Paul loved them. The false teachers were abusing them. But they chose the false teachers over Paul because “wisdom.” Love gives people what they need and not necessarily what they want. That’s why real love isn’t always the most popular. If given the choice we’ll take the fake stuff any day.

For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! 2 Corinthians 11:19

That’s a third degree burn, right there. The window in which the false teachers in Corinth slithered through was the door of pride. And the Corinthians didn’t just leave that door cracked it was wide open. They were so convinced that they could sniff out error and walk in truth (being so wise themselves) that they left the door wide open for false teachers to come in.

But it’s not just that they were opening wide the door for false teachers they were shutting the door on the apostle Paul. They reasoned that because he was preaching the gospel for free he must not be worth much.

If you have a guy who charges $10,000 to speak at a conference and another guy will do it for free or for a “love offering” (that’s Baptist for “nowhere near $10,000). Which one of those guys is a better speaker? It’s likely the guy that demands 10K, right? This is precisely what was happening in Corinth. In fact some would even charge exorbitant rates to make it seem like they were a big deal. It’s a common marketing strategy.

Paul loved them. The false teachers were abusing them. But they chose the false teachers over Paul because [of] “wisdom.” Love gives people what they need and not necessarily what they want. That’s why real love isn’t always the most popular. If given the choice we’ll take the fake stuff any day. We will pick the self-serving teacher who talks all about himself, uses and abuses us, charges exorbitant amounts, but makes us feel good about ourselves every stinking time. That’s how abusive celebrity pastors can keep going for so long.

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