The Silencer

“They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach” (v11).

I love Matt Foley. He’s the motivational speaker the late great Chris Farley played on Saturday Night Live who “lived in a van down by the river.” In one classic sketch, the parents bring Matt into talk some sense into their son. When the dad tries to help, Farley’s character barks, “I wish you could just shut your big yapper!” So what in the name of Lorne Michaels does Matt Foley have to do with Titus? So glad you asked. In this verse, the Apostle Paul tells the Big T that a big part of his job is to shut up and shut down a team of false teachers. “They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach” (v11). His job is to shut their big yapper. When it comes to false teachers, Titus is the silencer.

Before we dig into this verse, lets not forget the big picture here. The Gospel of Jesus has washed over the island of Crete like a supernatural tsunami. There are new believers everywhere. After being a key part of what God was doing on there, Paul is now 400 miles away in the Greek seaport of Nicopolis (Titus 3:12). He’s left his go-to guy Titus behind to accomplish three critical tasks. One, fill the leadership vacuum in all of these new churches by selecting spiritual leaders called elders (Titus 1:5). Two, stuff a sock in a team of Jewish false teachers who are tearing apart families and while conning them out of their money (Titus 1:10-11). Three, establish a sustainable structure for continuing to teach folks about who Jesus is and what He’s done (Titus 3:1-10).

In the previous verse, Paul gave us a wanted poster for these spiritual con artists. They are rebels, refusing to submit to God’s authority. They are windbags who talk all the time but actually don’t say anything. They are swindlers, looking pull a fast one on folks new to the faith. But probably the most dangerous thing about these shysters is that this is an inside job. They are members of what’s known as the “circumcision party” (Titus 1:10). These are Jews that demand that Gentiles must convert to Judaism before they can ever think of following Jesus. Think of how confusing that would be for somebody who has just placed their trust in Christ. You’ve just made a simple confession of your need for a Savior when suddenly these goofballs drop the Old Testament in your lap. “Jesus will be happy to save you. Just follow these 600-plus commands!” Yeah, there’s nothing good about their good news.

That’s exactly why they must be shut up. Later Paul tells the Big T that these scammers try to confuse folks with a lot of Jewish mumbo jumbo and confusing commands (Titus 1:14). They worm their way in by assuring these baby Christians that they have a relationship with God when they don’t (Titus 1:16). The apostle tells Titus to shut ’em up. “They must be silenced” (v11). He uses a Greek term (Gr. epistomizo) that means to stop the mouth, or prevent from talking. It literally means “over (epi-) the mouth 

(-stomizo).” Like applying a muzzle to your dog that won’t stop barking. Picture Jack Bauer slapping a piece of duct tape over the bad guy’s mouth when he won’t shut up. Paul instructs Titus to gag these grifters. Stuff a sock in it. Shut their pie hole. When it comes to false teachers, Titus is the silencer.

The apostle is very clear on who these con artists are talking to. Families. They are weaseling their way into the households of new believers and stirring up trouble. They’re “upsetting” (Gr. anatrepho) their newfound faith in Jesus. This term paints a picture getting right in the middle of a situation with the purpose of turning things upside down. They are looking to cause serious damage to what someone believes. It’s the same word John uses when Jesus goes all one-man-wrecking-crew on folks making a fast buck at the temple as He “overturned (Gr. anatrepho) their tables” (Jn 2:15). Paul knew all about false teachers who tried to flip over people’s faith. The apostle himself had to deal with a pair of knuckleheads named Hymenaeus and Philetus who went around telling folks that Jesus had already returned and were “upsetting (Gr. anatrepho) the faith of some” (2Tim 2:17-18). Before the false teachers do any more damage, they must be shut down. 

If it’s not bad enough that these goobers are flipping over the faith of these families, they’re also looking to rip them off. They’re “teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach” (v11). They are nothing more than spiritual snake oil salesmen. Paul uses almost the very same language here that he does earlier when describing that spiritual leaders should NOT be “greedy for gain” (Titus 1:7). The original text literally talks about “disgraceful (Gr. aischros) acquisition (Gr. kerdos).” They’re out to make a fast buck. This has nothing to do with teaching anything of value. This is all about making money. Before they can swindle anybody else, Titus needs to shut their big yapper.

So do we do with these two-thousand-year-old instructions? First of all, we need to be on the lookout for anyone teaching a corrupt message. Anything other than the Good News is totally bad news. We tell folks about Jesus. We point to who He is and what He’s done, not what we need to do. He lived the spotless and totally obedient life that we failed to live. He died a brutal and bloody death for our sin on a cross that we should have died. He rose to a breathtaking new life that we don’t deserve. We place our trust in what He’s done for us that we could never do for ourselves. Dropping a to-do list of commands and rules to ensure salvation is anything but the Gospel. 

We must stuff a sock in anyone teaching something other than Jesus. Do whatever you must to make sure you understand the content of their teaching. If it’s wrong, ask them to stop. If they don’t, tell them to shut it down. Local church leaders, elders, and pastors are responsible for the spiritual well-being of the people. We must have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to false teaching. 

