Greek Word Studies (2)
Advanced Level
Lesson 12
Lesson Title:
Contention ‘Eritheia’
Text: Philippians 1:16-17, ‘Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention (eritheia), not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love (agape), knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.’
Introduction: Meaning of ‘eritheia’
(contentious).
‘Eritheia’ describes a contentious person who desires to promote
self interest.
An ambitious; self seeking; and self elevating
motive will produce strife and contention ‘eritheia’.
See daily verse Freedom from the need to elevate self. (Philippians 2:3)
The word
is derived from ‘erithos’ meaning
‘a hireling’ or one who is hired for labour.
The
association of ‘being hired’ and ‘contention’ comes through selfish ambitions.
‘Eritheia’ was used in Ancient Greek to describe one
who sought to gain political power wrongfully.
1) It
denoted a person who was led by a self seeking and ambitious motive.
2) One
who was willing to use wrong means to gain political power.
In
Philippians 1:15-17, Paul describes two kinds of people – one preaches Christ
of contention (eritheia) and the other preaches
Christ of love (agape).
One
preaches Christ in order to promote self interest.
The
other preaches Christ because the love of Christ compels them to do so. See also 2 Corinthians 5:14.
Examples:
Motivated by love
Romanian Prison Ministry
When we
were in the prison a staff member asked us ‘why do you come?’
It can
be hard for people to understand why we want to travel so far to do something
that does not earn us money.
The
greatest joy in preaching the gospel is to see men and women come to new life
in Christ. It is the love of Christ that motivates us.
Motivated by contention
In the western world a person who leads a local
church with a large congregation will receive respect within the community.
The bigger the ministry;
the greater the respect.
People can become envious and seek to gain this
respect for themselves.
Leaders need followers. They will then seek followers out of the
congregation.
This is how many local churches have split.
Contention will also
arise in a church congregation when leaders ignore the needs of the people and use their position to
promote themselves as leaders.
Leaders in local churches sometimes cause
contention by criticising those who do not follow their self elevating plans of
leadership
A person driven by self interest will produce
contention.
‘Eritheia’ will
elevate self and does not seek the glory of God.
Contentions arise when success is placed above
truth.
‘It is better to be a failure following after
truth than to be successful following error.’
Christian
TV elevates personalities.
TV evangelists are regarded as celebrities.
Contentious personalities are followed because
of Christian TV.
But following them can also destroy lives.
Money - large sums of money can be raised
through the media by TV evangelists, and often this is done by a wrong
interpretation of scripture.
Many Christians accept their wrong teachings
because they preach salvation through Christ.
But when Christian ministry is a performance in
front of a camera then it is easy for a person to be contentious off camera (in
private).
Christian TV fundraising.
Some years ago I was watching a Christian TV channel at the start of a fund raising week.
Just as the fund raising was about to begin a prophecy was given warning against using scripture to get money out of God's people.
I wondered how the channel could go ahead with the fund raising event after giving this tremendous prophecy live on air.
Later it was announced that the person who had given the prophecy had to go back to the
The fund raising event then continued as planned and much finance was raised by the very means that the prophecy had warned them against.
Christian television is a great blessing but the ends do not justify the means. If the desire for success is leading then truth will become the casualty of expedience.
In contrast to being driven by ‘eritheia’, a Christian leader should:
1) Seek
an eternal inheritance – ‘to win Christ’.
2) Live a
life in the Spirit.
3) Follow
the wisdom from above.
4) Preach
Christ with pure motives in love.
5) Walk
in humility
Main
Points
1. Seeking an eternal inheritance – ‘to win
Christ’.
Romans 2:7-9, ‘To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and
honour and immortality, eternal life:
But unto them that are contentious (eritheia)
, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and
wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every
soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;’
Contrast between those who seek eternal life from those who are
contentious (do not obey the truth).
Patience
– remaining steadfast under trial (hupomone)
Well
doing – doing good works (agathos) without seeking
any self benefit.
Looking to an eternal inheritance – glory, honour, immortality, eternal life.
Seeking the things that are eternal not
because we earn it but because by grace we have received it.
Not
elevating self – seeking the glory of the Lord.
Not
suspicious of others – people who seek their own objectives are always
suspicious of what others are doing.
Not
motivated by the acclaim of people – seeking to be in His will.
Not competitive
– resting in the plan and purpose of God.
Not
covetous – knowing who we are in Christ.
Trusting His promises.
Seeking an
eternal inheritance
In the Christian life there is a place where we
must turn around.
When I first became a Christian I sought to
serve Christ with my life.
