He told me
there was a wolf in the building but I couldn't see it. Now that my eyes have
been opened I've seen the beast.
I went into that 500 million dollar building every
week and wondered how a wolf could be found in such a place; projectors beaming
to walls, flat screen TV’s everywhere, loud contemporary gospel music, a ten
member choir dressed in blue and one vocalist leading them. It was amazing. I
told myself this was the place to be. This only comes second to the best of Cinemas.
I wondered where the wolf sat because everyone should be able to notice the
flesh tearing animal but alas everyone was in frenzy, others screaming on top
of their voices while others fell to the ground. “Could the wolf be the one
causing this?” I thought to myself.
Every time
after the service I walked home with a mind full of thoughts. What did my
beloved friend Steve mean when he said there is a wolf in that place? I sat on
my bed and read through the verse he gave to me. It read, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but
inward are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit…” (Matt
7:15). I sat back and reasoned to myself. I flipped through other pages of
Scripture to see if there was any other passage that talked about such kind of
prophets. Instead I found one which talked about the good shepherd. It said that
the good Shepherd goes before his sheep and the sheep follow him because they
know his voice (John 10:4). This got me really confused. On one hand there are
wolves in sheep’s clothing and on the other there is a shepherd whom the sheep
follow. The former actually says you will know them by their fruit. I wondered
what fruit this was.
One day, when
journalist Banda read the news, I was perplexed as he mentioned that a certain bishop who was accused of defiling 9
girls had committed suicide. Not too long ago I read in another place that a
certain Pastor had commanded his congregation to feed on grass. As if not enough I saw another
Pastor telling his congregation not to take any medication whenever they fell
sick. My heart sunk. “Surely, the world
is coming to an end,” I thought.
“Oh now I
see.” It finally clicked. I couldn't help but weep. I finally realized what Steve meant when he said there was a
wolf in our Church. It was the man who stood preaching God’s word and called
himself a “man of God.” His life was exactly what I saw from the three Pastors I
read about in the media. The Scriptures then all connected together. The false
prophets pretend to be God’s shepherd when in actual sense they are not. That
is why Jesus calls them wolves. However, the true Shepherds are those who will
preach and teach the Bible and lead people to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Their lives are a pattern you would want to imitate. They lead people to Christ
by the way they preach and live the gospel. Many who listen to the false
teachers and continue to follow them are most likely not Christ’s sheep because
if they were, they would hear the voice of the stranger and run away from him and at the same time they
would hear the voice of Jesus as he spoke through his under shepherds and would follow him. Are you following a wolf or
the chief shepherd?
