The Cancer of Covetous Piety Text: 1 Timothy 6:3-10
Introduction: The Scent of Sound Doctrine
The Christian faith is not a set of abstract propositions to be debated in a sterile laboratory. It is a robust, living reality that has a particular smell, a particular texture, a particular taste. The apostle Paul, in writing to his young charge Timothy, is deeply concerned with the difference between true and false religion. And the test is not simply a matter of checking doctrinal boxes, though that is essential. The ultimate test is what kind of man the doctrine produces. Does it produce a man who is humble, sober, and content? Or does it produce a man who is puffed up, argumentative, and grasping?
We live in an age that is remarkably similar to the one Paul describes in Ephesus. Our culture is awash in spiritualities of every shape and size, and many of them have crept into the church, wearing a Christian name tag. We have the therapeutic gospel, which promises a pain-free life. We have the political gospel, which promises a legislative utopia. And we have the one Paul is dealing with directly here, the prosperity gospel, which promises that if you just have enough faith, God will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise, with a heavy emphasis on the wealthy.
But Paul tells us that false doctrine has a distinct and foul odor. It smells of pride, ignorance, and envy. It festers in quarrels about words and breeds suspicion and strife. At its root, it is a religion of self-advancement. It sees godliness not as a relationship with the living God, but as a lever to get what it wants from God. It is a transactional faith, a spiritual vending machine. You put in your piety, and out comes the stuff. Paul is telling Timothy, and us, that this is not just a minor error. This is a spiritual cancer that will eat away the life of the church and plunge men into ruin.
The antidote to this disease is what Paul calls "sound words," the doctrine that conforms to true godliness. And the fruit of this sound doctrine is a quiet, sturdy contentment. This is the great battleground. The world, the flesh, and the devil are constantly screaming at us that we do not have enough, that we are not enough, and that we need more. More money, more affirmation, more security, more stuff. The gospel of Jesus Christ declares that in Him, we have everything. The war is between covetousness and contentment, and the stakes are nothing less than our souls.
The Text
If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited, understanding nothing but having a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
(1 Timothy 6:3-10 LSB)
The Pathology of False Teaching (vv. 3-5)
Paul begins with a diagnosis of the false teacher. He lays out the symptoms of this spiritual sickness so that we can recognize it and, as he will say, withdraw from it.
"If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited, understanding nothing..." (1 Timothy 6:3-4a)
The first marker is a departure from "sound words." This is a medical term, from which we get our word "hygiene." Sound doctrine is healthy doctrine. It produces spiritual health. And what is the standard for this health? It is twofold: the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine that conforms to godliness. True doctrine is Christ-centered and it produces Christ-likeness. Any teaching that does not pass these two tests is, by definition, a "different doctrine." It is unhealthy, and it will make the church sick.
And what is the first symptom in the one who promotes such teaching? Pride. "He is conceited, understanding nothing." The Greek word for conceited means to be wrapped in smoke. It is the picture of a man whose head is in a cloud of his own self-importance. He is arrogant because he is ignorant. He does not know God, and therefore he does not know himself. Because he has rejected the objective standard of Christ's words, he has made himself the standard. This is the very heart of the fall. Man, turning from God's Word, decides to be his own god, defining good and evil for himself.
This pride and ignorance then manifest in a particular way:
"...but having a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain." (1 Timothy 6:4b-5)
The false teacher has a "morbid interest" in controversies. He is not interested in the clear, central truths of the gospel. He is drawn to the fringes, to esoteric debates, to theological hair-splitting that produces heat but no light. He loves to argue about words because he has abandoned the Word. This is not a man who humbly seeks the truth; this is a man who loves the fight. And look at the fruit this produces. It is the fruit of the flesh: envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions. This is not the fruit of the Spirit. A doctrine that produces this kind of relational chaos is, by definition, a false doctrine.
Paul then gives the final diagnosis of their spiritual state. They are men of "depraved mind" and "deprived of the truth." Their thinking is corrupted, and the truth is not in them. And here is the core motivation: "who suppose that godliness is a means of gain." They have turned religion into a business. Their piety is a performance, a strategy for personal enrichment. This is the foundation of the prosperity gospel. It baptizes covetousness and calls it faith. It treats God as a cosmic slot machine to be manipulated for personal profit. Paul's instruction to Timothy is stark: "from such withdraw thyself." Do not argue with them. Do not debate them. Separate from them. You cannot heal this disease; you must quarantine it.
