The Unspeakable Pride of False Teachers

By Elizabeth Prata


Regarding the strange video Beth Moore made of herself and posted on Instagram. She filmed herself working out in pajamas, slippers, and bed head. The point of her video was to reassure her followers just how normal she is.

She panned the camera to show her slippers working the step on her elliptical machine, took care to pan up to the lump of bed hair that wouldn't lay down, and to note that she is still in pajamas, to which she gestured.

Moore opened the video by saying she thought she would share with us how "glamorous" she is, how "glamorous the ministry" is, of course meaning the opposite. She explained to no one who had asked, that she had taught the night before and well, when you arrive home you're wound up. Beth said you have to wash some clothes and clean the kitchen and all that. Who can sleep? And well, when she awoke this morning she "ministered through a little devotional thread on social media". She coyly explained that was why she was still in her PJs and she had to work out before going to work. "You need to see me on my elliptical in my house shoes" Moore said. So she thought she would just share.

If you think this is a humility, it isn't. It is a video actually demonstrating the enormous quantities of pride she has in herself. How? What she is really doing is reassuring her followers that she is just like them. She really isn't exceptional, admirable, or dare we say, godlike as we probably think she is. She is really just like us mere humans, not so very different from us commonplace minions. Yet because she made an entire video about how normal she is, of course she believes the opposite is true. The lady doth protest too much. The unintended message of the video is pride.

False teachers and pride

False teachers' hearts contain a huge amount of pride, and a huge amount of greed. (1 Timothy 6:5). When people say "You can't say she or he is a false teacher, because you don't know their heart," the Bible tells us exactly what is in their heart. If you have determined that they teach another Gospel or another Jesus and are therefore false, then their hearts WILL be known to us, at least to the extent the Bible reveals- and it reveals a lot. Let's take a look at the false teacher's prideful heart.

1 Timothy 6:4 says that those who teach contrary to good doctrine are conceited and know nothing. A synonym for conceited is prideful. Beginning in verse 2,

These are the things you are to teach and insist on. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions

As a side note, if you wonder why Beth Moore is always in the news, it isn't because the mean people won't leave her alone, it is because she does exactly as the verse says false teachers do: stir up controversies. In fact, false teachers have a unhealthy interest in quarrels and they promote malicious talk and evil suspicions. As for the pride issue, Bible.org explains

Like Satan declaring that he will be like the Most High (Is 14:14), false teachers are consumed with themselves and their ideas. Peter described false teachers as "speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice" (2 Peter 2:17). They may do this by boasting about their wealth, their spiritual experiences, or their new revelation. They commonly exalt themselves before others.

William Barclay (1907-1978) said of the pride of the false teacher:

His first characteristic is conceit. His first aim is self-display. His desire is not to display Christ, but to display himself. There are still preachers and teachers who are more concerned to gain a following for themselves than for Jesus Christ. They are more concerned to press their own views upon people than they are to bring to men the word of God. Source: Commentary - Teacher’s Outline and Study Bible – 1 Timothy: The Teacher’s Outline and Study Bible.

False teachers are wordsmiths adept in manipulating language to come across as who they want to appear. Because they need to gain a following and because they rely on their followers' money (followers have been made merchandise of) this means the false teachers normally want to be seen as sincere, trustworthy, kind, and relatable. They work hard to appear so, even making ridiculous videos. In fact they are rapacious, prideful, greedy, godless, insincere liars. Such is a Beth Moore.

Rapacious : Matthew 7:15
Prideful :1 Timothy 6:4
Godless : 2 Timothy 3:5
Greedy : 2 Peter 2:3
Insincere liars : 1 Timothy 4:2