Demas has been accredited to be a believer working alongside Paul. He is also mentioned in Colossians and Philemon. Little is known about him other than this ministry. His associates included the physician Luke, Titus, Mark, and Tychicus. Paul was always generous in recognizing those who supported the ministry, but he was not hesitant to report those who failed in the gospel of Christ. We have in the case of Demas the man that gave up. At first, he was faithful. Later, he was unfaithful. How could this be? Though his name is entered in a small way in the Bible, we can easily draw some conclusions about his example among the Christian brethren.
We do not know how he came to know Jesus as his Lord. We do know that he served faithfully for a period of time. This is reminiscent of those who accept Christ and work in the church then instantly disappear. Before entering the full-time ministry, I had the misfortune, as Sunday school superintendent, to find it necessary to fire a close relative from a teaching position.
This person came to church and was active in services, but not faithful in attending classes for the children she led. She was unreliable. We never knew if she would be at Sunday school to teach her class or not. This caused immediate confusion in the morning as classes gathered together.
Though, Ecclesiastes 5: 4,5 is referring to pay funds as promise, the principal still stands. Don’t say you are going to do something and then back out. That can cause more harm than good. In this case good intentions don’t matter.
The reputation that Demas built up was likely harmed because of his inconsistency of testimony and work. Initially he accepted Christ becoming known as a good worker alongside Paul. Then at some point he abandoned all in the ministry. In the middle of that he must’ve had some doubts or hesitations to follow through as expected. Everyone has someone who admires them. Just think of the damage he did to that person who held Demas up in high regard. We do not have any way of knowing what kind of discouragement or distraction that created.
Scripture says that Demas did three things. He forsook Paul. He loved the present world. He departed into Thessalonica. His opportunity to personally grow in the Lord and have a positive influence on those in the church suddenly disappeared. He simply left. Again, walking out on the church is walking out on God. He may have been a Christian, but he liked Lot’s wife, still held sweet memories of what it was like to mix and mingle in the world. He must’ve liked rubbing shoulders with sinners. He must’ve enjoyed certain pleasures the world offers.
Worst of all, he thought he could walk both sides of the fence believing that could he could be a professing Christian while enjoying the pleasures of the world. He left to go to Thessalonica. What was there that was so attractive? Why did he select that city? We do not know in his case. We do know that every single one of us are susceptible to certain things that are most attractive to us individually. When we say we must give our all to Christ, that means give up what is so attractive.
No excuse has been given for the behavior of Demas. It was a privately held decision. As we serve the Lord, there are always inclinations that we hold, some even sweet memories back in the world, and the delights we cannot seem to surrender. We did not read in our text that Demas left Paul to begin a new ministry in Thessalonica. He left because he loved the pleasures of the world. Especially it is true of any leader in the church, but also members as well, we must safeguard our hearts. We must lock down our minds to only serve the Lord. We must honor him first and foremost. We must have enough self-respect as believers to monitor our stability and faithfulness.
Christian Writer 