Coyotes live in Hershey Park behind my house. One night walking our beagle I found myself in the middle of a yipping pack of them. I still remember the adrenaline surge as I picked up our beagle and moved her to safety. Warren Wiersbe once wrote, “Shepherds not only feed the sheep, but sometimes they fight the wolves.” Wolves are making a comeback in the western states. In the church, as well. Sometimes they are hard to see because they are dressed in sheep’s clothing.
Paul and Barnabas ran into a wolf on the island of Cyprus. This wolf bore the name Bar-Jesus or son of Jesus, as well as the moniker Elymas which means sorcerer. Whatever power Elymas possessed and used came not from the Lord but from the power of darkness. We know he was a wolf because he tried to convince the proconsul not to believe. Notice Paul’s approach to him. He called him a child of the devil and told him to stop perverting the ways of the Lord. Then he struck him blind. This powerful action against a wolf led the proconsul to become a sheep through faith in the Lord.
False teachers do what their father does. They fight against people putting their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul would later warn the church at Ephesus about wolves coming in among them. In his actions and teaching, Paul did not advocate for laisse faire, live and let live response to wolves.
Years ago, a young woman and her imprisoned husband came to faith in Christ through the ministry of our church. I had driven to Palestine to share Christ with Roger. During a revival, I received word that his wife Pat had taken up with a stranger who was passing through town. Our church had loved Pat and her kids well. As a young twenty-one year old pastor, I could not imagine any good from this interloper alienating her affections from her husband. I took the revival preacher with me and we confronted the man on the steps of the trailer. I told him to leave that house immediately. He got in his car, screeched his tires, and drove away. To this day, I believe the Holy Spirit came upon me to rebuke the man for the sake of that family. Roger and Pat were reconciled when he was released from prison.
If we see evil at work, let’s call it out. God will give us the courage to do what we need to do. Let’s trust him and obey.
