Wolves in ministerial clothing

Some decades ago--the 1960s and the 1970s, to be exact--there was an apparent moving of the Spirit, especially across college campuses. I was caught up in this in the Twin  Cities of Minnesota, along with many others I knew. We were young, excited, and naive--having a lot of zeal but not much maturity to temper it.

When I left home for college, I went to a small Christian college. Chapel attendance was mandatory, so what difference would it make if I didn't get to church every Sunday? I was not concerned with spiritual matters as much as academic and social.

The Lord took me away from that environment when I failed in every area I had previously succeeded in; it was my first lesson in applying 1 Corinthians 10:12:  "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall."

I left that college half-way through my sophomore year, chastened but with the promise that if I got my life in order I could apply again later and be received under probation. That was the grace I needed, and I made every effort to meet the requirements. They took me back.

When I returned, there was a spiritual excitement on the campus. I was swept up in it. God was at work. I was hungry and thirsty as I had not been before the discipline. And instead of going now to a settled church, of which there were many, I was going to be part of a new church, one that was going to do church right.

I ought to have known better, having been taught the Word well, but I let myself be part of this new flock.

Hey, it was growing in numbers weekly with many coming from other campuses in the area. We were going to be something both new and old.

I ought to have known better, but there were certain appeals to this, appeals as much to the flesh as to the spirit.

And I was doing well academically this time, so it had to be God's will for me to be involved, right?

After some time passed, I began to have my doubts as to the health of the whole "church." I could no longer satisfy myself that the outreach both locally and internationally was of the Lord or that the teaching behind those efforts was sound.

The last straw was when I asked one of the "elders" a question and he replied, "Just trust us."

That was enough. I knew that I had been exposing myself to wolves in ministerial clothing. I thank God that I got out of there comparatively unscathed.