Beware of false teachers -- By Thomas Mathew Vattakunnel

“The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times: they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons. Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron” (1Timothy 4:1-2)

 We are bombarded with various talks, sermons and speeches about Christian faith. We can see various types of preachers around but make sure we follow and practice only one model. Who is that model preacher? 
 This was put across very succinctly by Pope Francis last week. I was quite impressed by the way he explained it. The first Book of Samuel (1:9-20) and the Gospel of Mark (1:21b-28) talk about four models of preachers: Jesus, the scribes, Eli the priest and the two sons of Eli who were priests.

 1. First let us take the scribes. A wrong model. The scribes taught and preached by placing great burdens on the shoulders of the people. “And the poor people could not go forward”. Jesus reprimands them for not moving a finger to help the people. And he says to the people: “Practice and observer whatever they tell you, but not what they do”.

 According to Vatican radio, the Pope described the scribes as inconsistent people who acted as though “they were cudgeling the people”. Jesus admonished them, telling them: “you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in”.

 2. The second model is Eli. This is another wrong model. “He was a poor, old man. He was not truly a good man: he was a poor priest, weak, lukewarm and he let things go, he wasn't strong. He let his sons get away with many unpleasant things,” Pope said. Eli mistook Hannah for a drunken woman, as she was praying in silence, only moving her lips as she asked the Lord for the gift of a child.

 She was praying as humble people do, simply, from the heart, with anguish and moving her lips. Many good women pray in our churches and shrines in this way. And this is how she was praying, asking for a miracle. And the aged Eli, poor old man, had nothing to do. He observed her, thinking: this is a drunken woman. And he looked down on her. He was the representative of the faith “who should have taught the faith, but he looked down on this woman. He tells her: go away, drunken woman!.

 According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis explained why he still has a certain sympathy for him: because in his heart he still had the anointing. When the woman explains her situation to him, Eli tells her: “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have made to him'. His priestly anointing comes forth. Poor man, he had it hidden under his laziness. He was lukewarm, and it ends badly.”

 3. The third group is like Eli's sons. This is not even worth looking at. Eli sons were charged with managing the temple. “They were brigands. They were priests, but they were brigands. They went after power and money; they exploited the people, they profited from alms and gifts. The Bible says they took the best pieces of the sacrifices for themselves to eat. They were exploiters. The Lord severely punished these two.”

 Pope Francis likened the sons of Eli to “the corrupt Christian, the corrupt layperson, the corrupt priest, the corrupt bishop. They take advantage of the situation, of the privilege of faith, of being Christians. And their hearts become corrupt. We think of Judas: perhaps he began through jealousy and envy to put his hand in the purse and thus his heart began to become corrupted. John – the good Apostle who loved the whole world, who preached love – says of Judas: he is a thief. Full stop. It's clear: he was corrupt. And from a corrupt heart betrayal also comes. He betrays Jesus”.

 4. The fourth is Jesus' way of preaching. This is the right model. What was so special about his preaching? For the Gospel says that the people “were astonished by his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes”. Jesus taught the Law, he taught Moses and the Prophets. So what was so new? He had power, the power of holiness, for unclean spirits flee from him. He is close to sinners, he dines with Matthew, a robber, a traitor to the homeland; he forgives the adulterous woman whom the law would have published; he talks about theology with the Samaritan who was no “angel”, Pope said.

 Jesus “looked into people's hearts, Jesus drew near to people's wounded hearts. Jesus was only interested in the person and in God. And he sought to bring God close to people and people close to God.” Jesus is like the Good Samaritan who heals the wounds of life. Jesus is the intercessor who goes away alone to pray on the mountain for people, and he gives his life for people. Jesus wants the people to draw close and he seeks them out; and he is moved when he sees them like sheep without a shepherd. And all of this is what the people describe as a new attitude. No, it is not a new teaching, it is a way of making it new, pontiff said.

 The bottom line is that we should not become corrupt like the sons of Eli; not to be lukewarm like Eli; but to be like Jesus, with that zeal to seek out people, to heal people, to love people.

(The writer is a mechanical engineer based in Doha)