words.” Lock calls them “hair-splitting—fights in which words are the weapons and perhaps also the object; there is no reality behind them.”4
The five results listed for these quarrels all have to do with disruptions in interpersonal relationships: “envy,” “strife” (a contentious disruption of relationships, which often arises from envy), “malicious talk” (blasphemiai, in this case slandering one another, not God), “evil suspicions,” and “constant friction.” Not only the friction but all of these dysfunctional attitudes occur among people who have three characteristics: a “corrupt mind,” “robbed of the truth,” and driven by a perverted concept of “godliness.” The false concept is that godliness (here perhaps in a more ordinary sense of “religion”) is a way to make money.
Bridging Contexts
THE BACKGROUND FOR Paul’s concern. As noted earlier Paul apparently became increasingly concerned with the murky mixture containing the dregs of false doctrine and sinful character of the false teachers. This is different from the nasty accusations that ancient preachers, both philosophic and religious, used to hurl at each other. Paul is not merely trying to demean the opposition. He is trying to show the connection between evil people and the evil teachings they are foisting on the Christians at Ephesus.
Timothy is facing an intellectual perversion here, shown in the persistent pursuit of details that do not edify but stir up controversy. These false teachers apparently have two wretched goals in their religious instruction: financial gain and sexual conquest (see also 2 Tim. 3:6). This, of course, is the picture novelists have portrayed of evangelists—in some cases, with justification. Religion provides a marvelous cover for evil. In a later century but still in the context of the Roman empire, the satirist Lucian described religious and philosophical preachers, many of them itinerants, who used their profession to gain money and sex. One example was Alexander the false prophet, who sold prophecies for a price and settled in an area where people were superstitious and gullible. He also found a rich patroness.6 A more famous figure was Peregrinus. This man was always seeking attention, finally demonstrated when he immolated himself on a pyre at a Greek festival with everyone looking on. During the course of his checkered career, Peregrinus discovered that itinerant Christian preachers were royally hosted and supported by sincere Christians. He converted from Cynicism to Christianity for a time.7
To follow a religious profession for the sake of personal gain was already well known in Paul’s day. He told the Thessalonians that he did not want to be a burden or indebted to any of them and, therefore, as he preached the gospel he worked at a trade “night and day” (1 Thess. 2:3–9). He preached full time only when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, possibly because they brought supplies from believers there (Acts 18:5; cf. Phil. 4:10–19).8 In contrast to all those “who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (v. 5), Paul’s assertion that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (v. 6) is a strong personal testimony. Here is a marvelous example of blending religion and practice, godliness and contentment.
The “love of money.” After urging his readers to have this contentment with basics of food and clothing, Paul establishes an aphorism that is often misquoted and almost always quoted apart from its context: “Love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (v. 10). It is often rightly pointed out that Paul does say that money is the root of all evil, it is the love of money that nourishes evil. Furthermore, it is not the root of all evil, but a
(niv, nrsv) root or “at the root” (nlt) of all kinds of evil, as implied by the Greek text.
In another master stroke of blending doctrine and life, Paul states that “some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith” (v. 10). We have seen that in the Pastoral Letters the word “the” before “faith” implies that it is not one’s personal trust in Christ but the body of Christian doctrine that he has in mind. Greedy motives lead away from the truth. Paul will pick this theme up in the next section when he tells Timothy to “fight the good fight of the faith” (v. 12).
All of this demonstrates the importance of having proper motivation in ministry. Our hearts are deceitful indeed; the love of money (even though we may profess a simple lifestyle) and degenerate lust (even though we may preach sermons against it) have moved to make shipwreck of the ministries of far too many people. How much more dangerous it is when these drives run wild in the hearts of those who are not even believers.
Contemporary Significance
KEEPING OUR CHECKBOOK “in balance.” We human beings seem to find it hard to keep our balance. With regard to the current section, we tend to avoid offending anyone and consequently mute the implications of the truth. Paul makes it clear that evil motives at least sometimes lie behind evil doctrines. Yet to accuse those who do not agree with orthodox doctrine of sins of greed or other unworthy motives can easily overstep on the other side. We should never forget that Paul was inspired
by the Holy Spirit as he wrote, and what he wrote was truth because it was indeed the Word of God. We, by contrast, do not have that unerring judgment regarding people’s motives. Not only can we turn people away today if our lives do not support what we are claiming, but we can turn people away because we accuse others of the same. This takes much discernment from God and a delicate blend of love and boldness.
In the past, fundamentalist Christians heavily criticized the Catholic Church for its material possessions. In the August 4, 1997 issue of Time magazine, the Mormons were put under the same searchlight. But there are plenty of lavishly built churches and lavish homes owned by Protestant preachers with expensive cars to guard our thoughts and speech in this matter. There may be fewer Christians than we think who are truly content with food and clothing. Unfortunately, we may regard the “simple lifestyle” only as a noble gesture ensuing from the 1960s.
