The demon possessed little girl was trafficked by men who used her curse as their gift to make money. She spoke the truth, at least in this case. Actually, she shouted the truth as she followed Paul and Silas around Philippi the first week they were in town. What she said was true; these two men were from God telling everyone how to be saved (Act. 16:17). But something beyond the words was very wrong with her message. So after a number of days of following the men with her vocal insight and commentary, Paul turned to her and in Jesus’ name cast out the demon.
At this point in the story we need to stand in the conflict between the girl’s message and the girl’s life. Beyond the fallout for Paul (i.e. falsely accused, arrested, beaten, jailed), one might question his action. If the girl is speaking the truth, does it really matter what was hidden deep within life? All that mattered was that the truth was being spoken, right?
Years ago I had a conversation with an elder concerned about the Involvement Minister. Over a seven year period he began questioning the man’s ethics. Actions taken could not be reconciled with the explanations given. The elder told me that every class the minister taught and every sermon preached he listened, hoping he’d say something conflicting with (his interpretation) of what was clearly taught in Scripture. In my youthful zeal I told him, “I don’t think it’s always about what the person says in the pulpit that matters, but how they live outside of the pulpit.”
Paul exorcises the demon from the girl, and part of me thinks he over-reacted. She wasn’t lying. She was pointing out exactly who Paul and Silas were. She was clarifying their mission. She was right. What was wrong with that?
For Paul almost everything was wrong. Beyond the basic information being true, the source of the information was corruptibly wrong. Her information was not revealed to her by the Spirit of God, but through the demon destroying her life. Paul didn’t need that kind of endorsement, if he needed any at all. Maybe that’s the key to this little girl’s story. It mattered to Paul whether or not this little girl possessed by the demon not only spoke the truth but was allowing the truth to speak through her life. Since the demon wasn’t about to repent or change, Paul wanted nothing to do with the demon. He cast the demon out of the girl.
We call this “Talking the Talk” versus “Walking the Walk.” Red flags are raised when we find someone who says the right words but whose life is lived in contrast to the spoken words. Jesus might have called them “actors,” people who were pretending to be his follower without any semblance of allowing him to shape their life. We call them hypocrites.
The conversation with the elder eventually led to action, though not because of anything I said. The Involvement Minister was discovered in fraudulent activity regarding church funds and was immediately dismissed. His wrongful actions far outweighed his truthful words.
Jesus talked about fruit inspectors (Mt. 7:15-19). He said to examine what kind of fruit people are bearing in their lives. If you cannot see how Jesus has changed their life, then maybe the person should be questioned. Maybe the speaker should be tuned out. Maybe the church should stop putting such individuals on a pedestal and start putting Jesus back on the pedestal.
In a time when people will say anything to get you to listen and to buy into their agenda, we need to use more scrutiny. Just because a person knows the right words to use when speaking to the public, doesn’t mean they live by those words. If the walk does not match the talk, then maybe we should stop listening to the talk.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)