Commandment 40: “Beware of men.”
Mt. 10:17: "for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;"
The disciples went forth in obedience to Christ, and with them went his blessings as well as his cautions. Still today the Holy Spirit will warn us if we are listening to his still small voice. All men are subject to disappoint and to being disappointed. The fallen nature of man makes him self centered and sometimes able to be used by the enemy. We see in this sending of the disciples a certain order of appearance (vs 6-17): they were sent to evangelize the sheep, to minister to the sick, to abide with the worthy, to work among the wolves and now the warning to 'beware of men'.
Though Jesus tells us to love all men (even our enemies), that is not to infer that all men are to be trusted. To love we are commanded, but trust must be earned.
Jesus knew the hearts of men better than even they themselves did. When one group asked Him to make a judgment on a young woman that was caught in adultery, he knew their hearts and said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." There were no stones thrown that day, (John 8:7) they went away convicted of their own sin. Yet moments before they had been willing to take the life of the woman in spite of their own guiltiness before God. Their failure to act after Jesus wrote in the sand probably speaks more of their fear of his authority then to their sense of personal sin. He was always messing up their parties.
It doesn't take long in this life to recognize that there are evil men all around us. Some are driven by greed and avarice, others by genuine evil intent. Some are just weak and unstable, while others may be ignorant and easily led. Men can be most wonderful and most terrible. Sometimes these opposites can even exist in the same person as he or she resists or yields to the forces of darkness dwelling within.
It is the Light of Christ that can bring a man to his right mind. Like the Gergesene demoniac, even the deepest bondage can be broken and the captive made free. If you know a pig living in the nearby vicinity of such a person you might want to warn him. It never works out that good for the swine.
For some reason, in the religious community, we find an abundance of con men and takers. People who are looking to God and love their fellow man are often more vulnerable and trusting of others. In some ways it cannot be helped, and when we are taken advantage of, we may choose to just go our way and leave the recompensing to the Lord. In the end, if doing so is actually heaping coals of fire upon their heads, I guess that's considered as justification. (Rom.12:20)
In both the Old and New Testament’s, we have wonderful and sometimes stern instructions of what to do in such cases within the community of believers. But very few of us live a life completely separated from the world. It is in our dealings outside of the Church that we often find ourselves most vulnerable, and of this we must be watchful.
This is not to say that inside of the fellowship of believers we are completely without potential for fraud and deception. Paul warns of this in Ephesians saying, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret." (Eph. 5:11,12)
We are told that in the Last Days such things will increase. These days one can certainly see the truth of this with only a little observation. The recent history of fraud and abuse in Christian circles can certainly give us cause for alarm, but we can never forget the potential of sin in every one of us, so Jesus tells us to beware.
From Paul, we hear of one of the disciples named Demas who left the work, "having loved this present world”, and of one Alexander the coppersmith, who Paul's says “did him much evil and greatly withstood them in the work they were doing for the Lord.” (2 Tim. 4:10-14)
That is not to say that Demas was anything like Alexander, but it does demonstrate the many faceted difficulties of working with men, even believers, who sometimes prove unfaithful and, beyond that, genuinely evil. Just because you are doing a good work for the Lord doesn't mean you will always be appreciated for it, and in some cases like with Paul’s team at the time, you may be despised and greatly resisted.
Since demons and devils aren't usually walking around in the open it stands to reason that they would work through available men, and so they do. The Lord doesn't give us a laundry list of the work of evil men, but he does tell us that we shall know them by their fruits. We must not ignore these warnings from the Lord as they can steal, kill and destroy. In fact, that is their purpose.
The longer evil goes unchecked, the more potential damage it can do. As servants of Christ, we must go forward in faith, but be clear in our understanding that our enemy, the devil, “like a roaring lion, walks about seeking who he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) And devour he will if given the chance.
So, we go forward trusting the Lord, yet fully aware of the potential for real danger from those around us. We are watchful yet not hostile; discerning but not cunning; seeing the truth but not covering our eyes to deception. If we do this and listen to the Holy Spirit, He will help us to avoid the things and people our adversary and his legions will use to hinder our work for Christ.
Craig Marlatt