Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves.
We put ourselves at risk if we are too credulous toward teachers and too undiscerning towards supposed prophets. There is a way in which conformity of external appearance is easy. One can superficially act like a Christian in order to blend in and gain acceptance. We know this because we ourselves have probably done so to some degree. We've probably felt compelled to act a part we have not yet achieved by conversion of life, not for the sake of the conversion, but simply to fit in. And if we have done this with motives that aren't really so bad, imagine what those with fewer scruples might do.
What is in it for the wolves? They find a flock that is well trained in obedience, ready to follow even when they do not fully understand. Jesus told his flock that they would need to become like little children in terms of their trust in the Father. But if the wolves can appropriate this obedience and this trust to themselves they will have a constant supply for their ravenous appetites. In a less bad scenario they prey on the sheep merely by using them to assert their own superiority. But we know it can be much worse than this. For this reason it is necessary that we not confuse the promises we have about the guidance of the Church by the Holy Spirit with any individual.
By their fruits you will know them.
The sheep costumes that wolves wear have seams. There will be bad fruit they refuse to acknowledge, a lack of true repentance coupled with excuses for why this must be so. Above all they will insist that the costume is perfect, that there is nothing that needs to change about them, and that it is rather the attitude of the flock that is problematic. Real prophets and teachers wear no costumes. They don't present a false face to the world. They bear good fruit that comes from the heart. But to the degree that they aren't yet converted they are humble about it, unsurprised by their own sinfulness, always transparent about their own limitations lest they become in some way a snare to the flock.
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
It is the case that no one is as all good or all bad as these trees. But to what are our lives tending? Is Jesus at work within us helping us to bear fruits of repentance? Is the Holy Spirit manifesting his fruits within us? Without help our fruit always ends up imperfect and finally rotten. Rather than cover over our faults with costumes the invitation to us is to be more and more open to the life of Jesus within us, making us genuinely good. When we do detect bad fruit it is a call for us to seek repentance and conversion, to change while there is time to change.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
In order for Jesus to abide in us we need to abide in his word. If we become forgetful of it by our own negligence we will not find ourselves excused for our ignorance.
Go, consult the LORD for me, for the people, for all Judah,
about the stipulations of this book that has been found,
for the anger of the LORD has been set furiously ablaze against us,
because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book,
nor fulfill our written obligations.
But again, if the word of God is calling us to bear better fruit than we yet have, this should not be seen as a condemnation, but an opportunity to bear fruit worthy of repentance. He himself desires to help us to know what is expected, in a way that false teachers cannot confound, and he himself will give us the power to carry it out.
Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD
that they would follow him
and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees
with their whole hearts and souls
May the Lord himself turn our eyes from what is vain, incline our heart to his decrees, and by his way give us life.
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