Watch out for yourselves . . . Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them.
Acts 20:28a, 30 NET
Paul’s warning in this passage is specifically to church elders and others who have some level of responsibility for God’s people. Paul compared them to shepherds guarding a flock of sheep, protecting them from the attack of wolves.
The wolves they were to guard against were false teachers—men teaching perversions of the truth. They had a message that sounded good. A message that may even have had a kernel of the truth but twisted to suit their own purpose. In this case, the purpose was to draw followers to themselves.
But they were not just to guard the flock. Paul encouraged them to also watch out for themselves. They needed to be careful not to get carried away by false teachings themselves. That would cause harm to themselves as well as to the flock they were guarding.
This warning to “watch out for yourselves” applies to all believers. Perversions of the truth abound today. And it can be very easy to fall for some of these perversions. Watch out for yourselves and guard against error. Be diligent in seeking the help of the Holy Spirit as you listen, read, and study.
Each of us probably believes that our understanding of the Bible and Christian doctrine is correct. But that does not necessarily mean those we disagree with are victims or perpetrators of the perversions that Paul was talking about. There are many within the faith who we might disagree with, but whose beliefs are firmly anchored in the Scripture. And we can embrace them as brothers and sisters in Christ.
But there are also many whose teaching may sound appealing and who, like Satan, will use the Scripture to support their ideas but who are proclaiming a different gospel—a perversion of the truth. Run from them.
