Investigate

Reflections on Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, Lesson 11

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” -Matthew 7:15-16

I always thought that phrase meant something like, “be suspicious of the newcomer and the outsider; they might look like one of us, but they’re not.”

I can see now where teaching it in that way would have had the two-fold effect of instilling an “us vs. them” mentality, while preventing me from recognizing that the one I might have most needed to worry about was the one teaching me.

I truly believe that most people are not inherently dishonest. Most people are doing the best they can, they might make mistakes, they might be wrong, they might be selfish, but they aren’t actively working to deceive people. But some people are.

Some people gain our trust because they are one of us, they gain positions of authority, and they destroy.

It’s easy to roll our eyes at other people who have been led astray by people they trusted while we blindly follow someone who says the things we want to hear.

We think that we will recognize them, because we are intelligent beings and we can tell the difference between a wolf and a sheep, but it’s harder than we think.

They are clearly sheep because they feed the poor, care for the sick, clothe the naked, and visit the imprisoned.

We’ve also been taught that the fruit by which to measure someone is their popularity or their wealth accumulation. We know that’s not true, but we behave as if it is.

This person cannot be wrong if they have a million subscribers. They must be trustworthy if they have been endorsed by this other person. I must defer to them because they hold these credentials. They grew the church, brought in the ratings, sold more products…but what kind of fruit are they producing?

Are they producing love? Do their teachings cause you to love your neighbor a little more? Do they cause you to expand your definition of neighbor? Do they leave behind humans who have found healing and reconciliation?

Do they exemplify “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”?

Or do they produce an “us vs. them” mindset? Do they divide and conquer? Do they leave behind brokenness and strife? Do they practice and condone “sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.”?

These are the “biblical” standards of morality.

A few years ago, I might have added some kind of exhortation and wrapped up this post here, as a sufficient reflection on this chapter, but it’s not 2017 anymore.

The wolves are running amok now.

When the wolves in sheep’s clothing have been in the herd long enough, they normalize wolflike behavior to such a degree that the sheep begin to take on the characteristics of the wolves.

How does this happen? Why does no one speak up?

If you’re reading this, you probably know the answer. You probably did speak up and the sheep watched as the wolf tore you to shreds.

When you tried to rip the mask from the wolf, you were angry, you might have started quarrels, and you might have caused division. The wolf made sure everyone saw it. Wolves are masters at redefining the terms on both lists.

And yet, you forgive the sheep, because they knew not what was happening, and you keep trying to save them from the wolves.

Many who once concealed themselves in sheep’s clothing have abandoned the ruse - they don’t need it anymore. This might give us a false sense of security, that all the wolves have been unmasked, we must remain vigilant though.

There’s more than one species of wolf.

The institutions that our grandparents built were supposed to protect us from the wolves. They weren’t perfect, but they did a good enough job that we thought we were safe.

But the institutions were filled with sheep and the anecdote above played out a thousand times - a hundred thousand times - across churches, universities, government agencies, businesses, and the media.

And now, all the whistleblowers hang out on Substack, still crying wolf (because the wolves are real, we’re not crazy) and begging people to start asking more questions.

It is here that we do the work of deconstruction, of investigating, of figuring out what was authentic and what came from the wolves.

It is from our collective works that the reformation and the rebuilding will come, but let us remember that the wolves are watching.

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