Finally, this should cause all of us to step back and examine our motivation for working. Is it simply for the check? There’s nothing wrong with earning a living. The Bible is clear on that. Work is good. Getting a paycheck appropriate. But will I do anything to make the deal? Will I shade the truth? Will I lie? Will I cheat? Are you serving yourself and your own bank account or your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? 

But Titus’ assignment here is clear. He's the silencer. These false teachers need to shut their big yapper. They would be better off living in a van down by the river.

Stains from Project X

“suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you” (v13).

Did you ever throw a party when your parents were out of town? Come on. Be honest. It’s just you and me. While that’s not something I would EVER do, I’ve heard stories about these blowouts. You invite a few buds to come hang out and, before you know it what’s hit you, several hundred of your closest friends descend on your house. It’s exploded into a full scale Project X. When the sun rises in the morning, you can’t believe the carnage. You can pick up the beer cans. You can probably even fix the broken furniture. But those stains aren’t coming out. Your parents’ spotless home is a disgusting and filthy mess. That’s the picture Pete paints of the damage done by false teachers in local churches. Stains are everywhere. 

These sinful snake oil salesman are bilking local churches for big bucks. The apostle warned us before, “In their greed they will exploit you with false words” (2:3). They’ve made more than a couple of quick bucks from these unsuspecting followers of Jesus. But there’s one final score they’ll receive that they don’t know is coming. One final “reward” for their con. It’s what James Brown calls “The Big Payback.” You can be sure that they will suffer “wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing” (v13). You see, Jesus will make sure that they don’t get away with it. Think of it this way. The false teachers will receive wages for their wicked work. But this paycheck is God’s payback. As the great Protector and Hero of His church, Christ will come her rescue (2:9). He’ll also punish the bad guys. As the Godfather of Soul says this is “The Big Payback.” And they’ll never see it coming.

But before they get what’s coming to them, it’s party time. “They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime” (v13). The words Pete uses in the original text reveal an out-of-control, over-the-top lifestyle. They let us in on a life of extravagance. The food and drink never stop. Absolutely and utter hedonism. As a matter of fact, that’s one of the Greek words he uses! These false teachers are using the cash they’ve conned out of the churches to finance a party at the Playboy Mansion. Think “The Wolf of Wall Street.” And this shindig gets cranked up long before the sun goes down. They don’t wait until dark. As the song says, “It’s five o’clock somewhere!” They’re living large and loving every minute of it.

The apostle cuts to the chase and calls these ungodly grifters for what they really are. “They are blots and blemishes” (v13). He previously called them “irrational animals” (2:12). Compared to the sparkling righteousness of Jesus that He’s given the local church, the false teachers are disgusting stains of sin. They aren’t an itty bitty spot from spaghetti sauce. We’re talking huge stains. Smears. Smudges. A huge, greasy streak of filth. They’ve dragged Jesus’ bride through the cesspool of sin. Her beautiful white wedding gown is disgusting. How will it ever come out? 

Forget Oxyclean. Jesus will supernaturally clean His church for the big wedding. He will make sure His bridge walks down the aisle “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:27). Our Savior won’t just kick these con men to the curb. He’s going to come in and clean up the mess they’ve left behind. That’s good news for you and me. There’s no stain to tough. There’s no sin to bad. He can handle it. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Is 1:18).

Pete lets his readers know that the false teachers are nothing but two-faced hypocrites. They’re “reveling in their deceptions while they feast with you” (v13). One minute they’re partying like rock stars. Sex, drugs, rock and roll. The next minute these con artists hit the church doors like Billy Graham. They’re doing all of this right under the noses of their victims. This is all going down while they are celebrating the Lord’s Supper with God’s people.

Just like I, uh I mean, YOU never got away with that wild party, the false teachers are going to have to face the music for what they’ve done. They are nasty stains on the local church. Filthy streaks on the wedding dress of Jesus’ bride.

Spiritual Snake Oil Salesmen

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (Eph 5:6).

The world is full of conmen, hucksters and grifters.  These deceivers worm their way in, gain your trust and then BOOM!  They’ve stolen your identity and emptied your bank account.  Here in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul warns his friends about a team of smooth talkers that are headed their way.  “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (v6).  Don’t fall for their con.  Don’t be duped.  Don’t be fooled.  They’re selling a counterfeit gospel.  And you can be sure that God will punish them for it.  

In many ways, this verse is THE warning that the apostle wants the Ephesians to hear.  To get a clearer picture of what’s going down, we need to actually check out his letter to the Colossians.  That’s because what happened in Colossae is headed straight for Ephesus.  Paul sits in a Roman prison waiting for Caesar to hear his appeal.  While he’s there, a pastor from Colossae named Epaphras comes looking for him (Col 1:7-8).  He tells the apostle that a group of spiritual snake oil salesmen have done a ton of damage among God’s people in Hierapolis, Laodicea and Colossae (Col 4:13).  These false teachers have duped folks into thinking Jesus might be good but not God.  He might get us into God’s kingdom but it’s up to each of us to stay there.  And, whaddaya know, it just so happens that they have the magic formula to do just that.  Follow their super secret list of religious rules, holidays and dietary requirements.  

