Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:17
The sons of Eli had cooked up a scheme to rip off the offerings that the Israelites were bringing to the tabernacle in Shiloh. They created a new type of fleshhook that took more of the offerings for themselves than was provided for in the law. And they also took their portion before the offering was put to the fire, again violating the law. Presumably, these two wicked lads were lining their own pockets by selling what they were stealing from the Lord. That was bad enough. But what was even worse, the people bringing the offerings were becoming offended. As they saw the priests stealing from the offerings, they were turned off by the wicked behaviour. But they lost all respect, not only for the priests, but also for the offerings themselves. Something that was supposed to be precious to them had become disgusting. Much of today’s religion is like that.
An obvious example of the abuses of Eli’s sons is Roman Catholicism with its many centuries of horrendous sexual predation, its peddling of indulgences, its pawning of purgatory releases, and its enslaving of the masses to its repressive practices. These evils have turned many hearts away not only from Rome but also from anything that has to do with God. But Rome is not alone in its excesses and robberies of God. The modern-day charismatic movement, as well as the so-called prosperity gospel movement, preys on the gullible and has done huge amounts of harm to the testimony of Christ. If you ask those who have turned their backs on God and His Word why they have done so, many will point to the deep hypocricy and the gross excesses of religion. Just like Eli’s sons, those organizations are causing people to abhor the things of the Lord. And they will pay for that, just as Eli’s sons did. What a reminder to us to be extremely careful that we never pervert the things of God!
The apostle Paul had been trained in the trade of tent making. And he turned to that trade to provide for his needs when necessary. He also turned to that trade to prevent any scandal about his support in the work of the Gospel. ‘For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God’ (1 Thessalonians 2:9). Unlike the shameful behaviour of the scandalous televangelists, those who preach the Gospel must be certain to present only the purest of motives, the love of God for lost souls. Pure motives must always be behind the work of those who would lead, teach, and shepherd the Lord’s people. ‘This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop (overseer), he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous’ (1 Timothy 3:1-3).
It is possible to turn people away from God by bad behaviour. But it is possible to turn people toward God by godly behaviour. -Jim MacIntosh