Will All of The
REAL Pastors
PLEASE Stand Up!
-1-
What I write here, are my
views as a sheep & as someone who needs
to be both led & fed. Ultimately, we know that The Lord
is our Shepherd, but we also have to recognise that He has placed men in
ministry to lead & feed the flock. Depending on where we
fellowship, the pastoral shepherding model will differ. These articles are not an analysis of particular styles. As the title suggests, there are those who are
not doing their job. A job for
which they will give an account to Jesus Christ, The Head of The Church.
This is dire for congregations.
Either these men are not called or they are in disobedience. They will perform
the minimum amount of work for their benefits, salary & pensions. This has
to stop, for the sake of the sheep. I know that what I write may ruffle the
feathers of those who are sitting pretty in ministry but avoiding their duties.
His concern is His flock & He will judge those who neglect or abuse them.
Somehow or other, modern leadership
within The Church has either lost its memory or lost its mind. Gone are the
days when ministry was built & centred on the loving service of God’s
people, in answer to the call of God.
In days gone by, people thought twice about claiming that they were called to the
ministry & those already in
places of service, went to much
greater lengths to see those callings confirmed, than people are willing to go
to today. Ministry often meant sacrifice, discomfort, late nights & early
mornings. It meant spending time in study & prayer, when others were
enjoying leisure activities & kicking back as it were. Sometimes the called
were labelled as being a bit weird or super spiritual because of their
preoccupation with the things of God, but this was a badge of honour for those
whom The Lord’s hand was upon. ‘And no
man taketh this honour unto himself,
but he that is called of God, as was Aaron’(Hebrews 5:4).
1 And
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son
of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and
say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed
themselves! should not the shepherds feed
the flocks? 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe
you with the wool, ye kill them
that are fed: but ye feed not the
flock. 4 The diseased have ye not
strengthened, neither have ye healed
that which was sick, neither have ye bound
up that which was broken,
neither have ye brought again that
which was driven away, neither
have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty
have ye ruled them (Ezekiel
34:1-5).
Of all the ministries
that serve The Church, the Pastor is the one who will have the most contact
with the flock. I’ve heard Pastors described in derogatory terms in times past,
portrayed as a type of wet nurse or wiper of noses. However, this is not
the picture that Scripture paints. The Pastor holds a responsibility that in my opinion is very noble indeed. However,
a significant number of men who describe themselves as being in pastoral
ministry, are not Shepherds; they’re more akin to rustlers. When The Lord
stirred Ezekiel to prophesy against these men, He may very well
have been speaking directly to those in leadership at that time, but His words
echo very loudly today.
Jeremiah makes a similar
proclamation when prophesying concerning the return of the remnant, saying, ‘Woe
be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the
LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings,
saith the LORD. And I will gather the
remnant of my flock out of all countries whither
I have driven them, and will bring
them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And
I will set up shepherds over them
which shall feed them: and they
shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD’ (Jeremiah
23:1-4).
Both here, in Jeremiah
23 & in Ezekiel 34, The Lord makes it abundantly
clear that He will raise up a true Shepherd. This Shepherd ought to be the model for all
pastoral ministry because the care of the flock of God is paramount in its
importance to Him. Throughout Scripture, God erupts with fierce anger towards
those who abuse the sheep & yet time & time again we see those who
either haven’t learned this lesson, or simply do not care. They don’t have a
Pastor’s heart & I believe that this
quality is the very first indicative thing that The Lord deposits in a man’s
life when He calls him to feed the flock of God.
What is a Pastor’s heart? A man with a Pastor’s heart
will desire everything for The Church that The Lord desires & he will do
everything he can to see that they get it.
35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:35-38).
32 And
they departed into a desert place by ship privately. 33 And
the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came
together unto him. 34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was
moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a
shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:32-34).
The Lord always wants a
man set over His congregation so that His people are not like sheep who have no
Shepherd. Moses prayed before he died; ‘..saying,
Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of
the Lord be not as sheep which have no
Shepherd (Numbers 27:15-17). However, in these
days, the Pastor’s role has been redefined, as have other ministries within The
Church & the Shepherd is no longer the servant of God’s people; he’s their
ruler. This is not the model that Jesus gave to us. This is not the example He
set. This is not pastoral ministry. If a man isn’t moved with compassion
towards his flock, he’s not a Pastor.
The harvest is
plenteous. The labourers are few. This is true because there
are fewer genuine Pastors in The Church than we may think. They’re
outnumbered by those who eat the fat, clothe with the wool
& kill
the fed. They rule with force & with cruelty
instead of serving with gentleness & kindness.
The new breed of minister runs his church & drives
his congregation, he doesn’t lead, ignoring the admonition of
Scripture & the model given by Christ.
Many years ago, when I
foolishly embraced the popular & dominant aspects of the Charismatic
Movement, it was this new model
of ministry that was on display. Little did I know that it was diametrically
opposed to everything ministry
was meant to be. The Church was
big
business & boy oh boy was business booming. Gone was the humble
servant of God & man, with a handful of people he’d probably won to Christ
himself & discipled personally. Now we had Pastors who were heads of
corporations. Their church memberships were in the high hundreds & even
into the thousands. They lived, breathed, ate & spoke faith. This was the
key to their success.
Along with their
positions came the relevant accoutrements. Property. Money. Cars. Jets. Property.
Money. Did I mention the property & money? I think I did. You see, being a Pastor now meant a regular income,
recognition & relative comfort, especially if you hammered your
congregation regularly & repeatedly with teaching on tithes & offerings.
