A Call To Church Leaders To Step Up And Protect The Flock!
“Where are the Sheep Dogs?”
The Bible talks about sheep and wolves, and demands that the elders and leaders of the church protect the sheep.
What tends to happen more often than not, is the wolves are chosen over the sheep, and even rewarded in many cases.
When I say ‘Wolves’ this is not referring to someone who slips up and makes a mistake, we are talking people who have an established pattern of illicit, deceitful behavior (bad fruit). There is an old saying, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” This is valuable advice.
Sheep need guidance and protection, they’re vulnerable. When we discover a wolf in our midst, we don’t bring the wolf in and hope and pray he/she repents. I challenge anyone to show me a single verse in the Bible where a wolf should be allowed into the sheep fold.
…..I’ll wait……
Wolves seek out positions of power and leadership, whether we are talking the church, or otherwise. They are not an anomaly and should not be considered an exception, we should keep a constant watch for them.
There are a few well-known instances of this happening. A recent example of this is false teacher Mike Bickel. Mike Bickel has deceived untold millions of people since his International House of Prayer (IHOP) opened in 1999. Mike Bickel showed both deceitful as well as sexually deviant behavior very early on, but he was very skilled at using the word of God to divert attention away.
Another great example was Ravi Zacharias. Ravi was an extremely well-known and loved apologist. When accusations of sexual assault first came out he vehemently denied them and used his wealth and power to basically hunt down and silence his victims. After his death, his oldest daughter launched an independent investigation into her father and uncovered a devious second life. Ravi was not the person he presented himself to be. His daughter ended up making a public apology to her dad’s victims and campaigned to help them pay for fall out of Ravi’s rampant sexual abuse.
This is what wolves do. They disguise themselves then try to manipulate and slander when we unmask them.
”Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruit…”
The word beware here (or ‘watch out’ in some versions) is not an idle phrase, it means to remain constantly alert, constantly watchful.
What I have seen in the modern church is the emergence of a ‘gentleman’s club.’ This is not everywhere by any means, but in enough places to have major cause for concern. What tends to happen is where there is a wolf, you will also find the ‘wolf pack’ (those who support the wolf, enable the wolf, run cover for the wolf, etc). They may either be wolves themselves or sheerly weak and acting in ignorance.
When a predator comes into your church, it creates a cancer. The wolf pack will make excuses for the wolf, ignore obvious character flaws, and sacrifice the health of the sheep to satisfy their own desire to keep up public appearances.
Wolves will show themselves by their fruit (behavior patterns, actions, etc) and they are very talented in tactics to divert your attention away from their actions. “Look here!” “Look there!” They will say anything and everything to divert your attention away from what they are actually doing.
Wolves are charming and extremely talented in the gift of gab. If they get caught in some illicit act they welcome the opportunity to be brought into a meeting and reprimanded because that is their stage! They can play the victim like no other, and can conjer tears in an instant. They are showman, chameleons! Many a wolf have been confronted on their behavior, only to make the wolf pack feel bad and welcome them back into the sheep fold.
The Bible talks about that too, and expressly tells us NOT to listen to a person’s words and instead look at their FRUIT. But alas, we choose to ignore that fruit, because the wolf is charming and believeable. Well guess what? Then WE are to blame when our churches fail.
“Smooth lips with an evil heart are like glaze on an earthen vessel” Pv 26:23
The modern church is riddled with wolves leading the sheep, the Bible warned us of this so we shouldn’t be surprised.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Dave Grossman has written extensively on how the human population can be divided into three groups: sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs.
👉🏼Sheep: People that need protected
👉🏼Wolves: People that seek positions of power in order to exploit, manipulate and do harm
👉🏼Sheep Dogs: The protectors
🔥Are you a Sheep, Wolf or Sheep Dog?🔥
The video below is one of the best I’ve seen on helping to determine a person’s character.