Acts 20:29-31 (NIV)
“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.”
Paul pointed out a real danger that the Church in Ephesus faced: trouble, dissension and false teaching arising from within the Church itself. In the Revelation (2:2), Jesus indicated that these people had actually risen up, and the Church had identified and ousted those who called themselves apostles, but who were actually agents of the enemy. Paul’s warning had been effective.
But the warning is still valid for congregations today, and in every age, because the enemy is still invested in destroying the Church or, barring that, in skewing and twisting it so that it is no longer able to fulfill its mission.
The most effective deceivers have always come from within the Church itself, from among its membership and those often deemed to be pillars. An outsider who comes in with “new insights” that run contrary to Scripture will often be dismissed at once. But someone who is part of the congregation who claims “fresh light” or “new insights”, even if they contradict the clear teachings of the Bible, can often receive a hearing from those in their circle, and their ideas can take root and grow.
Those who lead Bible Studies and Sunday School classes, as well as those who speak from the pulpit must be especially careful about the doctrines they espouse, because their teachings have an intrinsic authority based purely on the positions that they hold. That is a powerful reason that James pointed out (3:1 NIV), “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
But teachers and preachers who teach false doctrines are not the only ones who bear guilt for the Church going astray. Those in the Church who unquestioningly follow their teachings will bear guilt as well. Especially these days, when the Scriptures are so easily available that the vast majority of people in our country have several paper copies, and have hundreds of translations and version available on our smart phones that are in our pockets and in our hands 24 hours a day, there is no excuse for Christians to not be so familiar with the words of the Scriptures and its teachings that any deviation from those words instantly stands out as the falsehoods or twistings of the truth that they are.
Paul’s warning to the Ephesians, repeated consistently for the three years he was with them (verse 31), must also ring in our ears as well, because even today the Church has been riddled with false teachings and has far too many “savage wolves” leading God’s people astray for their own gain.
Father, that’s about as clear a warning as You can possibly give to us. Help me, Lord, to ALWAYS ensure that everything I teach is clearly and entirely consistent with the clear words of the Scriptures, so that I don’t’ go astray myself, and so that I don’t lead others astray. And help me to keep my eyes and ears always open to any teaching that I hear or see, and always test it by Your word so that I stay always on Your path. Amen.
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