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They Run In Packs

By Tim Nichols

When the apostle Paul was preparing to leave Ephesus after spending some time among the Christians there he warned the elders of the church to: "Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.  I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you not sparing the flock;  and from among yourselves your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:28, 29 ASV).

Wolves run in packs. They gain courage from one another. They work as a team to kill and devour their prey.  They have no regard for the needs or feelings of those who are not a part of their pack. They exploit the weaknesses of potential victims.  They stalk until the time is right to strike.

It is no accident that Paul was inspired to use this figure to describe those who would enter the church and "draw away the disciples after them". Some of these wolves strike by teaching doctrines that are not true out of their own self interests.

"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which ye learned:  and turn away from them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Christ, but their own belly;  and by their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent" (Romans 16:17, 18 ASV).

These may be motivated by pride or by a desire to encourage some practice in which they have an interest.  They tend to strike when the time is "right".  Their attempts to subvert are usually carried out, at least at the beginning, while standing in the church parking lot, in the homes of members, over the telephone, or in other situations in which there is no one present who might be prepared to answer their "arguments".  They normally do not come forth with their new doctrines and dissensions in a public way until after they feel that they have recruited enough "pack members".  It is then that they feel the strength of numbers and try to force their will upon the rest.

Different packs have different characteristics.  Some are patient enough to remain in their sheep's clothing while staying in one congregation for long periods of time, hoping to eventually take control when a new preacher or eldership comes along who will fight for their cause.  Then they come out of the woodwork.  Some packs are roving bands. They strike in one congregation and find that they have failed because they had misjudged their adversaries.  They then move as a group to another congregation where they begin the process all over again.  In time, they either get what they want or move on to yet another congregation.

Yet another type of wolf pack is made up of various types of wolves that have little in common beyond their mutual dislike for the church, the preacher, the elders, etc.  I received a little journal for a number of years that was put out by a pack like this.  Having read the writings of the various authors in other places I was struck by the fact that virtually all of them were disgruntled with the church over very different matters.  The author featured on page 1 would have an article that basically said, "The church is bad."  The article on page 2 would say about the same thing.  But this was just about the only identifiable thing on which the two authors (or any others in the paper) agreed (see Romans 1:28-32).  The paper eased publication recently.  Maybe Diotrophes (3 John) was the leader of such a pack.

The perceived need for running with a pack would disappear completely if all would come to love the truth and seek it out.  Those who stand upon the bedrock of divine truth care not what others may say.  They do not check to see which way "the wind is blowing" before speaking the truth.  And they are willing to stand there alone if necessary. 

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