Goats, wolves and tares … oh my!
The Bible gives (at least) three analogies of negatively behaved people. The key to this type of person is behavior and not knowledge. 1 Corinthians 8: 1 reminds us that knowledge can puff up but love edifies. The following people can have all the knowledge of the Bible and still act poorly. Think of the devil and his demonic minions. They know the Bible but act poorly. Churches become ineffective when goats, wolves and tares are amongst them unchecked. Obviously, goats, wolves and tares have been around and in the church since Biblical times because we have direction about them. The question of this blog is to give definition and parameters for these people as we see in the Bible. Each of these divisions have had moments where they seem to be friendly, productive or helpful in some form or fashion. Without such moments, they would not have the influence for which people give them.
Wolves (Matthew 7: 15) - people that lead others away from the church body by devouring and dividing the sheep. Wolves may justify their criticisms, gossips, actions with a myriad of religious sounding reasons. At the core of the wolf’s actions is to devour the current church members and potential members by throwing shade, casting doubt, criticizing, attacking, gossiping, etc. Wolves are intentional and organized. When a wolf gets enough of their teeth in the church (victim) they could go as far as criticizing someone’s Biblical habits. Common characteristics of wolves: criticism, detachment, devouring others, casting doubt about others, attacking, etc.
Goats (Matthew 25: 31-46) - people that reject salvation and the working out of salvation. The imagery of goats symbolize wicked people that oppress others and act demonically. Goats are people that typically are toxic and have an agenda that does not align with Scripture because it does not align with their own appetite (Phil 3: 18-19). Like wolves, goats are going to gnaw on people until they get their way, but are not typically as aggressive or coordinated as a pack of wolves. A goat may not even headbutt you until you are close by. Goats are intentional and typically unorganized. Common characteristics of a goat: hard headed, stubborn, gnaw on people, not as organized as other threats, blunt, unkind, obnoxious, not willing to work with others. Goat activity tend to lead to discouragement, people steering clear of goat people, eye rolls when goats share opinions, etc.
Tares (Matthew 13: 24-43) - people that have personalities or actions that lead to a slow or unassuming lack of health for others. Tares typically “suck” the life out of people and ultimately the church. Tares can act intentionally but most often are unintentional in their destruction of the church’s mission and tend to be unhitched to other people. Tares are weeds that represent a false Christianity. A rare is a person that will make a false claim of Christianity with the hopes of stirring others to a particular unhealthy church action. They will grow next to wheat and soak up the sun’s rays and nutrients from the soil. The healthy items necessary for wheat to grow and to be fruitful will be consumed by the tare, which will expect more consumption. The process is slow and unassuming because there is an idea of sharing but what is occurring is consumption. People, that are like tares, typically consume the resource, mental space, levity from the healthy person. Common characteristics of tare: unassuming, consuming of resources (attention, time, talent, emotions, finances, etc.), always have unmet needs, may utilize guilt or passive aggressive technique to acquire resources.
When a church body is in need of revitalization, then rest assured the body has wolves, goats and tares leading out. Their purposes are to have influence and control. When a church is becoming healthy then one of two things must occur: (1) repentance or (2) departure. If the wolf, goat or tares decides to repent then health will ensue. Unfortunately, at times when there is no repentance from them then the health of the church is dependent on their departure. When a wolf, goat or tare repent or depart then typically new faces start showing up as a sign of God’s blessing on the ministry. Finances can grow afterwards. Baptisms is truly the sign of health for the church.
