The following “Question” was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and “Answered” by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 70-24, titled “Questions and Answers Part 52.”  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  ©2003. All Rights Reserved.

Questioner

You spoke a little about this morning regarding false teachers and money. You said on several occasions, more or less, that false teachers are basically always in it for the money, and that’s been a bit confusing to me, even though, I know the Biblical picture seems to always include that, but it seems there are examples of those that teach falsehood, but don’t appear to be driven by the financial gain involved. An example might be, Mahatma Gandhi, or ascetic Gnostics, or a number of others who, maybe are works related and working very hard to do what they do. They don’t seem to be in it for monetary gain, but they’re still teaching what is not true.

John MacArthur's Answer

Obviously, in a sense, the exception proves the rule. With regard to ascetics, they’re not really a threat because typically they don’t teach. You know, they just go somewhere and contemplate with their navel all by themselves. So those monastic types that deprive themselves of everything...you’re not going to find a lot of false teachers joining that group. Those people are the disillusioned people. As I said in the message I did on the Scandal of the Catholic priesthood, those kind of monks and nuns were preyed upon by the priests when they were in life crisis that had crushed them emotionally. And, in the moments of their sensitivity, they were driven in that direction. But when we talk in general about false teachers, I think, you could even make a case for Mahatma Gandhi. We would like to think that he was the purest of the pure in his motivation, but he was virtually without need because he rose to the heights of power in India and was one of the most powerful men in the world. So, you know, whatever it is that he felt he needed, he was immediately granted.

But, I think you will find people who haven’t figured out how to get the money, or haven’t figured out they’re false teachers yet. There are some people who are false teachers, and I don’t know that they really know they’re false teachers. They’re teaching falsehoods sincerely is a good way to understand it. But again, the Lord knows more about their motives than I do, and so from what the scripture says, they’re in it for personal gain. All I can say is, that is a divine estimate of their heart attitude. I don’t know what’s going on inside. I always wonder that. You know when I meet with the leaders of the Mormon church and all that and my question always is, “What is going on inside these guys? Do they know that they’re liars and deceivers speaking demon doctrine driven by seducing spirits, and do they know they’re leading people to Hell, and are they so driven to be prominent and powerful and influential, and thereby to have gain? Or, are these people duped? And, I don’t know that I always know the answer to that. But I think again you go back to the diagnosis of scripture, that the motives are always corrupt, unless the motives are pure, and the only pure motive is the glory of God, and apart from that, there’s some measure of personal gain involved in that.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's “MacArthur's Questions and Answers” by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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