Carnivores in the Church

Song of Solomon 2:15; Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:31; 1 Peter 5:8

Before Adam and Eve chose to sin, life in this world – in the Garden of Eden – was safe. You could go for a hike or camp outside at night with no fear of predators. No meat-eating animals were hunting you down. There was no “big bad wolf” in the forest and no fox in the henhouse, but today is a different story.

When we hear that there are lions, tigers, and bears around, oh my!

• Earlier this month, a Houston resident looked out his window during dinner to see a tiger sitting in his front yard. How would that make you feel? The tiger remained at large in Houston for nearly a week until authorities found it and transferred it to a large animal sanctuary.
• In the 90s, my grandma was baking pies in her Pennsylvania cabin. At the oven, she turned around to see a large black bear on its hindlegs pressing on the sliding glass door with its forepaws and nose, trying to get in. She called grandpa, who was doing plumbing work in the bathroom, but she was so frightened that she could only whisper.

Like a bear trying to break into my grandma’s kitchen, Satan slithered into Eden as a predator looking for a kill, and he’s doing the same thing in the church today. When God is doing something special in a church that honors his Son, Satan hunts for ways to take a vicious bite that drains the life of the church, damages the health of the church, and diminishes God’s glory. A wise church stays alert to this danger and overcomes it.

Scripture speaks of three carnivorous predators in Scripture that you must guard against diligently. A lion, wolves, and little foxes. Let’s look at each one of these examples so that you’re prepared to prevent these influences from harming your church.

Beware of the lion.

Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 5:8

Life in this world is more like hiking through the African savanna than strolling through a zoo. Though Satan slithered into the Garden of Eden as a snake, he stalks the church today like a lion, a lion who is your adversary. That’s why you need to be “sober” (clear-minded) and “vigilant” (alert) because Satan does two things: he roars and devours.

He Roars

A lion doesn’t roar when he’s hunting. He hunts with quiet stealth. He roars (esp. sunrise and sunset) to defend his territory. A lion’s roar is the topmost frightening sound in nature. A full-throated roar may be heard up to 5 mi. (or 8 km) away. This roar says, “Stay away, this is my land! If you come any closer, I will attack you.”

You live in the devil’s world. Paul calls him the “god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4). Your presence as a follower of Christ unnerves him. The gospel threatens him. The church makes advances onto his territory. That’s why he roars. He roars to strike fear in the hearts of those who follow Christ.

The “roar” is the prospect of suffering or temptation to sin, and the loudest roar is the suffering and temptation when it actually occurs.

He Devours

When a lion senses that another lion, another predator, or a human being is threatening his turf, he stalks that trespasser down to destroy him. Peter says he is “walking around” and “seeking” trespassers like you and me to “devour.” This is not the “devouring” of a tasty meal, but the bloodthirsty destruction of a personal threat, which is what you are to Satan as a follower of Christ. Satan hopes to remove you as a threat to his turf. If he cannot kill you, then he at least wants to ruin your effectiveness, faithfulness, growth, and testimony for Christ.

You Stand Firm

When Satan roars, you should calmly stand your ground. Refuse to run and refuse to panic, just as you should do when you encounter a real lion in his natural habitat. If you show that you’re afraid, then he may lunge to attack you. He will do more than injure you, but he will inflict injury on the church as well. That’s why Peter tells us to “resist him.”

Resist means to “stand in your place and push back strongly.” On what basis should you do this and with what resources? You should do this not with armed force or belligerent methods, but with a calm and firm reliance on the doctrines of the Christian faith. That’s what “the faith” refers to – not the faith you exhibit in your heart but the object of your faith, which is the truth Christ has revealed in Scripture.

Don’t let your feelings overwhelm you. Don’t forget what you’ve been taught. And realize that you are not experiencing an extra-special or highly unique challenge. You are facing the same kind of suffering and temptation as your brothers and sisters (“the brotherhood,” v. 9) are experiencing throughout the world.

Key Questions

• What difficulty, hardship, or trial are you afraid of in your future if you continue following Christ – as an individual believer and as a church?
• Are you committed to stand firm and push back in your personal walk with Christ and together with the brotherhood of your church?