It was many years later when I learnt that
serving Christ can be motivated by selfish ambition.
The goal of a successful ministry is a selfish
ambition.
The goal we should seek is to win Christ..
The only thing that is important is to be in
His will
Howard
Carter (1891-1971) was one of the pioneers of the Assemblies of God in
He
adopted these words as the motto of his life:
‘Let me never lose the all-important truth
that to be in thy will is better than success, and grant that I may ever love Thyself more than Thy service.’
Personal Testimony: Running for the prize of
High Calling of God in Christ Jesus
Philippians 3:14, ‘I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus.’
I will never forget one meeting when I preached
on ‘running for the prize’ to prisoners in
I spoke on how it is not the things that are
behind that are important now. We may
have messed things up in the past but what is important now is that we run for
the prize.
It was
so exciting because the men were listening intensely.
There
was a great response to the message.
One
prisoner was eager to speak with me afterwards.
He told
me his mum was a Christian. Then he said
‘four years ago I began running for the prize’.
2.
Living life in the Spirit
Contrast between the fruit of the Spirit and
the works of the flesh.
It is one of the works of the flesh –
seditions.
Galatians
5:19-21, ‘Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions (eritheia),
heresies, Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:’
2 Corinthians 12:20,
‘For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that
I shall be found unto you such as you would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes (eritheia), backbitings,
whisperings, swellings, tumults:’
Seeking to live in the
Spirit
The
works of the flesh seek to gratify selfish desire.
Sexual
desire to gratify lust – sensual pleasure
Spiritual
desires that seek to promote selfish goals (for instance a football player
making the sign of the cross (superstition).
A good
cause can also be motivated by the need to gratify selfish desires.
When a person is motivated by self then the
works of the flesh will be controlling.
Social
interaction
The
desire for selfish ambition fulfilled through aggression - elevating self
The
desire for pleasure fulfilled through intoxication.
Story:
Prisoner strengthening his fingers using a rosary when we held our
meeting.
When we
held our meeting in a prison in Romania, I saw that during the meeting a man
was using his fingers to move the beads on a rosary.
Not
everyone who attends our meetings in the prison are
thinking about spiritual things.
We
always tell the prisoners that we do not come to preach religion or to promote
a particular church, but to tell them about a person, Jesus.
I was
later told that it was likely that the man was using the rosary to strengthen
the muscles in his fingers so he could steal by pick pocketing.
When a person walks in the Spirit then love
(Gr. agape) is in control.
Paul was motivated by the love of Christ. ‘For the love of Christ constrains us;’
(2 Corinthians
Constrains (Gr. ‘sunecho’) means ‘to hold
together’.
The love of Christ held everything together in Paul’s ministry.
He did not seek self glory or self elevation.
The love of Christ was guiding; leading; controlling.
Love will always seek the welfare of others.
Illustration: William Booth.
At the end of one year William Booth was asked to send a message for all
serving in the Salvation Army.
Sending the message by telegraph was expensive and the charge was per
word.
William Booth just wrote down one word to send.
The word was 'others'.
The only thing that is
important is serving the Lord with agape love
Hudson Taylor wrote that if he had a thousand lives he would have given
them all to
Charles Wesley wrote the great hymn ‘O for a thousand tongues to sing my
great Redeemers praise’. Worship.
When the Lord calls someone to work in a certain area He will fill the
person with love for that nation and people.
Love will grow and mature.
3. Following the wisdom that is from above. (James 3:13-18).
Earthly wisdom causes strife ‘eritheia’.
James 3:14, ‘But if you have bitter envying and strife (eritheia) in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against
the truth.’
James 3:16, ‘For where envying and strife (eritheia)
is, there is confusion and every evil work.’
Self seeking is wisdom
that is earthly, sensual, demonic. (James 3:15)
Earthly – wisdom based upon earthly things. (on
the earth)
Sensual – wisdom based upon animal instinct (having breath)
Demonic – wisdom based upon things evil (demonic)
Church leadership that is based upon this kind of wisdom will produce
‘confusion and every evil work’ (James 3:16)
Wisdom that is from
above
James 3:17 ‘But the wisdom that is
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality, and without hypocrisy.’
Pure (hagnos) – free from everything
that is carnal.
Peaceable (eirenikos) – loving peace
Gentle (epieikos) – mild in manner
Easy to be intreated (eupeithos)
– a person who is easily persuaded (willing to yield)
Full of mercy (eleos) – showing kindness to
those in need.
Good fruits (agathos karpos)
– good that is beneficial to others; fruit – produce. It is action on behalf others that comes from
the life of Christ in us.
