False Teachers

 

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Although this describes what the devil does very accurately, in the context of the passage “the thieves” Jesus speaks about are the false teachers who try to steal the sheep. Like the Pharisees, they preach their own gospel that does not lead to salvation, but to death. 

Jesus was blunt when he spoke to them. “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). 

Many “thieves” seek to draw people to themselves, which is something that makes Satan very happy. This led Paul to caution his protege Timothy: “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:2-3).

He also cautioned other shepherds, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 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! (Acts 20:28-31)

Jesus himself had warned about these “wolves”: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Fortunately, he taught us how to recognize them. “By their fruit you will recognize them,” he said. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (see Matthew 7:15-18).  What are the fruit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23). 

There are several other signs of false teachers, but that is beyond the scope of this reflection. You may, however, want to read 2 Peter 1 which speaks about genuine believers, and 2 Peter 2 which speaks about about counterfeit believers, to gain additional insights because there are a lot of people around spouting their own philosophies. The most dangerous of these thieves, seen now with increasing frequency, try to steal people’s ability to see the true (and only!) means of salvation. 

Beware of them!