Mission Venture Ministries

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. (Acts 20:28-29). 

An essential component of pastoral leadership is the call to protect the flock. 

So, from whom should the shepherd protect the flock? It is important to realize that although our main adversary, the devil, is unseen; he manifests himself in very tangible ways through others. “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). 

As mentioned in Acts 20:28-29, pastors must protect the flock from wolves, i.e. false teachers. False teachers come in great variety; some are legalists, seeking to add rules to the gospel of grace (Galatians 1:6-9). Some defy established religious precepts, seeking to subtract Christ’s Lordship from the believer (Jude 1:4). Some are motivated by money; others by immoral behavior and their main purpose is to seek to destroy God’s church. 

We need to be careful, as wolves often do not come to church announcing their presence or their intentions. They try to sneak in unnoticed and this is why it is extremely important to prepare and make aware those who are vulnerable to their attacks. 

So how do pastors protect their flock? Scripture gives us three main ways: prayer, teaching sound doctrine and encouragement. 

Prayer: Is the foremost tool we have for protection. Our main adversary is a spiritual being. So the best method for protecting our flock from spiritual attack is a spiritual weapon: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” (Ephesians 6:18). 

Teaching sound doctrine: The pastor has the responsibility to teach sound doctrine. And a solid scriptural church also should have under-shepherds that are strong mature Christians who love God and care about protecting His children and that are available for sound biblical teaching and advice. 

God’s Word is life-giving and Jesus warned us when He said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). 

Paul’s final letters to Timothy and Titus repeatedly emphasize the need for sound doctrine. He told Titus (1:9) that an elder must hold “fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” 

He goes on to explain that there are many empty talkers and deceivers who are upsetting whole households through their false teaching. In his final directive to Timothy, after telling him to preach the word, he explained, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). 

Encouragement: Helps people pursue Christ-likeness. The book of Hebrews tells us: “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13). 

Many wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing prey upon God’s flock. Some are masters of deception and disguise. They talk like Christians, they use the Bible and they seem like nice people. Some pretend to be loving, but theses wolves want to destroy and devour new and even mature Christians.  These wolves are enemies of Jesus and all true Christians. 

Many false teachers infiltrate the church and professed to know God. Satan is smart enough not to use men who look like villains. They seem to be nice and invite you to their meetings and make you feel like you are part of the group. But their teaching is deadly! 

One wolf in a sheep pen can ravage the whole flock. The same is true in the church. One false teacher in the congregation can cause untold damage. The pastor’s job is to protect the flock. Paul certainly knew this well. During his final warning to the pastors at the Ephesian church, he tells them: “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Timothy 6:3-5). 

The apostle Peter devotes most of 2 Peter chapter 2 to warning against false teachers. Jude devotes his entire short letter to the same theme. John in his epistles repeatedly warns of false teachers. Paul’s final words to the Ephesian elders warned them to be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock … (Acts 20:28-30). 

Even obedient Christians need to be on guard against false teachers who deceive others for their own gain. Paul urges us, “to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve  people” (Romans 16:17-18). 

False teachers attempt to build a following because they love promoting themselves and being the center of attention. They are after power, fame, money, or other sinful gratification. They don’t seek to exalt Christ and Him crucified. They don’t hold firmly to the gospel of justification by faith alone and their main purpose is to promoting themselves and not Christ. They are in the ministry for their own profit or gain. They love power and being in the limelight but they do not preach or live in submission to Christ as the Lord of their life. 

False teachers want to appear nice, likeable, and they flatter you by telling you what you want to hear. They smile a lot as they tell you how fantastic you are and how you can have your best life now. They don’t talk about anything negative, like sin and the coming judgment. 

Deceivers know how to manipulate people’s feelings and they influence your mind and emotions. They tell you stories that touch your heart. They get you to laugh by telling jokes and often ridicule those who stand firm for biblical truth and portray them as mean, angry, unloving and ungrateful. 

Therefore we are not to engage in dialogue with them or to invite them into our church to see if we can find some common ground as we discuss their ideas. Sometimes division or separation is both the necessary and the godly thing to do.   

Remember false teachers want to take you to every verse that seems to support their lies. If you are not scripturally knowledgeable, they will confuse you and draw you into their heresies. Therefore, you must be prepared and well informed about what God’s Word says, and to be ready to tell them that if they are looking for the truth about how to know God and go to heaven, you will be happy to talk to them. But if their goal is to convert you to their errors, they’re wasting both their time and yours. . . . So it’s better to be careful and say goodbye. Let the Holy Spirit guide you and be faithful to Him. 

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