It would not hurt preachers—or any of us, for that matter—to draw up a series of pages with two columns, one labeled “need” and the other “want,” and to list in the appropriate columns our homes with their market value, our cars, perhaps the number of clothes and shoes we have, and other items that need that kind of assessment, and then to set these lists before God in a time of prayer, determined to take the proper action as a result of our evaluation. One friend who had earned enough to live comfortably sincerely offered to God to downsize significantly and recalls the fear he then experienced as to what this might mean!
1. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus called the revolutionary Theudas a goes, a sorcerer, the same word he used to describe an Egyptian false prophet and a band of outlaws (War 2.13.5, 6 [261, 264]; Ant. 20.5.1 [97]). Any missionary of a new religion might be accused of being a magus (i.e., a charlatan magician). Elsewhere Paul referred to contrasting opinions concerning himself with the words “genuine, yet regarded as impostors [planoi]” (2 Cor. 6:8). He asserted in 1 Thess. 2:3 that his “appeal” did not “spring from error or impure motives.” The impure motives in question often involved greed, so Paul defends himself further by saying that he did not use a “mask to cover up greed” (v. 5) and that far from being a (financial) “burden” to them he worked “night and day” (v. 9). For other examples see W. Liefeld, The Wandering Preacher As a Social Figure in the Roman Empire (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1968), 272–87. See also comments on 4:2.
2. See also 2 Tim. 1:13; 4:3; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:1.
3. In 1 Timothy it occurs in 2:2; 3:16; 4:7, 8, as well as in the present passage in vv. 3, 5, 6, 11; it also occurs in 2 Tim. 3:5; Titus 1:1. The cognate verb occurs in 1 Tim. 5:4 and the adverb in 2 Tim. 3:12; Titus 2:12.
4. Lock, Pastoral Epistles, 68.
5. See also Young, Theology of the Pastoral Letters, 19, 33–34, commenting on Reggie M. Kidd, Wealth and Beneficence in the Pastoral Epistles.
6. Lucian, Alexander. See also W. Liefeld, The Wandering Preacher As a Social Figure, 85–88.
7. Lucian, Peregrinus. See also Liefeld, The Wandering Preacher
As
a Social Figure, 53–59.
8. The use of a begging bag by wandering Cynic preachers may be one reason Jesus told his disciples not to take such a bag (Luke 9:3; 10:4).
Original Meaning
Contentment and True Godliness (6:6–10)
In verse 6 Paul picks up the word “gain” from verse 5 and contradicts the utilitarian view of godliness criticized there. There is great gain in godliness, but only if it is combined “with contentment,” the opposite of greed. The word “contentment” is autarkes, a word used by the Stoics for the virtue of self-sufficiency. Paul used this word in a Christian sense also in Philippians 4:11, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
It is interesting that Paul does not speak here of Christ being our contentment. No doubt that was still true for him, but the point he makes in verse 7 is expressed in an aphorism much like our “you can’t take it with you.” Verse 8 specifies the essentials necessary for contentment, “food and clothing.” This embodies Jesus’ strong teaching against greed and regarding trust in God for material needs in Luke 12:13–34 (see also the prayer, “Give us today our daily bread,” and other teachings in the Sermon on the Mount in Matt. 6:9–13, 19–34).5
The point of verses 9–10 is not that wealth is wrong but that desire for it is. Three phrases make that clear: (1) “people who want to get rich,” (2) “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” (3) and “some people, eager for money” (italics added). The niv properly avoids the definite article before the word “root” because Paul is not saying that the love of money is the root, and the niv inserts “kinds of” to show the implication of the word “all” before “evil.”
The closing words of verse 10 show the interconnection between covetousness and departure from “the faith.” Once again we see the contrast between the combination of true godliness and faith on the one hand and evil motivation and unbelief on the other. The familiar verse 7 is not only a truism; it is a powerful fact that should motivate our living. In fact, the whole section of verses 6–10 is familiar to our ears.
Bridging Contexts
THE BACKGROUND FOR Paul’s concern. As noted earlier Paul apparently became increasingly concerned with the murky mixture containing the dregs of false doctrine and sinful character of the false teachers. This is different from the nasty accusations that ancient preachers, both philosophic and religious, used to hurl at each other. Paul is not merely trying to demean the opposition. He is trying to show the connection between evil people and the evil teachings they are foisting on the Christians at Ephesus.
Timothy is facing an intellectual perversion here, shown in the persistent pursuit of details that do not edify but stir up controversy. These false teachers apparently have two wretched goals in their religious instruction: financial gain and sexual conquest (see also 2 Tim. 3:6). This, of course, is the picture novelists have portrayed of evangelists—in some cases, with justification. Religion provides a marvelous cover for evil. In a later century but still in the context of the Roman empire, the satirist Lucian described religious and philosophical preachers, many of them itinerants, who used their profession to gain money and sex. One example was Alexander the false prophet, who sold prophecies for a price and settled in an area where people were superstitious and gullible. He also found a rich patroness.6 A more famous figure was Peregrinus. This man was always seeking attention, finally demonstrated when he immolated himself on a pyre at a Greek festival with everyone looking on. During the course of his checkered career, Peregrinus discovered that itinerant Christian preachers were royally hosted and supported by sincere Christians. He converted from Cynicism to Christianity for a time.7
To follow a religious profession for the sake of personal gain was already well known in Paul’s day. He told the Thessalonians that he did not want to be a burden or indebted to any of them and, therefore, as he preached the gospel he worked at a trade “night and day” (1 Thess. 2:3–9). He preached full time only when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, possibly because they brought supplies from believers there (Acts 18:5; cf. Phil. 4:10–19).8 In contrast to all those “who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (v. 5), Paul’s assertion that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (v. 6) is a strong personal testimony. Here is a marvelous example of blending religion and practice, godliness and contentment.
