'Apparently, the apostle Paul was accused in Thessalonica of simply wanting money from his converts. When he responds to this, he shows the link between flattery and greed. “Our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness” (1 Thessalonians 2:3–5).
Flattery is the use of language to make someone feel good about himself with a view to getting what you want. Paul calls it a pretext for greed. When relativism removes truth from language, language goes on sale. If we can get more money by telling people what they want to hear, we will.
Relativism is the perfect atmosphere for turning language into a pretext for greed by flattering people with what they want to hear. This is no surprise to Paul. “The time is coming,” he says, “when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).' -John and Abraham Piper in Relevant Magazine Article
guilty as charged. oh that we could speak the truth to each other.
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