The True Currency of the Kingdom (vv. 6-8)
Paul then takes the false teachers' central premise, that godliness is about gain, and he turns it on its head. He agrees that godliness is a means of gain, but he completely redefines the currency.
"But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content." (1 Timothy 6:6-8 LSB)
The great gain of the Christian life is not a fatter portfolio; it is a quieter heart. The true treasure is contentment. Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have in Christ. It is a settled satisfaction in God's provision, whatever that may be. This is a radical, counter-cultural idea. Our entire economy is built on creating and feeding discontentment. You must have the newer car, the bigger house, the latest phone. The world preaches a gospel of "more." The Bible preaches a gospel of "enough."
Paul gives two foundational reasons for this contentment. First, the reality of our mortality: "we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either." This is the great equalizer. The hearse does not have a luggage rack. The billionaire and the pauper both arrive and depart with empty hands. To spend your life accumulating things you cannot keep is the definition of insanity. It is to be like a man furiously rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Second, the simplicity of our needs: "if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content." Notice he does not say, "if we have food, covering, a 401k, a vacation home, and two cars." He reduces our physical needs to the bare essentials. This is not a command to be destitute. It is a command to find our satisfaction in God, not in His gifts. If God gives you more, praise Him and be a generous steward. If He gives you less, praise Him and know that He is enough. Our contentment is not tied to our circumstances, but to our Christ.
The Self-Destructive Nature of Greed (vv. 9-10)
Having shown the beauty of godly contentment, Paul now shows the ugly and destructive end of its opposite: the desire to be rich.
"But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:9 LSB)
Notice the focus is not on being rich, but on wanting to be rich. The sin is not in the possession, but in the desire. This desire is a trap. It is a snare that the devil sets, and our own covetous hearts walk right into it. This desire gives birth to other desires, which Paul calls "foolish and harmful." They are foolish because they promise happiness but deliver misery. They are harmful because they "plunge men into ruin and destruction." This is the language of a ship sinking in a storm. The love of money is not a life raft; it is an anchor that will drag you to the bottom of the sea.
Paul then gives us one of the most famous, and most frequently misquoted, verses in all of Scripture.
"For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:10 LSB)
He does not say that money is the root of all evil. Money is morally neutral. It is a tool that can be used for good or for ill. The problem is the love of money. It is when money captures your affections, when it becomes your master, when it is the thing you trust in and serve. This idolatrous love is a "root." It is not the only root of evil, but it is a foundational one from which "all sorts of evils" can grow. Greed can lead a man to lie, to steal, to cheat, to commit adultery, to neglect his family, to abandon his faith.
And Paul shows us the tragic end of this pursuit. He says some, by aspiring to be rich, have "wandered away from the faith." The path of greed and the path of faith go in opposite directions. You cannot serve God and mammon. As you walk toward one, you necessarily walk away from the other. And the end of this wandering is not happiness, but self-inflicted pain. They have "pierced themselves with many griefs." The very thing they thought would bring them pleasure has become the instrument of their torture. The man who lives for money is like a man who drinks salt water to quench his thirst. The more he drinks, the thirstier he becomes, until it finally kills him.
Conclusion: The Great Exchange
This passage presents us with a stark choice between two kinds of gain and two kinds of life. The false teacher offers a religion that promises worldly gain but delivers spiritual ruin. The gospel offers a religion that may require worldly loss but delivers the "great gain" of godliness with contentment.
The ultimate lie of the prosperity gospel is that it gets the transaction backwards. It teaches that our godliness is a means to get gain from God. The truth of the gospel is that God's godliness, in the person of Jesus Christ, was the means for our gain. He who was rich, for our sakes became poor, so that we through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Jesus did not come to make us rich in the things of this world. He came to make us rich in Him. He is our treasure. He is our great gain. The false teachers are trying to sell you a pile of gravel and call it gold. The gospel offers you the pearl of great price. The reason we can be content with simple food and covering is that we have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ and fed with the bread of life. We have been given a treasure that cannot be stolen, an inheritance that will never fade, and a joy that no circumstance can take away.
Therefore, the call to us is clear. Flee from the love of money. Flee from the siren song of a culture that is drowning in its own discontent. And pursue the true riches. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, and patience. Lay hold of the eternal life to which you were called. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? But the one who has Christ has everything.