22/08/2026
One of the happiest moments for a young preacher is that seemingly magical moment when multiple new people all show up at church all at once. They clearly know each other; they sit together, they are smiling and happy, they seem to be enjoying the service. They are dressed so well; their standards are clearly high. The offering that day is loaded with large checks from people he does not know. Seeing all of this, the preacher believes God has just dropped a magnificent gift from heaven down to him as a sign of His favor.
Tap the brakes, young preacher, tap the brakes.
The older preachers are likely already cringing; they have seen this before.
It is not beyond the realm of possibility that God will indeed send you a whole bunch of magnificent people in that manner. It is also not beyond the realm of possibility that you will grow another nose on your forehead that expels hundred-dollar bills each time it sneezes. It is not, then, unlikely possibilities we are concerning ourselves with at the moment, but a more likely problem brewing, a problem subtle enough for many young preachers to miss.
If a solid church has suddenly gone bad, large groups of people may indeed move at once. In that case, though, they will be bringing hurt with them, and it will be written on their faces. You will perceive in them the longing for healing and for a shepherd. In the case I am describing, though, things will be very different.
The crowd I am warning you about, young preacher, is what I call The Poison Pack. They have an aberrant doctrine or two that defines and motivates them, and they are looking for new ground in which to sow it. They have likely been chased away from some other place that already found out the hard way that they are up to no good.
Sometimes they are Baptist Briders. Very often, they are proponents of Replacement Theology/antisemitism. The possibilities are nearly endless; every one Bible truth has a potentially infinite number of ways it can be twisted and contradicted. And here is where you, young preacher, have a choice to make, a choice that can make or break you and your church.
What do you do when a group like this shows up? The choice made is often one that I call “A mistake of controlled accommodation.” This is when a young preacher, hungry for a whole bunch of people all at once, yet knowing this crowd holds heretical views, says something like “You all are welcome to come here, but you cannot teach what you believe, or try to sway people to it in your conversations and interactions.”
Young preacher, you may as well explain to water that if it floods your auditorium, it is not allowed to be wet as it does.
The Poison Pack is looking for something particular. It should dawn on you that they did not seek out a large, solid church with a long-term, well-seasoned pastor. They did not go somewhere they would be wildly outnumbered. They chose the small church and the young preacher because what they want above all else is influence and control.
If possible, they would be more than willing to actually take your church once they have the votes and influence to do so. In lieu of that, they will settle for getting you so dependent on their attendance, service, and money that they can do or say what they want, and you will no longer have the backbone to make them stop. If that is not possible, they will gladly peel off what few precious members they have already swayed from you and the truth and leave with them as they seek their next target.
Do not let a Poison Pack stay.
“But I can help them!”
Not likely. But if you are going to try, be wise enough to do so off church grounds and/or without your impressionable members involved in the conversation. Offer for you (or you and one or two rock-solid men) to meet with them on some week night and disciple them as long as they like. The true, humble seeker of truth will quickly say yes; anyone of the Poison Pack will almost assuredly say no. You, the shepherd, are not the target: your sheep are.
I know it can be tempting to grow all at once. But please believe me when I tell you that the best growth will come one conversion at a time, one new baby in the nursery at a time, one reclaimed backslider at a time, one new family that just moved to the area at a time, and one family still looking for truth now that their church has gone into error at a time.
Don’t take in a Poison Pack.