Paul wrote this letter to set the Colossians straight.  He tells them that not only is Jesus God, He’s more God than we can wrap our brains around on this side of eternity (Col 1:15-20).  Don’t believe the pack of lies these conmen have sold you (Col 1:16-23).  Their teaching might look good and sound good, but it’s really of no good.  If you’re wondering what to do, do this.  Keep in the forefront of your mind that “you have been raised with Christ” (Col 3:1).  In other words, remember who Jesus is and what He’s done.  He lived the perfect life that we completely failed to live.  He died the bloody death for our sin that we should have died.  He rose to a spectacular new life that we don’t deserve.  He did for you and me what we couldn’t dream of doing for ourselves.  It’s not about what you and I do.  It’s what He’s done.  So “set your minds on things above” (Col 3:2)!

So what does this Big Colossian Con have to do with the folks in Ephesus?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  The two cities are just 100 miles apart.  As a matter of fact, there’s a pretty good chance that Epaphras heard about Jesus from Paul in Ephesus when the apostle set up shop in the big port city for three years (Acts 19:1-41; 20:31).  That would explain why the Big E went looking for the man from Tarsus for help when it hit the fan.  After Paul writes to the Colossians, he fires off another letter to Ephesus.  Think of Colossians as treatment for disease and Ephesians as an inoculation against it.  The apostle knows that if he can get believers focused on the truth of who Jesus is and what He’s done, they won’t fall for anything less than Jesus.

That’s why Paul begins the letter to Ephesus with a Tsunami of Blessing (Eph 1:3-14).  Let goodness of God’s grace just overwhelm and wash all over you.  Let it take you away!  Be blown away by all that He’s done for you and me!  Remember that we were walking around like zombies before “God made us alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:1, 4-5).  We didn’t do a stinkin’ thing when it comes to our salvation (Eph 2:8-9).  It was God and His grace.  It is ALL God and His grace.  It will ALWAYS be God and His grace.  As William Temple says, the only thing we bring to salvation is the sin that makes it necessary.  When we remember that, there’s no way we’ll fall for a counterfeit of God’s Good News.

That leads us back to this key verse.  Think of it as a scouting report.  Paul lets his readers in on the tactics of these false teachers.  They will try to “deceive you with empty words” (v6).  He uses the verb apatao, which means to cheat, trick, outwit, fool, beguile, lead astray and intentionally mislead. They will purposefully try to trick someone into believing erroneously.  Paul used this to when describing Satan’s smooth talking con of Eve to eat the fruit (1Tim 2:14).  These hucksters are great at their game of doctrinal Three-card Monte.  They’ll make sure you and I never win.  Unless, of course, we know the truth ahead of time.  Watch out for anyone who tries to drive a wedge between Jesus’ followers and create spiritual roadblocks, “by their smooth talk and flattery they deceive (Gr. apatao) the hearts of the naive” (Rom 16:17-18).  There are deceivers out there.  It’s not “if” but “when” they hit town.

The apostle tells us to be VERY careful of their “empty words” (v6).  What they have to say will sound good.  It will sound VERY good!  But their words that don’t do anything.  They’re empty.  They’re waste-of-time words.  Cotton candy words.  They taste good at the time, but there’s nothing there in the end.  “Empty words” (v6).  

Just who are these spiritual swindlers Paul is warning us about?  While we don’t get their names, he refers to them by their alias: “the sons of disobedience” (v6).  The term “disobedience” (Gr. apeitheia) means obstinate opposition and noncompliance.  Don’t confuse it with our word “apathy.”  This is active rebellion against God.  These dudes don’t just ignore Jesus, they shake their fists at Him!  Earlier in this letter, the apostle drops a mention of these conmen.  Before Jesus brought us to life, we were the Walking Dead, under the influence of the same demonic influence that “is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2).  Note to self: if Satan has ahold of someone, don’t buy what they’re selling!  And it’s no surprise that these SODs come up in the letter to Colossae.  “On account of these the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience” (Col 2:4).  Some early manuscripts of the Colossian letter don’t include the phrase “sons of disobedience” but the similarities between these letters make it glaringly apparent that is exactly who Paul is warning his readers about.

The good news for God’s people is that when it comes to these conmen we don’t have to worry about kicking their tails, we just have to kick them out.  Paul makes it clear that our heavenly Father has His laser site of His wrath set on these dudes.  He’ll handle it.  We just need to stay focused on Jesus.

Let’s take a lesson from the Ephesians.  Know God’s truth.  Know our Savior.  Know who He is.  Know what He’s done.  Know who we are in Him.  Then we won’t fall for the Big Colossian Con.  “So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness of deceitful schemes” (Eph 4:14).  We won’t be duped by smooth talkers (Col 2:4).

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