Don't Let the Smooth Talk Fool You

Who doesn't love it when someone makes a big fuss over them?  We all love to be told we're the greatest.  We all love to have our ego stroked.  We all love to have our itch scratched.  

That's exactly the tactic the Judaizers used on the new Christ followers in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.  Their flattery has indeed gotten them somewhere.  

But like that famous scene in the movie "Moonstruck," Paul uses this letter to slap the Galatians across the face and say, "Snap out of it!!"

Don't let the smooth talk fool you.

The apostle has clearly gotten the word about not only the "what" of this situation (legalism and salvation by works; Gal 2:21; 3:2-4) but the "how" as well.  

These false teachers rolled into the Galatian churches telling these new believers EXACTLY what they wanted to hear.  "They make much of you" (v17).  

The Judaizers clearly poured it on thick and slathered on the flattery.  You're the best.  You're the greatest.  

These false teachers had simply baited the hook with the most tempting lure imaginable.  "It's all about me."  It's a subtle and deadly deception.  It's the same lie a satanic snake used in a garden.  

We are consistently seduced by the person in the mirror.  Even the most devout follower of Jesus can get sucked into Christian narcissism.  

"How am I doing?  How's my walk with Jesus?  How's the progress of my sanctification?"  And just like Peter walking on the stormy water, we take our eyes off Jesus.  

It's impossible for me to fix my eyes on "Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2) when I'm staring at my own navel.  As Tullian Tchvidjian says, "The Gospel frees us to realize that while we matter, we're not the point."

Don't let the smooth talk fool you.

But these spiritual snake oil salesmen had an ulterior motive.  They had a hidden agenda.  An undisclosed plan.  A covert intention.  

Paul makes it clear that they did this "for no good purpose."  And reveals the Judaizers secret intention to their unknowing victims: "They want to shut you out, that you make much of them" (v17).  

In other words, the false teachers want to cut off these Galatian churches from the rest of God's people and redirect their worship.  They'll dupe them with flattery and attention, and before they know it, they're shut off from everyone else.

This is the same tactic used by cults today.  They find someone who is vulnerable and then pour on the praise and attention.  

"No one cares about you like me."  And then WHAM!  The trap closes shut and the victim doesn't even realize it.  The door of their prison is locked from the inside.

When he writes "they want to shut you out," Paul uses the Greek verb εκκλειω/ekkleio.  It simply means to exclude from something.  To shut out.  To cut off.  

The term was used to describe shutting a door and leaving something outside.  In this case, it's divide and conquer.  The Judaizers were cutting the Galatians off from truth so that they could feed them lies.  

Paul delivers a VERY similar warning in his letter to the Romans.  "I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.  For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive" (Rom 16:17-18).  

That's EXACTLY what's going on in the Galatian churches.  The Judaizers are dividing them from the rest of God's people.  

They are putting up obstacles to the Gospel through legalism and rule keeping.  And they did it by buttering up these new believers.

Don't let the smooth talk fool you.

Their end game was to be the object of Galatian praise, "that you may make much of them" (v17).  The false teachers didn't just want these new believers to ditch their newfound faith in Jesus.  

They wanted to be on the pole position.  They wanted the attention.  They wanted the praise.  They wanted the adulation and applause.  

This wasn't about following the truth at all.  They had duped the Galatians into believing they alone had the answers to salvation.  That way, the Judaizers would be seen as lofty men of God.

Let's back up a minute and realize what has happened.  Paul has told them the truth.  The HARD truth.  We're sinners.  We need a Savior.  Trusting in what Jesus has done on our behalf is the ONLY way.  

These false teachers have tickled Galatian ears with smooth talk.  "You're not sinners.  You're good.  Paul doesn't know you like we know you.  He doesn’t love you like we love you.”  

That would explain why the apostle wrote, "Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Gal 4:16).  People who truly love us say what we NEED to hear, not just what we WANT to hear.

Don't let the smooth talk fool you.

Let's be clear about one thing.  It's not a bad thing when someone pays you attention.  That's what people with compassion do.  

It's a wonderful thing to do when someone truly has the best interest of their friend in mine.  "It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose" (v18).  

But that includes so much more than flattery.  We need to hear difficult truth.  As Mark Driscoll says, "Soft words make for hard people.  Hard words make for soft people."  Difficult truth softens our hearts and makes us more compassionate.

In other words, don't let the smooth talk fool you.

©2012

Jay Jennings