And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate.  And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?”  And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.”  Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land!  Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.”  And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him.”  (2 Samuel 15:2-5)

What a nice man, that Absalom!  Getting up at the crack of dawn like that, going out and spending all day in the hot Middle Eastern sun standing at the city gates.  Going out of his way to meet people and listen to their concerns.  Showing real interest and care about the troubles of strangers, even going so far as to give them the ancient equivalent of our friendly handshake which was a kiss on the cheek!  I mean, this is a guy who gives us a really good example from the Old Testament about true Christian care, compassion, and encouragement…

…that is, until we read verse 6:

Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment.  So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Not to mention the rest of chapter 15, as well as chapters 16 through 19 of 2 Samuel, where we read that Absalom basically staged a coup d’é·tat and started a civil war within the kingdom, trying to forcibly steal the throne and the life of his own father.

What’s the lesson here, Christian?  It’s possible to do good things for the wrong reason.  Motives matter.