How to Spot Hidden Wolves
We’re His sheep and the Good Shepherd has given us clear ways to recognize wolves in disguise. Even while pretending to be part of the Lord’s flock, this predator’s motives are quite different.
A wolf will always prey upon the sheep.
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories… (2 Peter 2:1-3 NIV)
A wolf is always greedy and destructive toward the sheep. A beautiful outer fleece can’t hide the wolf’s true nature forever.
Let’s look at one place where wolves often prowl.
The Prosperity Gospel-True or False?
The Prosperity Gospel is the idea that God’s whole goal for us is to be prosperous and happy in this life. Prosperity teachers use certain verses to imply that if you give money to God, He has to supernaturally increase your earthly wealth.
Okay. Ignore for a moment all the scriptural teachings against greed or allowing riches to become an idol. (Mark 7:21-23, Luke 12:15, 1 Timothy 6:10 and Matthew 6:24).
To find out if this is a wolfish scheme, ask yourself one question.
Who benefits?
Only the Wolf Benefits
If the prosperity teaching is true—that God is 100% obligated to increase our earthly wealth if we give money generously to Him—giving to any Christian cause should trigger this worldly “financial blessing.” So why not feed starving children in Africa? Or provide free surgery to poor people via the Mercy Ships? Or help the courageous believers who smuggle Bibles to persecuted Christians? Or even give to the local homeless shelter?
There are many great ministries to give money to. Yet these teachers never suggest giving to someone else’s ministry.
A wolf who teaches the Prosperity Gospel will always prey on the sheep.
So what ministry are the Christians under his care encouraged to give to?
Only his.
The more the wolf stirs up his followers’ greed, the more money they will send—to him.
Something Else a Wolf Will Never Do
A wolf will also never encourage people to start reading the Bible every day. Why? Because it’s the most common way God speaks to us. When we start reading the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to the lies we believe.
Instead the wolf will keep his flock munching only a few key verses, complete with his own interpretation.
Wolf Detection 101
A Christian reading the gospels will hear words from Jesus like “sacrifice,” “be a servant” and “lay down your life for one another.” Wolves who pretend to be sheep don’t preach this—unless their follower’s sacrifice helps them personally. They certainly don’t model this type of behavior for the sheep.
Disguised wolves take—they don’t give.
False teachers promise the sheep great wealth. But who’s receiving all the money? And who’s getting their bank accounts emptied?
Hidden wolves will come at the church from many different directions. As believers, we all need spiritual discernment.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to sharpen our ability to detect false teaching.
Detecting Counterfeit Money
Agents in Canada are trained to detect counterfeit bills by becoming very familiar with genuine Canadian bills. Real currency has certain characteristics and features that are hard for the forgers to duplicate. One key element? Fake bills often “feel wrong” because real money is printed on special cotton-based paper.
Christians can detect wolves in the same way.
After years of reading the Bible, false teachings often jar me, because they don’t align with the Word of God. It may take me a while to see the error, but most false teaching “feels wrong.”. But I might not know why. Often I ask the Lord to open my eyes and help me understand why.
And He does.
So, what about you—what sharpens your spiritual discernment?
This image was downloaded from Pixabay.com. This wolf-sheep hybrid image was created by a German contributor signing in as SarahRichterArt.
I also wrote a second post on this topic:
Detecting a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (Part 2)
Resources and Additional Notes:
Yes, wolves can sometimes be women teachers too.
Let me make one disclaimer: a Christ-loving preacher might be mistaken in what he or she teaches, but still be a good sheep in the Lord’s flock. Wolves are detected because of the hidden evil motives within their hearts.
Here are two articles by Tim Challies on the principles of Christian discernment and detecting false Canadian bills.
Counterfeit Detection (Part 1)
Counterfeit Detection (Part 2)
