Walking on By: Survey Results – Part 3
March 24, 2008
Dear Friends,
Our third question was “How good of a job do you think we do in responding when we have wolves (false brethren who attack sheep) in our midst?” Again, we have posted the comments for this question at this link. The results broke down as follows:
- People answering “Excellent” – 2.1%
- People answering “Above Average” – 16%
- People answering “Average” – 22.6%
- People answering “Below Average” – 29.1%
- People answering “Pitiful” – 21.1%
- People answering with “No Response” – 8.7%
The results overall were skewed toward a negative response. Over 50% of the respondents chose either below average or pitiful. Average isn’t necessarily as good as it may seem on the surface, since other denominations have similar difficulties handling wolves.
1) We must properly identify wolves. One of the fundamental problems with handling the issue of wolves is identifying them. For example, one group may identify a brother as a fine example of what a brother in Christ should be and another group will identify that same brother as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. When some attempt to deal with that brother as a wolf, his admirers will in turn see those actions as wolfish. Both groups see themselves as trying to do the right thing based on their own paradigm. Both groups see their set of “facts” as the only way to see it and those that disagree with them as unspiritual, unwise or worse.
The basic litmus test of wolfery is the person’s fruit. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” (Matt. 7:15,16) We can also use Galatians 5 as the checklist for fruit to determine wolfery. In the following list, the first characteristic is what we would expect a brother in Christ to show (the fruit of the spirit) and the characteristic in parentheses is the opposite of good fruit which we would expect a wolf to demonstrate.
- Love (Hate)
- Joy (Anger, agitation)
- Peace (Always fighting, arguing or attacking)
- Longsuffering (intolerance, impatience with people)
- Gentleness (Roughness, bad temper, not truly caring for others)
- Goodness (Doing things that are not good such as false accusations, creating schisms, etc.)
- Faith (Not demonstrating their faith with good works)
- Meekness (Putting others down, seeking a following or high profile, seeking to control others)
- Temperance (Showing little self-control in what we say or do)
The only way to fight a wolf is with the fruit of the spirit. We will never overcome the flesh with the flesh. Any response to a wolf needs to demonstrate love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. If we respond to a supposed wolf with the tactics of the flesh, perhaps we should refocus our efforts more closely on ourselves and get the beam out of our own eye first. Fighting a wolf with the fruit of the spirit may seem idiotic because wolves will not fight fair, but God’s ways are higher than man’s ways. For example, “turning the other cheek” sounds insane with the fleshly mind, but, in the end, following God’s path will always prove right.
2) We need to act Biblically. This disparity of opinion of who is and is not a wolf is always going to be the case. We cannot allow the fact that unanimity will never be achieved to dissuade us from doing the right thing. If we think that because there are two sides to the story, we can default to a “do nothing” position, we are mistaken. If we don’t know what is right or wrong, we should carefully and objectively seek out the real truth of the matter before taking appropriate action. Our flesh will try and persuade us to be lazy and “walk on by.” We need to resist the temptation and do our homework.
One person wrote and said:
If we see someone take a swing in anger on a playground or at a sporting event we would likely wade in without hesitation to stop it. If we observed spousal abuse it would instantly invoke a reaction from us. Why don’t we respond the same way when we see attacks, strikes, slander, or character assassinations occur to our brothers?
3) We need to act quickly and decisively. All too often, brethren don’t act at all in the face of wolves. Standing up to wolves is nasty business. Yet the defining characteristic of a wolf is not necessarily that they are morally or doctrinally askew. The defining characteristic of a wolf is that they destroy sheep (or at least seek to do so). They can destroy sheep by destroying someone’s reputation via slander or false accusations. They can destroy sheep indirectly by their mean and cantankerous behavior, even causing people to leave the meeting. They can destroy sheep by teaching false doctrine and encouraging people to believe another gospel. The key though is that most people, when they go astray, are simply harming themselves while a wolf harms others.
This means that when a wolf is identified, the shepherds need to act quickly. It is a critical error on the part of shepherds in the face of the wolf to be indecisive or even indifferent. The wolf will use whatever means possible (because they are playing outside of the rules) to achieve their end and wise shepherd will act with loving, Biblical and decisive action. With this said, doing things decently and in order as well as a thorough identification are never to be sacrificed for speed. It would be better for many wolves to slip through than one brother to be falsely accused.
Wolves typically run in packs too. The more time given to a wolf, the more wolves he will gather around himself and the harder he will be to fight. We shouldn’t wait to act when the wolves outnumber the sheep and the body count is high, we must act wisely and decisively at the first sign of attack.
I don’t want to make this sound easy or simple. It plainly is not. Standing up to wolves takes wise, God- centered men to act in a Biblical fashion. It takes people willing to lay down their lives for the sheep. It takes the fruit of the spirit manifested in transformed men. It takes God and Christ working through men who say and do what they have been instructed to do with courage, determination and most of all, the love of God.
Have a great week,
