Jump Start # 2005

Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

I watched an interesting short nature video on YouTube recently. It’s entitled “How wolves change rivers.” It ought to be watched by preachers and elders alike. There are many lessons to be gathered from this. Here is a synopsis of the story. The deer population at Yellowstone was destroying the vegetation. The deers had no predators. So, wolves were introduced to the area. In time, the wolves increased and sent the deers out of the valleys to other places. Soon, the vegetation started growing back. Trees grew. Other animals returned, such as rabbits, mice, beaver and otters. Birds, including hawks and eagles returned. But something else happened. Because of the dense vegetation and trees, erosion stopped. Rivers changed their courses and became deep. All of this because of the introduction of wolves.

This has so many lessons for us spiritually.

First, sometimes things are not thought out carefully. Something is introduced or started and the long range impact hasn’t been considered. This is why God’s kingdom is overseen by experienced and godly men who must think beyond the present and the visible. They must take into consideration how things will impact all segments of the congregation. For instance, some places are replacing the two services on Sunday with one long extended service. No problem with that if that is what is necessary and helpful for the group there. What works in one place may not work in another. Thought must be given to young families and what that does for the children. What works well for empty nesters may not go so well for families with small children. Careful planning, discussion and talking to those in different age brackets is necessary and helpful. I preached a series of lessons once that worked out to being eight sermons in 48 hours. They called it, “8 in 48.” Some loved it, I didn’t. I thought it was too much at one time.

Second, allowing wolves to run freely can change the landscape of not only Yellowstone, but it can change the landscape of a congregation spiritually. This is why Jesus gave the serious warning, “Beware.” Beware of the wolves. They seem innocent. They appear like sheep. They are not sheep. They are wolves. Wolves eat sheep. They are actually false prophets. They have an agenda and it’s not following the word of God. They want change. Left alone, wolves can change rivers. Wolves can change a church. It doesn’t take long nor does it take very many to do their work. Present some ideas here and there. Float some possibilities. Get some to like what you are saying. Push buttons. Introduce new ideas. Press that envelope and stretch it as far as you can. Left unchecked, wolves can change the landscape of a church. A walk down the halls of church history shows this. A walk down the history of Israel, starting in the book of Joshua shows this. Golden calves. Different cities to worship in. Priests from different tribes. Slowly. Step by step, moving in new directions. Exciting. Innovative. And before long, the church no longer looks like what you read in the Bible. To justify that, new ways of looking at the Bible are introduced. Doctrine becomes something of culture and culture is always changing. New ways. New thinking. New practices. The river changes. The landscape changes. Wolves are not interested in the old paths as Jeremiah spoke about. Wolves are not interested in stakes in the ground. They want to move the boundaries. They want to try things that have always been out of bounds. They are not satisfied with what has been. They want new and they want different. No thought that what God has spoken has worked for centuries. No thought that what God says, goes. Drama rather than doctrine. Playing rather than piety. Having a good time rather than a holy time. It’s all about the worshipper and not about the God who is to be worshipped. Wolves can change the landscape of a church.

This is why shepherds must be alert and on the ball. What are the people reading, listening to and being persuaded by? Do you know? Could you recognize a wolf? Jesus’ point is that they don’t walk into the church building with a sign around their neck, “Hello. My name is Big Bad Wolf.” They look like sheep. They may have been one of the sheep in times past. What are they saying when they ask controversial questions? What are they after when they raise objections? What are they filling the ears and hearts of others with? Who is in their network? Who are they influencing?

Often, wolves are allowed to run freely because we’ve known them for so long. We are friends with them. We grant them a pass, never realizing that they could be up to something that is wrong. Keep your eyes open.

In Titus, the elders were to silence the mouths of those that were upsetting families, teaching things they should not teach. Silence them. They were to be reproved severely. Serious actions for a potential serious problem. Left alone, the wolves will change the landscape of the church. Elders that are too busy, or elders that are asleep at the wheel, or elders who simply do not like to do this kind of work will find a new and different church. It will change right before their eyes. They will either be forced out or forced to go along with things that are not right nor Biblical. Beware! Wolves change the landscape. Who would have thought that a wolf could change a river. Who would have thought that a wolf could change the church.

Third, once rivers have changed, and wolves are running freely, it’s nearly impossible to return things to the way they once were. Environmentally, changing rivers and controlling the deer population at Yellowstone is a good thing. However, if it gets to a point that there remains no more deer, how will they control the wolves? In a church, it’s hard, once the landscape has changed to return to Biblical patterns that it should have. It can be done, but it’s rare and very hard. Most times, it’s easier to just live with the wolves. Kevin Costner had a movie called, “Dancing with wolves.” I think that sums up our times today. More would rather dance with the wolves than to be on guard against them. Many would naively say, “I don’t see anything wrong with what they are doing.” Could it be that our eyes are closed or worse, we don’t want to see. Once the door of change is opened, it never gets shut again. What one person introduces doesn’t seem so bad. Yet with that, the next person takes it a step further. In a generation or two, Israel was bowing down to idols.

Staying the course is hard. We must understand the difference between methods, traditions and doctrines. Those things can get fuzzy and we can confuse the whole group. We must keep up with a fast paced world yet we must remain true to what we believe in and where we stand. God’s word never changes. Cultures change. Governments change. Times change. God’s word stays the same.

