Editorial: “The Fox Preaching to the Geese”
The image of a fox preaching to a flock of geese recurs throughout medieval history: in paintings, on pottery, in book illustrations, and sometimes even in carvings in churches. Generally the fox is dressed in a priest’s vestments or a monk’s habit. The sly fox is lulling the geese into a false sense of security with his words—presumably to make them his dinner. The moral of the story is that people can easily be seduced by religious leaders.
Most pastors I know are honest and conscientious. I have known a few—very few, thankfully—“foxy” preachers: men (always men) who had an agenda, sometimes one they weren’t even willing to admit to themselves. The worst tried to figure out ways to get personal money from people, or took sexual advantage of women or children in the congregation.
But those kinds of pastors are, fortunately, rare. A more common type of fox preacher drags people down the road of some theological hobby of his discovery. He stakes out a theological territory that he hopes will give him a soupçon of fame. He isn’t as interested in people as in his own ideas, and how they can contribute to his importance.
Many more, sadly, channel all their spiritual energy into promoting a thriving institutional church. It’s not a personal relationship with Jesus they nurture, or even a happy community that relates in healthy ways to Jesus. They want you to drag their whole organization into the kingdom with you, or else you’re not a true Christian. Your salvation, they seem to say, depends upon whether you make the denomination’s statistics look better.
I was a preacher. I tried to be conscientious and honest. But how can you be sure that you’re disinterested when you’re paid for a certain outcome? A pastor knows that continuing to function in his chosen role will depend upon keeping both conference and congregation happy. You must please the audience—or fail.
Yet it seems to me that an honest pastor always focuses on the needs of the people. The good pastor listens. He or she balances what they learned about God—in Paul’s case, “nothing but Christ, and him crucified”—with people’s spiritual needs. We don’t take away anything—certainly not unearned money, nor importance, nor admiration, nor even brag-worthy church growth—when we leave.
Which is to say, we must never take advantage of the geese.
Loren Seibold
AT Executive Editor, Adventist Today Magazine & Website
5 July 2025
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