From this regular income, a salary is deduced as well as bonuses & several other
benefits. There was also the added enhancement of paying no tax whatsoever, with charity
status being awarded to most if not
all churches & believe me, charity definitely began at
home. We were assured that this was all good though, God wanted to bless us all
& as the infamous Benny Hinn once said, ‘..when God wants to bless you, he makes your pastor rich first’.
The first of many
questions for me is a simple one; just where
did The Church get its model for this particular type of ministry? Did it come
from the world or did it come from The Word? That’s a rhetorical question. If
we begin with the case of Abel, the very first Shepherd & type of Christ,
we will begin to forge some answers.
1 And Adam knew
Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man
from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother
Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in
process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground
an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock
and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had
respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not
respect. And Cain was very wroth,
and his countenance fell (Genesis
4:1-5).
When Adam sinned against
God, he was told unequivocally, ‘..Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice
of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in
sorrow shalt thou eat of it all
the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and
thou shalt eat the herb of the field: in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for
dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return (Genesis 3:17-19).
Cain took after his
father in that he tilled the ground & out of this environment he brought an
offering to God. Cain took his model from the world & wanted God to bless
it, but God would not & did
not. Cain’s actions were those of a belief system that constructs its own
doctrine, its own traditions, its own rules & its own
worship. The
Lord does not have any respect for this; ‘..but unto Cain and to his
offering he had not respect..’.
Not just the offering, but the man himself because of his heart &
character. If you take your model from the world, God will not recognise you and He will not recognise your works. God testified of Abel’s gifts,
not Cain’s (Hebrews 11:4).
This is nothing new. Jude
says, ‘But these speak evil of those
things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in
those things they corrupt themselves. Woe
unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after
the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah’ (Jude 10-11). The way of
Cain, which is always proliferated by those who are tillers of the soil & not those who are not keepers of sheep, reveals exactly
what false Shepherds are doing in & to The Church. Beware the way of Cain &
those who are in it.
His brother Abel
differed, in that he followed the sacrificial model God had instituted after
our foreparents sinned. Abel was a keeper of sheep. He was a Pastor who pleased
God in his character & with what he brought to Him. It’s impossible to be a
Shepherd without giving your life & time to & for
the sheep. Abel & the gifts he presented to God, the firstlings of the flock & their fat, are a model of
God’s will & God’s way. This is why God had respect to him & to his
works. Abel didn’t go the way of his natural father, Adam. Abel went the
way of his heavenly Father, God. Cain went the way of the world.
Abel went the way of The Word. Modern ministry, for the most part, has gone
after the way of Cain.
During the 1990s, I
remember being part of a conference about how churches ought to be set up. There
were classes on administration, charity set-up et cetera. The videos we
watched, sermons we listened to & books we read all told us that there was no
real
biblical pattern. We were all enthralled by stories of men who had started
Bible studies in their lounges with a handful of people or family, they had
seen these meetings grow to the point where a facility had to be rented &
then eventually a building was either built or purchased. This was standard
operating procedure for Pentecostals & Charismatics.
What we weren’t told about, were the ministerial
discussions held behind closed doors, the deals done under tables or any of the
agreements reached in backrooms. You see, although the meetings we all attended
were called Church Planting & Missions Conferences, the truth is that they
were that in name only. After the way of Cain, churches were being built after
a business model just like the world. The Pastor was no longer a servant of the
flock, he was now an MD or CEO. As the head of a corporation, he would live,
dress, earn & speak as one.
This was the offering
that was sold to The Church & one which The Church gave itself to
wholeheartedly. However, a vital part of proceedings was overlooked entirely; God’s
approval. It’s one
thing to offer something to The Church, but quite another thing entirely
to offer something to The Lord. The popular messages of faith
& prosperity
were sufficient to attract the attention of some of the sheep, but sheep aren’t
the smartest animals on the planet. What counts is whether God has respect for
& gives recognition to us & to our offering &
the only way that happens is
when we do His will in a way that He prescribes. Abel, the first Pastor,
learned this & was faithful with it. Cain was not & murdered his
brother.
12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore
slew he him? Because his own works were
evil, and his brother’s righteous (1st John 3:12).
What Cain did was all
about him
but what Abel did was all about The Lord. As I stated earlier, those
who are genuinely called will happily forego whatever temporal pleasures &
benefits they have to in order to answer & obey God. But those chosen to be
Shepherds of His flock have to have a heart for God’s
people, a heart that only The Lord can give to them. Those who have gone after
the way of Cain have no heart for the sheep whatsoever.
Their agenda is selfish; it’s all about them.
In Ezekiel’s prophecy
against the Shepherds of Israel, The Lord’s concern was that his sheep were fed,
recovered,
healed,
restored
& protected.
They were to be cared for lovingly despite
their tendencies for straying & entering difficulty. Instead, these men
were taking advantage of the flock of God, feeding themselves, clothing themselves
& enriching themselves. This happens when the false Shepherd sees the flock
as his & not God’s. This
man doesn’t see himself as a servant; in his mind he’s a master.
As such, everything he says & does is a
means to an end that has nothing
to do with the needs of the sheep & all
to do with maintaining his position & his possessions. The people in his
congregation pay his salary & that of his wife, even though she probably
does little or nothing. They pay for their house. They pay for his car &
that of his wife, even though she does little or nothing. They pay all of their
bills, provide them with benefits & bless them with gifts for birthdays
& Christmas. How nice. Yet this man doesn’t care for the flock. All he
wants is their attendance. He wants their tithes & offerings. He wants
their custom. I have seen this with my own eyes over the years. It has to stop.
Will
all of the real pastors please stand up.
