Religious Flattery

Religious Flattery
Words of Faith 2-6-2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Mark 10 [17] As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
[18] "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good‑‑except God alone…"

This is the start of one of the most marvelous conversations we find in the Bible, reported by Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
A wealthy man came and bowed before Jesus to ask an important question: What must I do to inherit eternal life? A rich man would often seek out a well-known teacher and, by special gifts and stipends, have the benefit of the best teacher available to him. This was not Jesus' game.
Whatever the motive of this man, Jesus was not impressed. Jesus rebuked him. Some commentators often remark how difficult this would be for most of us. The rich man was the sort of fellow that anyone would love to have in their company and most preachers would love to have in their congregation. He was pious, seeking, observant of the Law, and wealthy! But Jesus saw a more profound need here. He was not distracted by money.

The response is startling for us. "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good‑‑except God alone." Was Jesus claiming not to be good? Was He saying that He was not God? What does this say about the Deity of Christ? What are we to make of this? There are some important things to see here before we go on.
First, Jesus was Himself observant. He was utterly Jewish in His honor to God. His claims of Deity would come later, but this was not the time. Jesus always determined the time for such revelations. By His own humility, Jesus gave us an example. We must constantly be reminded, lest we forget, that God alone is good. This is what makes Jesus so thoroughly good.
Secondly, and most importantly, Jesus resisted what I call "spiritual flattery." The tongue is a seductive thing. Flattery is a distracting ploy. It would be hard for many of us to resist the flattering words of a wealthy and influential citizen but not Jesus. Jesus sees right through religious flattery. "No one is good ‑‑except God alone." Don't forget that. Flattery is a dangerous thing. "A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin (Proverbs 26:28)."
We must be careful. Be careful when you hear flattering words. Flattery will easily distract us from the real issues. Proverbs teaches: "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives (Proverbs 27:21)." Flattering words can dangerously puff up. We are probably wise to discount our greatest flatterers and our greatest critics, remembering God alone is good, and the devil alone is purely evil.
Be careful of forming or using flattering words. Paul saw the danger when he wrote: "You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed‑‑God is our witness" (1 Thes. 2:5). We are called to encourage and lift up those around us, but be careful to praise the gift of God that is within. Freely thank a person for their efforts and then praise God for what HE has done through that person. Always remember when you are tempted to lay on thick praise to the point of flattery that the devil can use these words as surely as he can use words of malice.
"The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times (Psalm 12:6)."

Lord, protect my ears and heart from words of flattery or malice. Protect me from the flatterer who would distract me from You. Protect my lips from producing words of flattery without intention that might be used by the enemy. Teach me the art of simple encouragement with words that are of You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< ><> <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. The daily devotion and archive are posted at https://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/blog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.