I hope that as we have looked at these things together it has caused us all to stop and look at some of the things we do as Christians that harm the body. Most of the time we do it without even realizing it, but the harm is done, Satan rejoices and Christians suffer.

To add to the list of things done that hurt the cause of Christ, we must add the fact that we often allow wolves in the congregation that tear the flock apart. Most of the time when we consider these, we think of false teachers, but others should also be included. Flocks have been torn apart due to gossip, lies, unwarranted (or even warranted) criticism and power hungry people who want the glory at whatever cost. These that engage in such are wolves, and they possess some very real characteristics.

Wolves are masters of deception. They do not come in announcing that they are wolves.

Wolves are dangerous. If they are allowed to do their work, no one in a congregation will be safe, and many will lose their lives.

Wolves are evil. They are determined to harm the body, perhaps without realizing what they are doing.

Good people can turn into wolves. Sometimes it is hard to believe, but someone who has been a member of the church for years can turn into a wolf and destroy the body with gossip or by spreading lies. Remember that Paul said of elders, that of their own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:28–30).

Spiritual wolves love power and will do what they have to do to gain and keep that power.

If a church had someone walk in with a pistol, we would take immediate action because lives are at stake. We would call the police. We would do what is necessary to save the lives of everyone involved. But often, when these spiritual wolves come in, we do nothing. Why?

We believe that these wolves will change without discipline.

Some of these wolves have close ties to the congregation, and we don’t want to stir up MORE trouble by calling them down for their sin.

We are afraid of church splits, forgetting that in war, sometimes, there will be “collateral damage.” Let us make no mistake—this is a war wherein Satan is fighting for keeps. It will not do for us to look at it any other way than that!

Finally, often we allow this to happen because we do not know what to do. We have not heard lessons about church discipline, or if we have, we think that this cannot happen here, so we ignore it and go on until the wolf is loose, some of the sheep are killed and then we feign ignorance about what to do.

God has been specific as to what the church is to do about such wolves. We can study passages such as Matthew 18:15–17; Romans 16:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:6–15; 1 Corinthians 5:1–11; 2 Corinthians 2:5–11; and Titus 3:10–11. Let us see these points (and know and study them):

1. No one gets a free pass on bad behavior. Why do we think we can allow some people to sin, and not others?

2. Not all bad behavior makes a person deserving of confrontation or removal from church. We all sin, and most of us know that we have sinned and need to repent. We can not allow sin to slide, but at the same time we have to deal with it in different ways.

3. Biblical church discipline is a process, not one act. It needs to be constantly ongoing.

4. Biblical church discipline should be carried out with patience, but not to extremes. Notice that Paul says you have nothing to do with them after the second admonition, not the twentieth.

5. Removal from fellowship is a last resort. It is the last act when nothing else will work.

6. Finally, when discipline is done in the way God proscribes, no guilty feelings should be had by those who have to practice discipline, and the sheep should understand why it had to be done.

Wolves are tearing us apart! Will we allow the bride of Christ to continue to be harmed? Or will we do what God has said?

This article is a part of a series based on the book, The Ten Dumbest Things Christians Do by Mark Atteberry.