Satan is most effective when he isolates a believer from the close relationships available to him or her within his church family. We stand against Satan best when we stand together. The more isolated and independent you are, the more “at-risk” you will be.

Beware of the wolves.

If you’re familiar with The Lion King story, then you can envision the lion Scar as an example of how Satan resembles a lion. In that story, Scar is accompanied in his aggression by another carnivore, a pack of cruel and selfish hyenas.

Similarly, Satan is accompanied in his mission to devour the church by a pack of hungry wolves. Christ himself warned his disciples against this threat.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15

Then Paul warned against this same threat when he said goodbye to the pastors and church at Ephesus, whom he had served for more than three years.

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Acts 20:31

Who are these wolves? They are bad influencers who appear to be genuine Christians but destroy the church from within by their unbiblical teaching. “They give all the appearances of promoting authentic Christianity in both word and work…They may verbally affirm that Jesus is their Master, perhaps even with great joy and enthusiasm.”[1] Such people may even speak with eloquent words, exhibit a magnetic personality, and perform impressive miracles.

Yet, Jesus encourages you to look past such potentially superficial yet persuasive factors to those qualities that truly matter when evaluating an influencer in the church. He teaches us to “know them by their fruits” (Matt 7:16). “The call to righteousness encompasses personal virtue, private devotion, and unselfish social behavior; and to these things seemingly supernatural powers are incidental.”[2]

These “wolves,” though they may be impressive people, will lack genuine love for Christ and will be more interested in accumulating wealth, building a reputation, and feeding their selfish desires through the church. Like wolves who kill and eat the sheep, they will use the church for personal gain rather than serve the church for the glory of Christ and the growth and spiritual success of the sheep.

Why do you need to evaluate influencers and teachers in the church? Because when they’re allowed to infiltrate the church, they can cause serious spiritual carnage. Christ calls them “ravenous.” Paul calls them “savage” and also says that they are indiscriminate in their attacks (“not sparing the flock”), which means they don’t prevent trouble from happening to anyone – man or woman, a new believer or mature believer, old or young.

• Christ warned his disciples about these bad influencers because his followers would be affected by them after he – the Good Shepherd – returned to heaven.
• Paul warned the church at Ephesus about these bad influencers because they would be affected by them after he said goodbye, having shepherded them for three+ years.

All pastors and spiritual leaders know this feeling. It’s what parents feel when they drop off children at college for the first time. You believe they’ll do well and make good choices, but you know they’re going to face some serious challenges and you won’t be there to guide or protect them. They’ll be “on their own.”

Key Questions

• How may bad influencers infiltrate your church in the months ahead?
• How can you protect yourself and your church from these wolves?

Bad influencers can injure or destroy your church by promoting things like (a) the prosperity gospel, (b) charismatic teaching, (c) legalism, (d) minimizing or tolerating moral sins, (e) comparing your church to another “better” one nearby, (f) downplaying the importance of church participation and service, and (g) undermining the pastors God has given you.

• Bad influencers can infiltrate your church in person. Both Christ and Paul emphasize how they come in undetected and then rise up from within the church after earning the acceptance and trust of the people first.
• Bad influencers can infiltrate your church through other “internal” means as well, such as through top-selling books, popular radio programs, television preachers, and Google and YouTube searches.

You can protect yourself from the destructive influence of these wolves by reading and meditating on Scripture daily, paying close attention to all the teaching and preaching ministries of your church, volunteering to serve your church (not just attend), and remembering and reviewing what you have already been taught before (Sermon Audio!).

As I mentioned before, the more isolated you are from reading Scripture, hearing the teaching ministry of your church, and serving in your church, the more susceptible you will be to the attacks of the wolves.

Beware of the little foxes.

In addition to the lion and the wolves, Scripture mentions a third predator that threatens you as a believer and a church. In comparison to the previous two predators, though, this one seems more harmless – but it’s not.

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.

Song of Solomon 2:15

In this verse, the speaker is probably a young woman who is being romantically pursued by a young man who hopes to marry her. The “tender grapes” here in the vineyard, then, likely refer to the early, undeveloped stage of their relationship. So, this woman is concerned that their budding romance will not be ruined before it progresses further.

