what false teachers do

These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Jude 16

This is a summary of the character and activity of false teachers. There is a class of people within Christian circles who hold to and proclaim false doctrine and by seeking personal gain from their endeavors undermine the gospel. Jude warns us so that we can know them from clear criteria.

First is their general attitude toward orthodoxy: they grumble and complain. That is often the start of false teaching or sinful practices gaining a foothold. The false teacher hates that the gospel makes for uncomfortability. They seek comfort above all. There is complaining against leaders, against the teaching of the gospel, against the gospel itself in some fashion.

Then we move to understanding their motivation. They are moved by sinful desire. Nobody goes full blown apostate with a desire for holiness and doctrinal clarity. It is driven by a desire to please self, to somehow lighten Christ’s demands or diminish His authority. The false teacher moves his desire to the authority of biblical doctrine and the resulting teaching and practice becomes egregious sin.

Their lives are clearly self-centered. Their speech is attention-getting. They are heard and adored by many. They appeal to personal pride as they boast. They get a crowd and use that crowd as a basis for legitimacy. They court celebrities with their own cult celebrity status. They seek personal power and the stature of perceived success and achievement through gathered worldly possessions. These days they ride around in chauffeured Bentleys, travel on private jets, live in exclusive mansions, fill arenas with eager, confused crowds, sell books plastered with their faces on the cover, and all the while ignore the gospel, in essence opening wide the gates of hell with their carefully manicured hands to let everybody behind them inside.