I Ths. 2:3 ... "Our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit."
In the physical operation of the world there is a cause for every effect, and in the conduct of people there is a motive for every act. A smile on someone's face might be the result of his feeling cheerful, of his perception of humor, of his recognition of an old and pleasant acquaintance, of his natural response toward everyone he meets, or of his deficient mental capacity. When Christians undertake the task of exhorting others with the gospel, their action has a motivation behind it to cause it to proceed. This motivation may be noble, pure, and spiritual, or it may, unfortunately, be base, defiled, and carnal. In Php. 1:15 it states that there were those who were "preaching Christ from envy and strife, but some also from good will." There are those whose priority in preaching is to build a career by establishing a name and reputation. They yearn for recognition, praise, and the honor of men. If someone else is achieving these goals before them, they develop envy toward that person and covet his place. There are some whose goal is to defeat others in the combat of words and ideas. Their desire is not so much to convert lost souls to the truth and its saving power as it is to conquer and devastate an opponent in the arena of debate and polemics. They are never more energetic and motivated than in the midst of strife. When Jesus sent out men to preach, He ordered them not to "acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support," (Mat. 10:9-10). The principle here is that the Christian minister is not to serve with wealth as his object, but is to be worthy of the wages he does earn. Sadly, there are those who put wages before their work; their service to Christ is secondary to the scale of pay in the position they accept.
In the chosen text above there are identified three particular motivations that must not guide a Christian to engage in communicating God's holy message to others. First, the intent must not be to deceive anyone. The message must be simple and plain that salvation is being offered to the person and that his allegiance is being directed through Jesus Christ to God. Rewards must never be offered which Scripture does not support, and there must be no effort or intent to bind the individual to the minister as his disciple. Second, the purpose must not be to corrupt anyone by putting some impure slant on the message. We are told in Jas. 3:17 that "the wisdom from above is first pure," and I Pet. 1:22 adds that our souls are purified when we obey the truth. To preach a gospel corrupted by human additions and reconstructions is to place one's life far beyond the extent of God's grace, (Rev. 22:18-19). Third, the object must not be to preach the gospel in some skewed way to achieve an ungodly advantage. For example, Paul speaks in Php. 1:17 of those who "proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment." We do not know exactly how these insincere ministers made Paul's incarceration more severe by their preaching, but whatever their method, their motive was evil. During the days of Nazi Germany there were preachers who warped the gospel to approve and support the ruling regime. They were not by any means, however, the only preachers who have re-engineered the gospel to sanction political or social movements. We see the same in our own country now.
The New Testament often warns the faithful about those who teach, exhort, or preach by motives that are selfish, ungodly, and worldly. It also attributes these motives ultimately to Satan, (II Cor, 11:13-15). We must pay attention these warnings, for our spiritual well-being is at risk, even as we scrutinize our own motives lest we slip into the position of preaching to achieve goals that are offensive to God.