In ancient times, wild animals like foxes were well-known for destroying vineyards.

• When I was a child, chipmunks used to burrow tunnels underneath our yard and destroy the roots of our plants.
• Anyone who attempts to grow a vegetable garden knows that rabbits and squirrels – as cute as they appear – are significant threats to getting a harvest.

This is the kind of reputation that foxes had with vineyards. They would infiltrate an unguarded vineyard and even find ways to break through walls built around the vineyard.

• Once inside, they would make themselves at home, eating the young grapes at nighttime before they had fully developed.
• Since they’re nocturnal animals, the foxes would burrow underground in the vineyard to sleep during the day. This digging would damage the vineyard's root system and diminish the quality of the grapes.

So, it is in your life and church. Though major threats of hardship, suffering, and even death can threaten to destroy our testimony for Christ, and though bad influencers can cause great damage by infiltrating our churches through false teaching and immoral behavior, small irritations can also do great damage.

The most obvious application here is for married followers of Christ to guard against the small frustrations of married, romantic life. Passing comments, botched tasks, forgotten promises, irritating habits, hectic schedules, financial friction, the complications of raising children, and other challenges that married couples understand – these all can easily erode the root system of your marriage, one moment, one day at a time. When these “little foxes” take over your vineyard, they can destroy your marriage over time.

An extended application here is to consider how your married (and family) life affects your church. That’s why Paul (Eph 5-6; Col 3) and Peter (1 Pet 3) give focused, detailed teaching to families in their letters to the church, for as the family goes, so goes the church. In the years ahead, give diligent attention to your marriage and other close family relationships (like a parent to child and a child to parent), because if you are frustrated at home, then your frustration will easily spread to your relationships in the church.

A second extended application here then is to consider your church relationships directly. We should maintain open, supportive, and forgiving relationships with one another. If another person at church or something that your church does offends you, then resolve that frustration quickly. If you don’t, then you will run the risk of that frustration developing into a bigger problem through gossip, decreased involvement, and more.

To prevent “little foxes” from ruining the vineyard of your home (and church), remove them quickly and one at a time. In other words, address minor problems as quickly as possible.

• If you offended your spouse (or someone else) and you know it, apologize honestly and humbly as soon as you can.
• If someone (like your spouse) has offended you, speak to that person directly and be ready to forgive and move on.

The woman in the Song of Solomon understood the need to catch and remove the little foxes quickly before they became a larger problem – before they ate too many grapes and dug too many burrows. The New Testament also commends this strategy today.

• “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt 5:23-24).
• “Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matt 18:21-22).

Do not allow the foxes to overrun your vineyard. As dangerous as the lion and the wolves may be, the foxes may be your most dangerous predator. After all, an infestation of little foxes will damage the fruitfulness of your life and even of your church.

Frustrated, irritated believers who allow bitterness to fester in their lives become a harmful influence on the church. The writer of Hebrews warns that if you let “any root of bitterness spring up” that you risk “many becoming defiled” by your bitterness (Heb 12:15).

Key Questions

• Are there any “little foxes” that are damaging your marriage today?
• Are your frustrations at home harming your relationships at church?
• Are you allowing any frustrations at church to become bitterness in your heart?
• Is your bitterness damaging the outlook and heart of anyone else in your church?

The wolf will dwell with the lion but not today.

There’s coming a day – in the New Creation, in God’s future kingdom – when the threat of all predators will cease.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fattened calf together…the cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox…they [the predators] shall not hurt nor destroy…for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord…

Isaiah 11:6-9

Until then, we must be on guard. Though we look forward to this day, it is not here yet. We must keep the lion, the wolves, and the foxes away. Like the animals of the forest and savannah who are hunted by carnivorous predators, we are stalked by Satan like a lion, infiltrated by bad influencers like wolves, and weakened by irritations in our relationships like little foxes.

May we overcome these challenges in the future as we have already done in the past. May you join closely together with your fellow believers in your effort – by God’s grace – to keep these predators out of your life, your family, and your church for years to come.

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[1] Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1992), 132.

[2] W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, Matthew, vol. 1 (New York: T&T Clark, 2004), 729.