Shepherds, Hirelings, and Wolves

Fraud in the clergy: what Scripture warned, what history shows, and what to watch for

Sixty-five posts ago we opened the Bible to its first line, and we have traced Jesus Christ through every book from Genesis to Jude. This is the last post on Walking by Faith, and I want to end with a subject Scripture never shied away from: men who stand in God’s house, speak in God’s name, and use God’s people for their own gain.

This is not a pleasant subject, and I did not choose it to stir up anger. I chose it because the Bible raises it again and again, from Eli’s sons to the letter of Jude, and because people get hurt when they do not see it coming. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15–16). The goal here is to help you know the fruit.

A Word Before We Begin

Let me say plainly what this post is not. It is not an attack on pastors, preachers, or the church. The great majority of men who serve in ministry are faithful. Many shepherd small congregations for little pay, some work a second job to do it, and they will never be famous. They sit with the dying, bury the dead, counsel the broken, and open the word of God week after week. Scripture says “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine” (1 Timothy 5:17). Those men deserve our honor, our prayers, and our support.

It is also worth knowing that when money goes missing from a church, it is often not the pastor who took it. A large share of cases involve a bookkeeper, a treasurer, or a trusted volunteer with access and no oversight. Fraud is a problem of human hearts and weak safeguards, not of one office.

And it is not new. The same Bible that calls the church “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15) also warns, from its early chapters to its last letters, that some who handle holy things will handle them for profit. Knowing that is not cynicism. It is obedience.

Scripture Saw It Coming

Every part of the Bible we have studied together speaks to this. Here are some of the clearest examples.

In the Old Testament

Eli’s sons took the best portions of the sacrifices by force before they were offered to God. “Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD”(1 Samuel 2:17). Their greed made people despise worship itself.
Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, ran after Naaman to take the silver his master had refused, then lied about it. He walked away with the money and with Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5:20–27).
Micah described Jerusalem’s leaders: “the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD” (Micah 3:11).
Jeremiah said, “from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely”(Jeremiah 6:13), and Lamentations names “the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests” (Lamentations 4:13) among the causes of Jerusalem’s fall.
Ezekiel brought God’s charge: “Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” (Ezekiel 34:2).

In the New Testament

Jesus warned of religious leaders who “devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers” (Mark 12:40), and twice drove the money changers out of His Father’s house.
Judas kept the disciples’ money: “he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein” (John 12:6). Fraud was present even among the twelve.
Simon the sorcerer offered the apostles money for the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter answered, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money” (Acts 8:20).
Paul warned of men “supposing that gain is godliness” (1 Timothy 6:5) and of teachers who would “subvert whole houses… for filthy lucre’s sake” (Titus 1:11).
Peter said false teachers would arise “among you,” and “through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you” (2 Peter 2:1–3).
John named Diotrephes, “who loveth to have the preeminence” (3 John 9), and Judewarned of men who “ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward” (Jude 11).

Notice that none of these warnings tell God’s people to abandon worship, the Scriptures, or the gathering of believers. They tell us to recognize the wolf and stay with the Shepherd.

Through the Centuries

The pattern Scripture describes has repeated in every age of church history.

Simony

The sin of Simon in Acts 8, trying to buy spiritual authority, gave its name to a problem that plagued the church for centuries. In the medieval period, church offices were bought and sold, and men became bishops not because they were called and qualified but because they could pay. Faithful voices within the church condemned it again and again, which tells us both how common it was and that God never left Himself without witnesses.

The Sale of Indulgences

In the early 1500s, preachers traveled through Germany selling indulgences, certificates promising release from punishment for sin, to raise money for building projects. One of the best known, Johann Tetzel, is remembered for a jingle that put the soul’s release in the same breath as a coin dropping into the box. In 1517, a monk named Martin Luther posted ninety-five theses objecting to the trade. He did not set out to split the church. He set out to defend poor people from being sold something God gives freely. The Reformation followed.