We must wonder if we are creating wolves among us because we are unwilling to budge on traditions and methods. Young people do things differently than senior citizens. Every generation has fought the music of the next generation. Unwilling to listen, unwilling to consider, unwilling to give serious answers to questions may lead some to wolf factory. Discouraged. Defeated. Dying spiritually. Some feel the only hope is to change. What they want to change shouldn’t be changed. An atmosphere of “no” may have bred the spirit of a wolf. Younger folks need to know what can and what cannot be changed. They need to appreciate how God’s authority is established and works. They need to appreciate the stakes that God has placed in the ground. And, with that, some of us older ones can take a deep breath and see the value of technology, and different forms of teaching.

Wolves changed the rivers. Wolves change the church. Will we ever see this? Will we ever believe this?

Thanks, Jordan, for sharing that powerful video with me.

Roger

Jump Start # 846

Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

I play music in my office as I work. I have a variety of songs depending upon what I am doing. There is an old song that has resurfaced recently and I play a lot. The song is “Little Red Riding Hood.” I first heard that song in the late ’60’s by the Royal Guardsmen, the group that gave us all those songs about Snoopy and the Red Baron. I had forgotten about that song until it was played recently in the background of a car commercial. Laura Gibson is the singer and she does a great job. The song portrays the big bad wolf singing to little red riding hood. The wolf is trying to con little Red. There are a couple of intriguing lines in the song.

• The wolf tells red riding hood that he is going to keep his sheep suit on until he can be trusted walking with alone with her.
• The wolf tells Red, “even bad wolves can be good.”

Those are disturbing lines. They hide the truth that the wolf is a wolf. Those are the words of the REAL Wolf—Satan. He wants us to trust him. He wants us to think that even he can be good. No way! He’s bad, through and through. He lies. He breaks the rules. He twists. He cheats. He misquotes. He adds words. He deceives. He celebrates when people turn their backs on God.

Peter tells us that Satan is a roaring lion. Jesus said the false prophets are wolves in sheep clothing. Satan is behind false prophets. Lions and wolves—both are very dangerous and cannot be trusted. You wouldn’t stick your hand through the bars of the lion’s cage at the zoo. No way!

The song says, “Even bad wolves can be good.” No, they can’t. A wolf is a wolf. The wolf represents wrong. There is no way that wrong can be right. Dress it up real nice, but a bow on top of it, shine it, sprinkle some glitter all around it, and what do you have? A wolf. Wrong is still wrong. Bad wolves cannot be good. Wolves are not people. People can change. People have a heart. People can be forgiven. Not wolves.

The Holy Spirit didn’t call Satan a bad person. He is called a roaring lion. He appears as a sheep, but he is still a wolf. He looks like sheep, but he doesn’t smell like sheep. He looks like sheep, but he doesn’t walk like sheep. He looks like sheep, but he doesn’t graze in the meadows, like sheep. He looks like sheep, but he doesn’t act like sheep. He is a wolf. He runs in a pack with other wolves. He is dangerous, mean, and aggressive. The sweet talking wolf tries to lure you to trust him. Don’t. He is a wolf. The sweet talking wolf wants you to walk alone with him. Don’t. He wants you to think that he is good. He is not. He wants you to think that he has changed. He hasn’t. He wants to destroy you.

I wonder if we get that spiritually? Maybe we flirt with the world, just a little. Maybe we allow greed and selfishness to drive our hearts, just a bit. Maybe we are reading books that we shouldn’t…watching movies that we shouldn’t…dressing a bit risqué when we ought to be modest…talking a little trashy and immoral. Could it be that we don’t recognize the danger? Could it be that we’ve taken a walk alone with a wolf? Could it be that we are starting to believe that “even bad wolves can be good?”

New and radical ideas taught by popular religious writers are too often accepted as incredible when we ought to see them as the language of wolves. Passages twisted and taken out of context can open our eyes to new thoughts and new ways, but that is an old, old trick of the wolf. Eve fell for it long ago and it’s still working today.

Paul’s words to the Roman Christians reminded them that God’s people are not to be conformed to the world. We are going to be different. We are going a different direction. We are after different things. Our language, attitudes, dress, motives and heart are different. They are of the world and we are of Christ. Don’t try to fit in, you don’t. We are swimming upstream in a downstream world.

The only persons who think “bad wolves can be good” are those who are already hanging around wolves. Their eyes are blinded. They don’t want to hear the truth. Sometimes teenagers will say similar things to their parents. They may be hanging out or dating some questionable people. The red flag goes up for the parents. The teenager doesn’t see what mom sees. He tries to defend his friends. He says, “You don’t know him like I do.” Maybe. Or, maybe he’s been singing, “even bad wolves can be good.”

Satan is not good. There is no hope for him. He’s heading to Hell to be tortured by God forever. There is no hope nor salvation for him. He’s toast. He’s a goner. That bad wolf can’t be good. So beware, as Jesus says. The wolf often looks like sheep. Things that may look good, may not be good. Investigate. Study. Think. Check things out. Be careful. Guard your faith. Protect yourself spiritually. Have your spiritual alarms set and realize that we are traveling through lion country. The enemy is watching you. Be alert. It’s time to have both hands on the wheel and our eyes wide open. It’s the careless, the sleepy, the indifferent, the slow, and the lazy that become lunch for the lion. He’s hungry. He’s looking for a meal. Make sure it’s not you!

Roger