Without partiality (adiakritos) – without
regard to persons
Without hypocrisy (anupokritos) – without
pretence
Church leadership that is based upon this kind of wisdom will produce
peace (James
Illustration: Seeing the wrong side of Christian ministry.
It is so great to be with people who are easy to approach and who
do not get angry when questions are asked.
When I first became a Christian I
expected all Christian leaders to be like this. But when I began to be
involved in ministry I saw that sometimes a completely different side of
Christian leadership is seen. I began to realise that leaders can be motivated
by the works of the flesh rather than the fruit of the Spirit. It was confusing
to me as a young Christian that someone could preach the gospel in a very
professional manner and yet be totally in bondage to 'self'. Leaders who are
not led of the Spirit are not gentle or easy to talk to.
A disciple is ‘a learner’. A person who is learning to be like Christ.
We all make mistakes in the learning process.
Sometimes these mistakes involve the way we act and speak to others.
But we learn and we change.
Sometimes the Lord has to humble us to bring us to the place where we
are willing to follow the wisdom that is from above.
What I have noticed regarding the
wrong side of Christian leadership is that leaders who promote themselves are
not willing to change. They will always criticise others for speaking against
them, but are never willing to listen to any form of constructive criticism
concerning their leadership. Good leadership will listen, discuss and change
when necessary.
4.
Preaching Christ with pure motives in love.
Paul was in prison. ‘So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the
palace, and in all other places;’ (Philippians 1:13)
Paul did
not have freedom to preach outside the prison but because of his imprisonment
the Roman officials, soldiers, and people outside were hearing the message of
salvation through Christ.
Paul’s imprisonment had brought great interest
in the gospel and this had given the believers boldness to preach Christ.
But Christ was being
preached by people with entirely different motives.
Same gospel –
different motives.
Philippians
Philippians
Preaching Christ of contention – pretence; without sincerity; elevating
self
Preaching Christ of love – truth; sincerity;
glorifying the Lord.
Paul’s affliction
His
heart was filled with concern for the people.
His
affliction concerned the ‘contention’ that motivated the preaching – they were
not preaching in truth; they were not an example to follow; they were self
seeking.
They
sought to hurt Paul because he was not able to be there to teach the
Philippians.
Paul rejoiced that Christ was preached.
Philippians 1:18, ‘What then? notwithstanding,
every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein
do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.’
It is
better that Christ is preached with a wrong motive than that Christ is not
preached at all.
Personal Testimony: Sometimes it has been difficult to watch
things that happen within the local Church.
Leaders
can become so obsessed with leading that they do not allow anyone else to do
anything.
Leaders
should produce leaders and ministries should produce ministries.
But even
if a local church which is evangelical is led by a person with wrong motives,
if Christ is preached then we can rejoice.
We do
not however have to follow the person’s leadership.
5.
Walk in humility.
The way of strife is overcome by the way of
humility.
Philippians 2:3, ‘Let nothing be done through strife (eritheia) or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind (tapeinophrosune) let each esteem other
better than themselves.’
Lowliness of mind
Two Greek words ‘tapeinos’
meaning ‘not being raised far from the ground’ and ‘phren’
meaning ‘the perception of heart and the mind’.
Lowliness
of mind means keeping a low perception of ourselves.
This goes
against popular teaching today that always seeks to raise self esteem.
Yet for the
Christian, it is the life of Christ who dwells in us (Colossians 1:27).
‘Lowliness
of mind’ is to esteem ourselves in Christ not in ourselves.
I am
nothing, Christ is everything.
I do not
need to promote myself because in Christ I have everything.
This
means I am free to take the lowest place because Christ has lifted me to the
highest place.
Paul tells us to let the mind of Christ be in
us (Phillipians 2:5)
The
eternal Son of God was willing to humble Himself and become a servant and die
upon the cross.
Now as
Man He has been exalted to the highest place – Jesus Christ is Lord.
He
represents me.
Now I am
seated in heavenly places with Christ.
I do not
have to seek for position; or praise of man; or success, for in Christ I have
everything.
Summary:
Leadership must always be with right motives
1) Our
eyes should be on our eternal inheritance
2) Our lives
should produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
3) We
must follow the wisdom from above that produces peace.
4) We
must preach Christ out of love.
5) We
must walk in lowliness of mind because in Christ I have everything.
An extreme
case:
Story: The
dangers of following a contentious man.
The Jonestown tragedy in November 1978.
A
The followers of Jim Jones and their children
(over 900 people altogether) died when they drank poison in the communion.
Jim Jones was a contentious man ‘eritheia’. His
followers were deceived by his words.