According to Steve McCranie of Leaving Laodicea, hidden sleeper cells have found a home in the visible Church. “These certain men have crept (pareisdúō) into the church unnoticed, or by stealth. The word means to ‘enter in craftily, under cover of darkness, like a thief,'” says McCranie. “They, like a terrorist sleeper cell, blend in with the others waiting for a time to attack from the inside, from the unprotected underbelly of the church. They are most sinister.”
So, what are we to do?
McCranie tells us who some of these wolves in sheep’s clothing are and offers his advice on what we must do to keep the Body of Christ a “glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle.” He writes:
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 1:4
Churchill once said, borrowing from an old African proverb, “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” While there is much truth to that proverb, the opposite is also true. “When the enemy is within, the enemies outside can hurt you.” And they can hurt you bad. Often permanently.
This was the situation Jude was warning the church about in his letter, and the same situation we find ourselves today. The enemy has breached our walls and is now inside the camp. What are we to do?
Who Are These Certain Men?
Jude, after calling believers to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3), begins to tell us why it’s so imperative to defend our faith. He says, “For certain men have crept in unnoticed” (Jude 1:4).
There are several words that need further scrutiny.
The first of these is certain. The Greek word is tis and means “a certain one, some person whom one cannot or does not wish to name.”2 In other words, “It’s one of those guys. You know who they are. I don’t even need to call them by name.”
These certain men have crept (pareisdúō) into the church unnoticed, or by stealth. The word means to “enter in craftily, under cover of darkness, like a thief.”3 They, like a terrorist sleeper cell, blend in with the others waiting for a time to attack from the inside, from the unprotected underbelly of the church. They are most sinister.
But who are these guys?
Jude describes them as those “who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). But we’ll look more into this at a later time.
They are, in effect, pastors void of holiness.
Businessmen, masquerading as pastors, who see the church as their next current startup.
They’re entrepreneurs, building their own product, brand, and empire within the church.
Jesus called them “false prophets”— ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15).
And we don’t seem to care they’re among us, spreading like kudzu. Continue reading
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The bottom line: the worship of Mammon, money. CHURCHIANITY began as a money making scheme and in turn it evolved into a cult that uses sophisticated brainwashing/mind control techniques to sway it’s victims.