The Television Era

In the twentieth century, broadcasting gave preachers access to millions of homes, and with it, millions of dollars. Most used it honestly. Some did not. In 1986, the investigator James Randi exposed a faith healer who claimed God was revealing personal details about people in his audience; in fact, his wife was feeding him the information through a hidden radio earpiece. In 1989, a federal jury convicted the head of a large television ministry of fraud and conspiracy for selling far more “lifetime partnerships” at his ministry’s resort than could ever be honored, and he went to federal prison. These cases became national news, and millions of people who had never darkened a church door decided that all preachers were crooks. Peter warned exactly that: “by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Peter 2:2).

In the years since, a United States Senate inquiry examined the finances of several large television ministries, and Christian accountability groups have pushed for clearer standards. Some ministries have opened their books. Others still decline to.

What It Costs God’s People

The money is the smallest part of the damage. Fraud in the pulpit wounds people in ways that a bank account does not measure.

It wounds faith. Many people who walked away from church did not walk away from Jesus first. They walked away from someone who claimed to speak for Him and turned out to be using them. Some never come back.
It wounds the poor most. The widow who gives what she cannot spare, the sick person who sends a “seed offering” hoping for healing, the struggling family promised a financial breakthrough. Jesus’ sharpest words were for those who devour widows’ houses.
It wounds the faithful shepherds. Every scandal makes it harder for an honest pastor to be trusted. The wolves do not only harm the sheep. They harm the reputation of every true shepherd.
It wounds the gospel’s witness. Outsiders do not separate one crooked preacher from the message of Christ. The way of truth is evil spoken of.
It wounds through silence. When churches cover up wrongdoing to protect a leader or a reputation, victims are hurt twice: first by the wrong, then by the people who should have stood up for them.

God sees every one of these wounds. James wrote that the wages kept back by fraud cry out, and that “the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth” (James 5:4). Nothing done in His name escapes His notice.

Where Things Stand in 2026

Researchers at the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary have tracked what they call “ecclesiastical crime” for decades: money lost to theft, fraud, and embezzlement within churches and Christian ministries worldwide. Their 2026 report estimates that about $70 billion is lost this way every year, up from an estimated $19 billion in 2000. In the same report, total giving to Christian causes worldwide is estimated at just over $1 trillion. In an earlier report, they found that this kind of crime was growing slightly faster than giving itself.

These figures are estimates built from global data, not audited totals, and writers have fairly asked how precise they can be. But the direction is consistent year after year, and it lines up with what churches report on the ground. In a LifeWay Research survey, 9 percent of pastors said their church had experienced embezzlement. Church Law & Tax has found that more than a quarter of churches that discover embezzlement never disclose it. And the center’s co-director has noted something heartbreaking: even after a pastor was convicted and sitting in prison, some members still could not believe he had done it.

There is a newer danger as well, and this one comes from outside. Across the country, scammers have been impersonating pastors by text and email, asking church members to buy gift cards for some urgent, confidential need and promising to pay them back. State attorneys general and local police departments have issued warnings, including one from police in Tavares, Florida, in June 2026. Authorities believe the scammers pull names and contact details from church websites and online bulletins. And in 2026, reporters documented cases of AI tools being used to clone pastors’ voices and faces in calls, messages, and videos. A few seconds of audio from an online sermon is enough to imitate a voice.

Looking Toward 2027–2032

No one can tell you exactly what the coming years will bring. But Scripture tells us the pattern will continue, and current trends show where to keep watch. These are not predictions. They are watch-points.

Impersonation will get more convincing. As AI voice and video tools improve, a call or video that looks and sounds exactly like your pastor will be easy to fake. Any request for money that comes with urgency and secrecy should be verified in person or through a number you already know.
Giving will keep moving online. Text-to-give, apps, livestream donation links, and cryptocurrency make giving easier, and they also make it easier to give to the wrong place or to someone you have never met. Know where your offering is actually going.
Personality-driven ministry will keep growing.Social media rewards charisma, not character. Ministries built around one personality, with no real board, no plurality of elders, and no one who can tell the leader no, are where Scripture’s warnings land hardest.
The prosperity message will keep finding new audiences. Promises that God will multiply your money if you send a gift to a particular ministry have been around for decades. They will keep showing up in new forms, especially online and in the developing world, where the church is growing fastest.
The financial losses are projected to keep climbing. The same researchers project ecclesiastical crime will keep rising in the decades ahead unless churches take accountability more seriously.

