Smooth Talkers - 3

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. (Romans 16:17-19)

From Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for a gospel of God, (Romans 1:1 MNT)

I am starting to see yet more in this passage each time I look at it. The men that Paul is talking about here are not only smooth talkers and slaves to their own desires, but they are also in direct competition for the affections of the ones Paul is writing to. They are trying to draw away the loyalties and usurp the leadership and authority of those God was using to lead the early Christian believers.

People who are intent on drawing away others to follow their lead typically operate in the ways that Paul describes here. “Divide and conquer” has been a slogan that has proved very effective for centuries. Unity is one of the best means of protection for any group of people and one of the easiest ways to overcome an adversary is to first work on introducing any means that will weaken and break down the unity that binds them together.

This ties directly into having a better understanding of the true meaning of this reference to being slaves. Slavery always involves the issue of bondage or bonding. There are different kinds of bonds, some good and some evil. We generally don't like to use the term “slavery” when talking about the positive kinds of bonding. But the early apostles were so intensely glued to Jesus Christ at the heart level after they encountered Him fully enough that they caught a glimpse of His passionate love for them that they often referred to themselves as bondservants or slaves of Jesus.

I believe that the reason we feel uncomfortable with this kind of talk is simply because we have not yet had that same level of intimacy with God, we have not yet been so overcome and subdued by His grace and love that anything else becomes totally worthless in comparison. And when people become involved with religion without first encountering God's heart of passion for them and surrendering to His will, it is all to easy to become caught up in the counterfeit system of manipulation and fear and control and deception that marks the kingdom of God's enemy and makes up all false religion. They demonstrate in their lives the subtle bondage to selfishness, pride and the flesh that dictates all of their feelings and actions. They are slaves to their feelings and desires instead of love-slaves to Jesus.

It may sound strange at first, but in actuality the people in both kinds of service who are in the deepest slavery are the most effective in attracting others into their kind of slavery. The most prominent leaders are the most submissive slaves to their respective masters. And the way that they work to draw others into the same slavery in which they live is to appeal to the feelings and cravings of the ones they are trying to attract.

Paul here has just finished writing the entire book of Romans to instruct and attract his audience into surrendering to the truths about God that will draw their hearts into the bondage for which we were created. At the end of this letter he confronts head-on the competition who is trying to also attract the Roman believers into slavery but of a very different nature. These false-hearted Christians within the community present themselves as caring and wise and they use flattering words to attract others to embrace their version of religion and reality. Their teachings were not blatantly anti-Christian on the surface and they likely even resorted to Scriptures to support their teachings. In fact, if they were the ones referred to elsewhere in Paul's writings they likely appeared much more religiously correct that what Paul was teaching. This is almost always true of the various forms of legalistic religion.

To attract people into embracing their assertions about how to be right with God, they were using every means possible to endear themselves to the Christian believers and to make them feel good and draw out their affections. It appeared that they may have been affirming the good intentions of those they were trying to attract while offering suggestions as to how to better tweak their religion to make it more in line with the system of rules and traditions more widely accepted by recognized religious leadership.

These people seemed so religiously correct that it was nearly impossible for the believers to distinguish any problems with their teachings. To unmask the true nature of their counterfeit system of teachings required a level of maturity and discernment by others in the body that needed to be in place to protect newer believers from such alluring deceptions. To counteract the pernicious attractions of false teachings that appear to affirm and lead people into truth while embracing underlying false principles requires true leaders who are filled with the right Spirit of God, who in fact are in total bondage – heart, soul, spirit, body and mind – in their relationship with Jesus Christ. It requires people who have a deep experience in the things of God and who better understand the truth about God as revealed in Jesus Christ to discern the subtle deceptions of the enemy designed to fool our hearts into going astray.

Paul is making plain here that in spite of what these others are saying or how good and correct their words sound, it is what Paul is teaching that is the true revelation of God's ways and it is Paul who is offering them the right kind of affirmations that will tend toward life instead of the wrong kind of bondage.

I hear Paul saying here, “I am really the one who is rejoicing over you because of your willingness to follow the truth about God as it was presented to you originally. Do not be distracted or deceived by others who are giving you flattering affirmations designed to sucker you into the wrong kind of slavery. They may claim to be followers of God and claim to have the truth, but you must look behind the facade to what their true motives are, to discern their real spirit and see their secret life of abject slavery to their own selfishness and lusts.”

It is a known fact that the more conservative and legalistic people become the higher the level of abuse becomes that is carried on behind closed doors. People who are extremely “religious” in the public eye too often tend to harbor secret indulgent sins to satisfy their out-of-control cravings that they cannot find relief for in all their religious forms and traditions. This is why there is so much sexual abuse among priests as well as ultra-conservative family groups. I myself know all to well of families that have withdrawn more and more from interactions with others while intensifying the level of all kinds of abuse on their children in the name of religion.

These kinds of people are usually viewed by the church as very upright and good people who are honored and entrusted with leadership positions. They have figured out the system of religion very effectively and appear to be virtuous and righteous to most who see them in church. But when you get to know the subjects of their abuse and hear the stories of pain and fear and intimidation and shame that goes on behind the scenes where no one is allowed to visit, the heart is sickened and the conscience recoils with horror and anger at the injustice and damage that is promoted in the name of God.

But the worst part is that much of the time these people are sincere in their deception. They are usually victims of abuse themselves who have never received healing for their own wounds and are still bound in chains of pain and bitterness. As a result, these people are slaves to their own lower passions instead of being slaves to the pure and holy passion that comes from the heart of God. These kinds of people promote a righteous-sounding form of religion that appeals to the logic and even promises salvation in the end. But there is a dark side to their life that is carefully concealed from public view that undermines the true nature of their internal slavery to sin and false religion.

The effects of these kinds of revelations is often to turn other people away from God altogether since much of this abuse is done in the name of religion and God. But in reality, this is just yet another scheme of the enemy to prevent souls from catching sight of the true nature of God's love who is the only source of satisfaction for our yearning hearts. Because we believe the lies that God is like those who profess His name while abusing others in secret, we are tempted to keep away from Him. But coming to Him is the only way to encounter the very opposite of the slavery demonstrated by these false professors of religion.

The slavery of Jesus Christ is almost an oxymoron, for in His slavery is the only real freedom. To be a slave to Jesus Christ means to be so caught up in adoration and appreciation for His infinite love and grace that we refuse to compromise anything that would interfere with our loyalty to Him. God demands complete purity and perfection as the standard of holy living. But this demand is not in the spirit of oppression as we often think but is simply the requirement of reality. He knows that we cannot purify ourselves to be safe to live in His presence, but on the other hand, we must give Him total access to all of our heart and mind and body so that He can accomplish the work of total restoration that needs to take place before we can encounter Him at close range. This is the work that Paul is talking about here when he says we need to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

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