Why FALSE TEACHERS pretend to be the “GOOD GUY”
Why would the devil “help” in spreading the Gospel…? Or why would the devil warn people about apparent spiritual danger… or warn against false teachers? Why would those who peddle lies be so eager to call out others for spreading deception?
This may seem counterintuitive, but it’s one of the most insidious tactics false teachers in the modern church use to deflect attention away from their own deceptions.
By positioning themselves as “protectors of truth” who expose other false teachers, they can avoid scrutiny and continue leading their followers astray. This is the tactic we call “WHEN WOLF CRIES WOLF” — a strategy of diversion designed to entrench their deception in the hearts and minds of people while appearing like the hero who has come to “save the day.”
The Common Denominator: DISGUISE
God has made it very clear in His Word about what the common denominator is in the methods used by false teachers, false apostles, and false prophets. It’s “DISGUISE”…! It’s built into all their methods to prevent their potential victims from identifying their true nature and intentions, and to be able to take even more advantage of their victims and followers. The methods may vary, but disguise, to stay hidden and deceive, is always the strategy.
NEW TESTAMENT WARNINGS
Here are a few New Testament warnings that underscore this strategy of satan. We will highlight and explain his strategy of disguise in each of these passages.
Matthew 7v15
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
The disguise: “SHEEP’S CLOTHING“. They appear to be gentle and trustworthy, like harmless sheep, to hide their inwardly destructive and dangerous intentions.
Matthew 24v24
“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
The disguise: “GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS“. They use miracles to “wow”/impress their victims, thereby making their lies, doctrines, and lifestyles seem credible and approved by God. They create the appearance that they and God are on the “same side.”
Acts 20:29-30
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”
The disguise: “FROM AMONG YOURSELVES“. They arise from within the church, pretending to be genuine believers, which then causes believers to be unsuspecting and more open to their influence and distortion of the truth. Initially, these unsuspecting believers don’t even realize they are being led astray…
2 Corinthians 11:13-15
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
The disguise: “APOSTLES OF CHRIST” and “MINISTERS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”. They are mimicking other true and devoted servants of God who have paid or are paying a dear price for spreading the Gospel and planting the Church in adverse environments. These wicked schemers imitate, all while their true nature is aligned with Satan, who disguises himself as an authentic angelic messenger of God. Thus, they’re imitating their true boss, the ruler of darkness…!
1 John 4:1
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
The disguise: “SPIRITS… OF GOD“. These workers of Satan present themselves as inspired by the Holy Spirit, prophets who speak directly under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The trap for believers lies herein that if their so-called prophecies and prophetic ministries are not tested according to biblical standards, these satanic workers will be accepted as sent from God, and their destructive doctrines will be deemed as from God.
2 John 1:7
“For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”
The disguise: “DECEIVER” and “ANTICHRIST”. They twist and deny certain core doctrines regarding Jesus Christ which in itself is anti, or AGAINST Christ Himself. But, their doctrines are presented and repackaged to sound “Christian”. In reality, the essence of their doctrines is disloyalty and disobedience to Christ. Yet, because it sounds “Christian” and legitimate, it is easily swallowed and accepted by gullible believers, who are then led into lifestyles and beliefs that oppose God, His truth, and His holiness.
Paul the Apostle wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that us Christians should watch out for the devil’s cunning schemes “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
A Lesser-Known Tactic
False teachers in the modern church employ various tactics to deceive, including twisting scripture, appealing to emotions, making false promises and prophecies, imitating true apostles and prophets, or even declaring themselves to hold these offices. They may also perform seemingly ‘miraculous’ signs and wonders.
However, there is one lesser-known tactic, often overlooked. In this article, we call it the “wolf-crying-wolf-tactic.”
This strategy involves false teachers distracting from their own deception by warning their followers against the lies and tricks of other false teachers, or by supporting the evangelistic efforts of others and affirming the gospel message brought by those people. It’s one and the same tactic, just different sides of the same coin…
By doing this, they deflect scrutiny and suspicion away from themselves, giving the illusion that they genuinely care about the well-being of their followers and the interests of Christ. This pretense makes it harder for their deception to be detected, allowing them to continue as spiritual wolves, unnoticed.
Thus, this tactic is packaged by the devil in the pretense that he wants to help you, even when it comes to “bringing the gospel” to unsaved people, Christian ministry, or any other endeavor of a Christian.
As the saying goes: “YOU MUST ALWAYS BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN YOUR ENEMY TRIES TO HELP YOU…!“
A Biblical Example
We find an example of such a ploy by the devil in Acts 16:16-18.
“Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, ‘These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’ And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that very hour.”
Let’s examine what happened in this passage.
Paul and his companions were busy evangelizing people in a town called Phillipi. In the same town were certain businessmen who owned a certain young girl who was their slave. She was demon-possessed and could tell people’s fortune with some degree of accuracy and success. Therefore people in Phillipi would pay these men to get this girl to foretell or predict their future and fortunes.
This girl crossed paths with Paul and his ministry companions. And then something strange happened…
The demon “supporting” the gospel…
Of her own initiative she started to seemingly support Paul and his companions by calling out publicly that Paul and his companions were truly sent by the Most High God, and that they were bringing the people of Philippi the TRUE MESSAGE on how to be saved. And, she didn’t do this only once, but continually for days in a row.
What a strange thing for the devil to do…! It’s common knowledge that Satan hates the gospel and doesn’t want people to believe the Gospel and so get saved. So why would the devil publicly affirm the message and evangelization efforts of Paul and his companions…?!
It is not that the devil suddenly had a change of heart and all of the sudden liked the gospel that Paul and his fellow men were proclaiming. No, Satan hated it. But, why did this slave girl (and the demon through her) cry “WOLF”?
Her constant loud affirmation that Paul and his companions were proclaiming the way of salvation, in itself, was her crying “WOLF”. The devil, through this girl, tried to make the people believe that he had their good interests at heart. Satan wanted to appear as the “GOOD GUY” by seemingly agree with the evangelists that the Philippians were to be saved from something. It was something that was harmful to them and that they were already in danger of……
The Twist
But here’s the twist… she (and the devil inside of her) didn’t tell the Philippians WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SAVED FROM…! No, that would be ignored and kept silent about.
This girl (and the devil inside of her) would not name the ACTUAL PROBLEM, namely “SIN”.
Satan doesn’t mind talking about any aspect of the gospel or Christianity. But what he certainly will NOT talk about is the SIN-ISSUE or the SIN-PROBLEM in a person’s life. THIS is what people need to be saved from, and THIS is the subject Satan will keep quiet about…, because sin unaddressed leaves people in bondage and life-threatening danger, all while they might be under the impression they are okay…!
Satan’s Agenda
Satan operated in this way for the following reasons.
- To secure his stronghold of fortune-telling in that town and in the lives of the Philippians, and to keep them in bondage and away from God.
- To deflect attention away from himself to stay hidden and not be exposed. He wanted to stay “under the radar”. By crying “WOLF”, the WOLF himself tried to persuade people that he was “the good guy”, and on the same side as God… Thereby people would mostly stay unaware of his schemes and the danger their lives were in…!
- To afterward, bring destruction to the evangelistic work of Paul and his fellow workers when they would later leave Philippi.
- To introduce “a gospel” which was A FALSE GOSPEL, a gospel that doesn’t require repentance and a denouncing of sin. A gospel or “…a way of salvation…” which would portray a god that would not require repentance. A gospel that would be merely an add-on to the false religion and demonic practices the people of Philippi had already been involved in. A gospel that would seem to improve the person’s earthly life, but not his or her relationship with God or secure his or her eternal destiny…! In short, Satan mentioned salvation, but not salvation from… SIN…!
Why False Teachers “WARN”
The account of the fortune-telling slave girl is an example of the WOLF CRYING “WOLF” to stay hidden and undetected, and as a setup to take advantage of the hearers – to lead them into further deception and destruction, shortly.
This strategy of Satan is not outdated. Satan continues this strategy, even today, and he will do so until the return of the LORD. He hasn’t changed his ways. Only the vessels he uses are replaced over time.
But, satan also uses the “flipside of the coin” in this tactic in that he, instead of agreeing with the gospel to a certain extent, will portray himself as siding with the truth by calling out the falsehoods of other false teachers and deceivers.
Interestingly, the wolf always warns others about another wolf, yet they are guilty of the same deceptive, manipulative, and abusive strategies and tactics.
It’s merely a strategy to make themselves APPEAR harmless, innocent, and caring for their audience to take advantage of the gullible at the opportune time.
The Bible describes this strategy as follows.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 “…such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
You Will Spot Them By…
But how can we know whether someone is A WOLF CRYING WOLF?
Fortunately, the LORD Jesus gave us the answer. The key Christ gave us to identify these disguised wolves is guaranteed to succeed without exception…!
We can identify someone as a wolf (false teacher or false prophet) by the fruit of their lives or ministry. This is something wolves CANNOT keep hidden, no matter how hard they try. No amount of ministry, books, crusades, healings, miracles, music, and performance can keep their true identity hidden.
Jesus stated it like this:
Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.”
Even the LORD Jesus Himself was very open about the instances where it would not always be so obvious and easy to identify false prophets or false teachers, because they sometimes seem to say a lot of true and honorable things, making it more difficult to identify them. Through spectacular public ministry their inner rottenness can be hidden from the public eye. Yet, their private lifestyles betray them…! And, their private sin will eventually spill over into the modus operandi of their public ministries.
Examples of bad fruit
For example, greed in their private lives will eventually translate into greed in their public ministries…… Sexual immorality in their private lives will eventually show in how they relate to sexual purity or impurity in the Church…… When they love the things the world loves, treat people the way the world treats people, and live like the world, we can know THEY ARE OF THE WORLD…, not of GOD…!
Another aspect of the fruit of the life of a false prophet or false teacher is that they themselves do not turn to Christ and live a repentant lifestyle, even when they might preach repentance or salvation to some extent. Their appeal to salvation is very generic, and not heartfelt. There’s no true conviction and the arresting of the soul and heart of the sinner or person in their messages, and no deep life transformation into the likeness of Christ in the lives of their followers.
This was the case with the fortune-telling slave girl. She exposed her dark heart in that she spoke well of Paul, his companions, and the gospel message, yet she herself didn’t turn to Christ in repentance of her own sin…! She spoke about salvation in general terms, but with no conviction, and no example of herself turning her life on sin and following Christ. This was a tell for Paul and his companions…
Flee from those who seem to propagate the Gospel but have no testimony themselves of breaking with sin and turning to the LIVING GOD, and having no regard for the fear of the LORD……! THEY ARE THE WOLVES……! No matter their great following and impressive ministry – run…! Mark and avoid them…! Do not be swindled by outward appearance! Outward appearance has never been the test or standard for truth!
Stay Alert!
When false teachers cry “WOLF”, their aim is not to protect the flock but to further ensnare them. By warning about deception, or by seemingly affirming certain aspects of the Gospel, they deflect attention from their own falsehoods, gaining trust while sowing seeds of spiritual destruction.
The danger of this tactic lies in its subtlety. As believers, we are called to discernment, to test the spirits, and to be on the lookout for the fruit of those who claim to speak for God. If their lives and teachings do not align with the truth of scripture, they are wolves crying “WOLF”, and we must be on guard.
Let us be vigilant and rooted in the truth of God’s Word to see through their disguises……
