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 DANCING
WITH WOLVES
Acts
20:28-31 Keep watch over yourselves and all the
flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. 29
Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought
with his own blood. know that after I leave, savage wolves
will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30
Even from your own number men will arise and distort the
truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31
So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never
stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
One
of the key functions of a shepherd in the New Testament
is to discover the wolves that may destroy the flock. By
wolves, we mean false people who arise and enter to provoke
divisions and/or steal the sheep. Paul constantly had to
fight the wolves and so do we. He had his Jews. Nowadays
we have mistaken Christians, perverted people and false
sects.
There
are two types of wolves.
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EXTERNAL:
Acts 20:29 : “I know that after I
leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will
not spare the flock.” Note how wolves usually
wait until the Christian worker is absent to enter,
because they know that the worker will probably have
the common sense to stop them. The words “to come
in” show that they are not part of the herd. They
belong to different groups and sects and may be treated
by the congregation as though they are false cults.
But to the experienced worker, these wolves are easily
recognised, and for this reason are not as dangerous
as the other type. Generally, just one simple word of
instruction to the congregation about these groups is
sufficient. Note how Paul warned about the wolves with
firmness.
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INTERNAL:
“Even from your own number men will arise
and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples
after them.” Acts 20:30.
These are the most dangerous sort as they are already
in the church. For this reason they are the most difficult
to detect and get rid of. There are two type: 1) People
with bad intentions who are found in an organisation
searching for their prey, waiting for the moment in
which they can bite and treacherously attack. 2) People
who are legitimately in the church to serve, but when
they are corrected by the church in some way or falls
into sin without seeking repentance, a root of bitterness
takes hold and the hatefully become predators, just
like Cain.
Most
of the time they are present for one of these two reasons:
1)
These wolves are believers with
pride and ambition in their hearts (James
3:14 But if you harbor bitter envy and
selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about
it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does
not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual,
of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish
ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.)
2)
Or they are dissatisfied for some reason and
therefore the devil starts to use them to distance
the believes, destroying their confidence in the church
leadership and make them follow after them instead
of after Christ. (2 Timothy 3:2-9
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of
money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their
parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving,
slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers
of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having
a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing
to do with them. They are the kind who worm their
way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women,
who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all
kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able
to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres
opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men
of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned,
are rejected. But they will not get very far because,
as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear
to everyone.)
Both
types of wolves are usually people who are themselves deceived
and don’t realise that they are wolves.
Why
does God allow wolves to enter the Church? ¿Por qué
Dios permite que los lobos entren a la iglesia? "No
doubt there have to be differences among you to show which
of you have God's approval.", 1Cor. 11:19.
Dealing with wolves is instinctive for the Christian worker.
Much is learnt about the people who are under your care.
The loyalty and stability of believers is put to the test
and their weaknesses are revealed. The people you thought
were stable can fall. Others you considered to be lacking
can turn out to be stronger than you thought. You know those
who are your friends and those who aren’t, those who
will change their ways in accordance with what the word
of God says and those who change the word to fit in with
the way they want to live.
How
do you recognise the wolves?
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They
always work behind the leaders’ backs.
John 10:1-2 They will visit people
in their own homes without their leaders’ knowledge.
They will try to gain authority illegitimately bypassing
the leadership. Jesus taught that they come dressed
in sheep’s clothing. Matthew 7:15-17. One simple
way to detect them is when they begin to steal the sheep.
One sheep doesn’t steal another. Only wolves do
that.
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They
criticise the leaders; normally behind their backs.
2 John 9-10. Every leader has weaknesses in
their ministry, but this doesn’t given people
the right to rip them to pieces with criticism. What
makes us Christians is the basic recognition that we
are sinners and need a saviour. The difficulty sometimes
lies in the fact that some of what wolves say can be
trae; nevertheless, that truth is usually exaggerated,
distorted and all shorts of false hints are added to
it. Just because there’s some element of truth
isn’t a reason to ruin the ministry of a person
with criticism, especially in front of other members
of the Church who may be weak. Note some of the things
that Paul said about wolves in 2 Cor. 10:10-13.
The wolves boast of their own spirituality. Not in 2
Cor. 10:12 how Paul sarcastically mocos the
spirituality of the wolves. They are often comparing
themselves with others and their comparisons always
work to their advantage. They frequently protest to
have more knowledge on some subjects that the legitimate
leader of the Church and can insinuate that they have
more to teach than the leaders. 2 Thess. 3:3-4.
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They
tend to provoke divisions.
Romans 16:18-5. They invariably sep
the weak Christians. Romans 16:18.
It seems that wolves have a special internal radar which
allows them to detect a weak believer. It could be a
kind of satanic discernment. They usually go straight
for the weak believers and try to win them over to their
side.
How
do I deal with wolves? Titus
3:10 "Warn a divisive person once, and
then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to
do with him".
Reprimanding
and casting out: With almost every other type of problem
to do with people, one normally shows patience, compasión
and mercy, but this is not the way to deal with wolves.
You cannot show patience nor campassion, let alone mercy.
Paul’s instructions are clear: A wolf doesn’t
deserve more than two warnings befote being cast out. Be
very firm with them. A warning to the congregation from
the pulpit may be necessary.
Implementing
intervention: The whole Church, especially the mature believers,
should be trained in how to detect a wolf when they enter.
You can show them how to intercept wolves before they are
allowed to approach the weaker believers. All mature believers
within the church should understand that they can help in
this matter if necessary. |
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