Likeable Liars

1Ti 5:22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.

Recent events have once again affirmed that there are a lot of folks who believe what they want to believe regardless of how much truth you present to them. All the campaigning that was done, all the warning that was given, had little or no effect upon the presidential election. There is no convincing one who has misguided loyalties. He will reject the truth in favor of his false belief almost every time. Why? Because he is faithful to the flesh and does not walk after the spirit.

So it is many times in the ministry. Christians will accept one who is talented, charismatic, dynamic, and personable over that person’s walk with God and testimony or the lack thereof. Tragically, the pastor in a church may even have lived a life of holiness, faithful service and personal sacrifice for the cause of Christ only to be rejected by the very sheep over which he has been charged to shepherd, all because the eyes of the members were blinded by a likeable liar.

In our text above we are cautioned to be careful about approving and recommending anyone without first observing their life and learning of what type they are. Doctrine is too important to overlook and personal holiness will effect the eventual outcome of any ministry. “Suddenly” is the red flag here. The test of time proves many things. Concerning man, if it does not make sense, it is probably wrong. A likeable liar will eventually be revealed.

Our church conducts a Reformers Unanimous ministry. We have learned that there are people who have sincere desires to get better, be happy, do the right thing, but they lack the consistency to do so. It takes time working with people to instill the Word of God within them so that those things will happen in their life. Many of them need to begin with salvation to get started right. Others know Christ but have made very poor decisions in life. There is the occasional deceiver who just wants to fulfill their desires at the expense of others, in this case, God’s people.

We must be careful not to fall for the likeable liar.