ODJ: counterfeit faith
April 20, 2011
These teachers oppose the truth. . . . They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith (v.8).
READ: 2 Timothy 3:5-17
After waiting in line at a local store, it was finally my turn to pay. The clerk took my money, held the bill up to the light and then disappeared to confer with her manager. When she returned, she explained that the store had recently received several counterfeit bills. Then she looked at me and added, “You don’t look like a counterfeiter.” She was right; I wasn’t passing funny money. But, I wondered what would make me look like a counterfeiter—shifty eyes, sweaty palms, ink-stained fingers?
During Paul’s day, some spiritual con men were spreading a “counterfeit faith” (2 Timothy 3:8). Paul described these guys in detail so that his protégé, Timothy, could tell the true teachers from the phonies.
These faux Christian leaders were weaseling their way into the homes of vulnerable people. In some cases, they targeted women burdened with sin and “controlled by various desires” (v.6). The false teachers preyed on people who were least able to defend themselves—the kind of people who were “forever following new teachings, but . . . never able to understand the truth” (v.7).
With followers who lacked spiritual discernment, the bad guys were free to “oppose the truth” at will (v.8). In fact, Paul compared them to the ancient sorcerers, Jannes and Jambres, the magicians who tried to duplicate Moses’ miracles (Exodus 7:11). And, just like that devilish duo, Paul promised that someday everyone would recognize the false
teachers as fools (2 Timothy 3:9).
Until that day, we have to look out for spiritual swindlers who infiltrate our homes through television, books, and the Web. The best defense against them is to know the truth. We need to mimic the Bereans, who “searched the Scriptures day after day” (Acts 17:11), refusing to accept the false teaching of a counterfeit faith. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt
How can you guard your life against counterfeit teachings? What would you say to someone who is following a false teacher?
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