For neither at any time did we come with flattering words, as you know, nor with a pretense of covetousness—God is witness.
Truth to Learn
Christians don’t need to be deceptive to deliver the truth.
Behind the Words
The words “at any time” are from pote, which means “at some time” or “ever.” It can be used to refer to sometime in the past or in the future. Here it obviously refers to the past.
“Flattering” is translated from kolakeias, which does not appear anywhere else in the New Testament. It refers to “excessive compliments” or “insincere praise.”
Prophasis is the Greek word translated “pretense.” It is composed or pro, meaning “before” and phainō, meaning “to shine.” It refers to an outward show or a pretense used to hide the real intent of the speaker.
“Covetousness” is from the Greek word pleonexia, which is made up of a form of pleiōn, meaning “more” and echo, meaning “to have.” Pleonexia refers to the desire to have more, that is, greediness or covetousness.
Meaning Explained
The apostle is in the middle of a defense of the type of ministry he had among the Thessalonians. This verse gives us more clues as to the type of criticism or attacks that were leveled against him. In yesterday’s verse he told his readers that his purpose for declaring the gospel was not to make people feel good about him or his message. The whole reason for his ministry was to be pleasing to God. His defense in the current verse is that he didn’t use excessive compliments or unearned praise to try to influence his listeners.
It seems that many public speakers of that day used flattery and insincere praise in their speeches to make the listeners feel better about themselves and about the speaker. It was common to praise people for their beauty, wealth, accomplishments, or talent to make others more accepting of the message that was being delivered. A good example of this is given to us in Acts chapter twenty-four. When Paul was taken to Caesarea to be judged by the governor, a man named Tertullus opened his accusation before Felix like this:
Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight, we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us. (Acts 24:2b-4)
Paul says that he never resorted to such deceptive practices. He also said that he didn’t try to hide his real intentions because he was not trying to gain anything from his listeners. Today there are television preachers who use such techniques to persuade viewers to give money to their ministries. Their real motive is not to help viewers grow in their faith, but to help themselves grow in their wealth. Paul’s intention, however, was not to get something for himself, but to give something of real worth to the people of Thessalonica, and he calls upon God as his witness to the type of ministry he had among them.
Application
Christians have a powerful message and great truths that lead to freedom. We don’t need to resort to deception or trickery to deliver our message because we proclaim the truth!
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved