Spot the Wolf

Season: Wolves & Sheep | Topics: Discernment, Young Women

Claire Black: This is True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. I’m Claire Black. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us, one drive at a time!

Song:

I am a true girl.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
I am, I am, I am a true girl!

Last time, we discovered that the Bible warns us about wolves. That's what the Bible calls people who pretend to teach God’s truth but actually are very dangerous. Jesus said these wolves can even dress up like sheep, which makes them hard to recognize.

In today’s episode, Dannah Gresh and Suzy Weibel are going to help you learn how to spot a false teacher. They’re back at the Gresh farm! Dannah and Suzy have just returned from a walk with their dogs. And Carl Epley, the sheep, is back in the pasture with his …

Claire Black: This is True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. I’m Claire Black. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us, one drive at a time!

Song:

I am a true girl.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
I am, I am, I am a true girl!

Suzy Weibel: You’re not going to believe this, Dannah!

Dannah Gresh: What?

Suzy: Look what I just found in my pocket . . . a bag of jelly beans!!

(Dogs sniffing)

Suzy: No, Sherman! These are for Dannah.

(Wrapper crinkling)

Dannah: Eww! Suze, this is a bag of those gross flavors. It says: rotten egg . . . canned dog food . . . stinky socks!

Suzy: Yeah, I know.

That’s why they remain unopened and have lived in my pocket for, oh, about a couple of years now! But, now they are my gift to you.

Dannah: (sarcastically) Wow, thanks!

Suzy: You’re welcome.

Dannah: That sure was an interesting walk. I can’t believe we heard those coyotes.

(Sheep bleating)

I know, Carl Epley, you’re safe at home now! No worries.

I’m sure glad we have him home safe and sound and back in the pasture!

Ya know, Suzy. I was thinking about that verse you quoted?

Suzy: Which one? First John 4:1?

Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.

Dannah: Yes. That’s the one that started my thinking. But then, I was thinking about the other one that called God’s people sheep and the false teachers wolves.

Suzy: Oh, that was from Matthew 7.

Dannah: It says the wolves disguise themselves as sheep, right?

Suzy: It does.

Dannah: Well, just look at that face! Carl Epley looks kind of like a happy emoji!

Suzy: Sure enough, I’ve never seen a sheep look so adorable. What kind is he?

Dannah: Well, officially he’s an “Oopsie.”

Suzy: That’s a breed of sheep?

Dannah: He’s from a reputable farm that breeds Black Nose Valaise. Have you ever seen one?

Suzy: I have not.

Dannah: Oh, let me pull one up on my phone. You’ll die of cuteness overload! They’re a breed that originated from Switzerland.

Suzy: Just like my Berners!

Dannah: Yes.

They have this adorable black face, black ears, and little black knee spots. But the rest of them is all white generally.

Here, look at this picture.

Suzy: Awe! A more adorable sheep has never existed! But, hate to break it to you, that doesn’t look like Carl Epley. He’s all black!

Dannah: Oops!

So, here’s the deal. Before his mom came to my friend’s farm, she got loose and met a handsome boy Baby Doll Sheep. That’s another adorable breed but all black or all white.

So, he’s kind of an oopsie! 50 percent Valaise and 50 percent Baby Doll.

Suzy: And 100 percent huggable!

Dannah: I guess that’s my point. If the Bible says false teachers are wolves who disguise themselves as sheep . . .

Suzy: Ah, yes. If they’re dressed up like adorable sheep, how can we spot them?

Dannah: Yeah.

Suzy: Good for us, I also happen to have a little mini-Bible here in my pocket.

Dannah: That pocket’s like Mary Poppin’s bag!

Suzy: Never know what I’ll pull out!

(Pages rustling)

I have actually studied this a lot. The Bible gives us many ways to identify a false teacher. Jesus said you can recognize a wolf by its fruit.

Think of it like this. I noticed your neighbor has a little fruit orchard.

Dannah: Yes.

Suzy: I have no idea what kind of trees those are. There’s no fruit. They just look like trees. But in a few months, if I see apples, I’ll know they’re apple trees. If I see peaches, I’ll know they’re peach trees.

Trees can’t hide what they really are for very long. Eventually the fruit tells the truth.

Dannah: Oh, that’s good!

Suzy: When you watch a false teacher for a while, their life and their teaching produce bad fruit.

Let me tell you three big, bad kinds of fruit that come from false teachers. I call them the “Three W’s of a Wolf.”

Dannah: Okay.

Suzy: First, wolves warp the Word. That is, they twist what the Bible says.

(Pages rustling)

Let me find 2 Peter 3:16; here we go.

Some of the [things Paul writes] are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture.

So these wolves—instead of teaching the Bible clearly—they twist it to say what they want. Or sometimes they twist it to say what people’s “itching ears” want to hear.

I’ve seen lots of people online teaching ideas that sound kind or empowering, but they don’t match what the Bible says.

Dannah: I was just thinking about this last week. So many people embrace the mantras like: “God just wants you to be happy,” or “You are enough,” or “My body, my choice.”

These things often sound good, but they aren’t true according to the Bible.

Take, for example, God wants you to be happy. Well, God wants you to be holy—not necessarily happy. I mean, ultimate happiness comes from pursuing holiness.

And what about these “You Are Enough” t-shirts you see girls wearing. I think there may be an element of truth behind that idea. God created everyone special. Each person bears the image of God, but because of sin we are not enough.We all need Jesus. He was perfect, and He was enough on our behalf.

And, “My body, my choice.” Well, some people might try to use the Bible to support that idea, but can we examine it?

Susie: Yeah, that a good idea.

Now, responsibility for our bodies and respecting a person’s boundaries are good things. But the Bible actually teaches something even higher.

God’s Word says our bodies don’t ultimately belong to us; they belong to the Lord who created us and saved us.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says:

You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

I think instead of saying, “My body, my choice,” a Christian girl learns a different way to think. She might say, “My body belongs to God, so I want to honor Him with it. That is why I am responsible for it.”

Suzy: Bam! That’s it.

False teachers make everything about our rights, our desires, our choices, or their rights, their desires, or their choices. They warp the Word to do that. But here's the thing: it’s about God’s rights and God’s desires for us.

Dannah: Oh, so true. Okay, what’s the second “W” of the wolves?

Suzy: Wolves wound the sheep.

Wolves don’t hang around sheep for fun; they come specifically to harm them.

Listen to what Paul warned in Acts 20:29.

I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock.

They’re “vicious,” Dannah, and don’t “spare the flock.” That means they wound people.

Sometimes theymay be unkind or controlling. And when you’re around them, you just feel kind of uncomfortable. Stick around long enough and that discomfort gets worse and worse and becomes wounds.

But it’s usually more subtle than that, or they wouldn’t be able to disguise themselves. The teaching generally leads people to something or some place that makes them vulnerable to getting hurt.

Dannah: Exactly! Here’s the problem when someone teaches girls, “My body, my choice.” At first it sounds really strong and empowering.

Suzy: Yeah, it sounds like, “I’m in charge of my life.”

Dannah: Right. But if that’s the only idea a girl hears, something tricky can happen. She might start thinking, My body is just something I can use however I want.

Suzy: And that can actually make girls less safe, not more. Because if your body is just yours to do whatever you want with, someone might pressure you and say, “Well, if it’s your choice . . . why not?”

Dannah: That’s where girls can get hurt by sin. Because if it’s my body and my choice, I get to do anything I want. It makes me the god of my body.

Suzy: But the Bible teaches something much more beautiful. Your body isn’t just something to use however you want. Your body is valuable to God—so valuable that Jesus gave His life to save you because He loved you. And Jesus Himself said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” So, we don’t just get to choose, we get to obey what God says is true about our bodies. And hey, that obedience is a choice.

Dannah: Okay, this is good! I love this conversation. So the number one way to spot a wolf: they warp the Word. Number two: they wound the sheep.

Suzy: Exactly. And your example is really good because we’re hot on the trail of the third “W” of a Wolf (or should I say hot on the tail?): they worship self.

Listen to Romans 1:25:

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself.

When everything starts revolving around me—my body, my choice, my feelings, my will—we are in danger of worshiping the wrong person: ourselves. We’re meant to worship Jesus!

Dannah: Amen!

Suzy: Well Dannah, the dogs have finally calmed down. I think it’s safe to load them into my car and head home.

Dannah: Wow, our time went by so fast! Well, look who decided it was safe to hang out with them.

(Sheep bleat)

Suzy: Carl Epley! He’s literally sticking his head through the fence to be near them.

Dannah: He’s been watching those dogs very carefully since the second you arrived.

Suzy: Which is actually what we’re supposed to do. We should all be like Carl Epley—testing the teacher.

You know, Dannah, I’ve been wondering something: How in the world did that sheep get the name Carl Epley?

Dannah: Well Suzy, that’s a long story. I’ll tell that story next time.

Suzy: Alright. Sherman and pack, let’s go before Carl Epley decides to get loose and run for the woods again.

Claire: I can’t wait to hear the story of how Carl Epley got his name. His careful response to Suzy’s Bernese Mountain Dogs is teaching us so much about how we should respond to people who teach the Bible. We’ve got to test the teaching!

Suzy just shared 3 W’s of wolves. They’re things that help us spot a false teacher.

They Warp the Word, twisting the words in the Bible to mean something they don’t mean.
They Wound the Sheep. Not only are they sometimes unkind and controlling, but their false teaching leads to sin and pain.
They Worship Self and invite you to do the same—when the only One we should worship is God.

Such good truth!

Hey, before you go, Dannah and Suzy wanted me to invite you to a True Girl Crazy Hair Tour event. The teachers are Dannah and Suzy, and they’ve been well-tested by more than two decades of good fruit from hundreds of thousands of True Girl moms and daughters!

Each one of our mom-daughter events features either Dannah or Suzy with great Bible teaching, worship with Yancy or Cami Crites, and lots of fun. Learn more at MyTrueGirl.com. I hope you and your mom will check it out.

Now, how can you know if a teacher is warping the Word? Do you have to have the whole Bible memorized? Don’t stress. Just join us next time on the True Girl podcast when we talk it.

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