The “love of money.” After urging his readers to have this contentment with basics of food and clothing, Paul establishes an aphorism that is often misquoted and almost always quoted apart from its context: “Love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (v. 10). It is often rightly pointed out that Paul does say that money is the root of all evil, it is the love of money that nourishes evil. Furthermore, it is not the root of all evil, but a
(niv, nrsv) root or “at the root” (nlt) of all kinds of evil, as implied by the Greek text.
In another master stroke of blending doctrine and life, Paul states that “some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith” (v. 10). We have seen that in the Pastoral Letters the word “the” before “faith” implies that it is not one’s personal trust in Christ but the body of Christian doctrine that he has in mind. Greedy motives lead away from the truth. Paul will pick this theme up in the next section when he tells Timothy to “fight the good fight of the faith” (v. 12).
All of this demonstrates the importance of having proper motivation in ministry. Our hearts are deceitful indeed; the love of money (even though we may profess a simple lifestyle) and degenerate lust (even though we may preach sermons against it) have moved to make shipwreck of the ministries of far too many people. How much more dangerous it is when these drives run wild in the hearts of those who are not even believers.
Contemporary Significance
KEEPING OUR CHECKBOOK “in balance.” We human beings seem to find it hard to keep our balance. With regard to the current section, we tend to avoid offending anyone and consequently mute the implications of the truth. Paul makes it clear that evil motives at least sometimes lie behind evil doctrines. Yet to accuse those who do not agree with orthodox doctrine of sins of greed or other unworthy motives can easily overstep on the other side. We should never forget that Paul was inspired
by the Holy Spirit as he wrote, and what he wrote was truth because it was indeed the Word of God. We, by contrast, do not have that unerring judgment regarding people’s motives. Not only can we turn people away today if our lives do not support what we are claiming, but we can turn people away because we accuse others of the same. This takes much discernment from God and a delicate blend of love and boldness.
In the past, fundamentalist Christians heavily criticized the Catholic Church for its material possessions. In the August 4, 1997 issue of Time magazine, the Mormons were put under the same searchlight. But there are plenty of lavishly built churches and lavish homes owned by Protestant preachers with expensive cars to guard our thoughts and speech in this matter. There may be fewer Christians than we think who are truly content with food and clothing. Unfortunately, we may regard the “simple lifestyle” only as a noble gesture ensuing from the 1960s.
It would not hurt preachers—or any of us, for that matter—to draw up a series of pages with two columns, one labeled “need” and the other “want,” and to list in the appropriate columns our homes with their market value, our cars, perhaps the number of clothes and shoes we have, and other items that need that kind of assessment, and then to set these lists before God in a time of prayer, determined to take the proper action as a result of our evaluation. One friend who had earned enough to live comfortably sincerely offered to God to downsize significantly and recalls the fear he then experienced as to what this might mean!
1. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus called the revolutionary Theudas a goes, a sorcerer, the same word he used to describe an Egyptian false prophet and a band of outlaws (War 2.13.5, 6 [261, 264]; Ant. 20.5.1 [97]). Any missionary of a new religion might be accused of being a magus (i.e., a charlatan magician). Elsewhere Paul referred to contrasting opinions concerning himself with the words “genuine, yet regarded as impostors [planoi]” (2 Cor. 6:8). He asserted in 1 Thess. 2:3 that his “appeal” did not “spring from error or impure motives.” The impure motives in question often involved greed, so Paul defends himself further by saying that he did not use a “mask to cover up greed” (v. 5) and that far from being a (financial) “burden” to them he worked “night and day” (v. 9). For other examples see W. Liefeld, The Wandering Preacher As a Social Figure in the Roman Empire (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1968), 272–87. See also comments on 4:2.
2. See also 2 Tim. 1:13; 4:3; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:1.
3. In 1 Timothy it occurs in 2:2; 3:16; 4:7, 8, as well as in the present passage in vv. 3, 5, 6, 11; it also occurs in 2 Tim. 3:5; Titus 1:1. The cognate verb occurs in 1 Tim. 5:4 and the adverb in 2 Tim. 3:12; Titus 2:12.
4. Lock, Pastoral Epistles, 68.
5. See also Young, Theology of the Pastoral Letters, 19, 33–34, commenting on Reggie M. Kidd, Wealth and Beneficence in the Pastoral Epistles.
6. Lucian, Alexander. See also W. Liefeld, The Wandering Preacher As a Social Figure, 85–88.
7. Lucian, Peregrinus. See also Liefeld, The Wandering Preacher
As
a Social Figure, 53–59.
8. The use of a begging bag by wandering Cynic preachers may be one reason Jesus told his disciples not to take such a bag (Luke 9:3; 10:4).