Shepherd or Hireling?

Jesus contrasted the good shepherd with the hireling: “he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth” (John 10:12). Scripture gives us clear marks for telling them apart.

Marks of a faithful shepherd

Serves willingly, “not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind” (1 Peter 5:2).
Leads by example, not as a lord over God’s people (1 Peter 5:3).
Is blameless, faithful at home, self-controlled, hospitable, and not greedy (1 Timothy 3:2–7; Titus 1:6–9).
Preaches the whole counsel of God, including the parts that convict, and points people to Christ rather than to himself.
Welcomes accountability and is open about money.
Works hard and is not a burden, like Paul, who worked night and day with his own hands (1 Thessalonians 2:9).

Warning signs

Promises that giving to his ministry will unlock healing, wealth, or blessing.
Pressure to give quickly, emotionally, or beyond your means.
Lavish personal lifestyle funded by the ministry, with no one able to question it.
No board with real authority, no audit, and no willingness to show how money is spent.
Treats questions as rebellion and critics as enemies, like Diotrephes, who cast out those who would not go along (3 John 10).
Flatters people for advantage (Jude 16) and never names sin, like the prophets of Lamentations who “have not discovered thine iniquity” (Lamentations 2:14).

One caution: a single sign does not make someone a wolf. Good pastors make mistakes, and some churches simply lack good systems. The point is to look at the fruit over time, and to ask honest questions without assuming the worst.

Honor to the Faithful

Before we finish, I want to give credit where it is due. For every name that made the news for the wrong reasons, there are countless faithful men and women whose names you will never hear. Pastors who refused a raise so the church could help a family. Treasurers who count every offering with a second person in the room, every week, for decades. Missionaries living on almost nothing. Bivocational preachers who mow lawns, drive trucks, and work night shifts so a small congregation can have a shepherd. Ministries that publish audited finances and invite anyone to look.

They are the Gaiuses and Demetriuses of our day, men with “good report of all men, and of the truth itself” (3 John 12). The book of Hebrews tells us to “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow” (Hebrews 13:7). If you have a shepherd like that, thank him. Pray for him. Tell him you see what he does. Faithful shepherds will receive “a crown of glory that fadeth not away” when the chief Shepherd appears (1 Peter 5:4).

What You Can Do

Know the Shepherd first. The best protection against a counterfeit is knowing the real thing. Read your Bible for yourself, like the Bereans, who “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Ask honest questions. It is not rebellion to ask how your church or a ministry you support handles money. Healthy churches can tell you. Ask whether the books are audited, who counts the offering, and who has authority over the leader.
Give wisely. Look for ministries that are open about their finances and accountable to others. Groups such as the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and MinistryWatch provide information on many ministries. Giving to your local church and to people you know is often the safest giving of all.
Verify before you send. Your pastor will not ask you to buy gift cards by text. If a message asks for money with urgency or secrecy, stop, and call your pastor at a number you already have.
Follow the biblical process. If you see wrongdoing, go to the person (Matthew 18:15), bring witnesses when needed (1 Timothy 5:19), and do not stay silent when others are being harmed. Crimes should be reported to the authorities, which God has ordained to punish evildoers (Romans 13:4).
Don’t let the wolves take your faith. If you have been hurt by a hireling, I am sorry. What was done to you was wrong, and God saw it. But do not let a false shepherd drive you away from the true One. Jesus is still “the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25), and He has never fleeced a single sheep.

A Final Word

It has been an honor to walk through the Bible with you. I know the format was the same from one book to the next. That was on purpose. I wanted every book of the Bible examined and studied the same careful way, from Genesis to Jude, so we could see the one thread running through all of it: Jesus Christ. All of it was done in the service of our Father in Heaven. Praise His holy and merciful name.

Revelation is yours now. Read it for yourself, and receive the blessing God promised to those who do.

It all started at the end, when there was no hope. 🕊️🔥💗

I love you, Jesus.

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 24–25).

Truly, to GOD alone be all the GLORY.
— Taylor

God Bless you❤️