Will ALL of The REAL Pastors PLEASE Stand Up PART TWO

Will All of The REAL Pastors

PLEASE Stand Up! Part Two 

1.Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2.But he that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. 3.To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4.And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5.And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers. 6.This parable spake Jesus unto them; but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Jesus the Good Shepherd. 7.Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8.All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9.I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10.The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: 11.I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12.But he that is a hireling, and not the Shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13.The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14.I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15.As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd (John10:1-16).

Ultimately, Pastoral ministry in particular & the ministry of The Church in general, ought to take its cue from The Lord Jesus Christ. I say that it ought to, but it doesn’t. Why not? Doesn’t The Church have a mountain of evidence, a multitude of examples & an abundance of Scripture that makes this clear? That’s a rhetorical question. Times have changed & I guess we just have to change with them, right? Although the ‘established church’ has definitely had a head start in terms of its accumulation of prosperity, property & power, the modern Church has chosen to follow in its wake. For men of this ilk, this is completely understandable, given the sacrificial alternative.

In the black Pentecostal tradition that I come from, Pastors were revered. They were loved, lifted up & listened to. However, the men who ministered when I was coming up were very different to the new breed of professional ‘tillers of the soil’ present in The Church today. My Pastor & men like him cared deeply for their flocks. We knew where they lived & were often in their homes. They knew where we lived & visited us if we weren’t seen at services. Whenever they prayed God answered them. If anyone was sick they were visited by the elders of The Church & anointed with oil in the Name of The Lord. Our Pastors bought shopping for us. They clothed us on occasion & their wives would cook for us. Lord have mercy, those women could cook! Lord knows, I miss those days & I miss those men of God.

As well as all of this, we were reproved, rebuked & exhorted whenever it was necessary. Our Pastors knew they were charged with our oversight & they took that calling seriously enough to execute it in the fear of God. My Pastor in particular, had no salary as such, although our fellowship owned the house he lived in with the other ministers. He bought his clothing at charity shops apart from his shirts. He liked shirts from Marks & Spencer. Nevertheless, Pastor Thomas was always well turned out, as crisp as crackers. The car he drove was always second-hand. My pastor & the other Pastors that I knew eschewed the trappings of the world & they continually exhorted us to do the same thing.

There were never any drives to raise money either. It was only after God had answered prayer that we were told about the needs that had been met, by way of our Pastor’s testimony. All of this was an example to the flock, but I was too proud, blind & stupid to appreciate it. Foolishly, I embraced The Charismatic Movement & with it I saw a side to ministry that in time, would come to seriously haunt me.

*First of all, before I say anything else, let me say this; God doesn’t call wimps. Oh believe me, there are plenty of men in pulpits who are limp wristed & pansy waisted about the things of God. Mummy’s boys who are dressed up like Peacocks, pampered, puffed up & pandered to. They are spoilt rotten by the misplaced adoration of the ignorant & the unearned accolades of the foolish. These men are not Pastors; they are rustlers. The Lord hasn’t prepared, positioned or promoted them at all, despite the image that’s portrayed publicly. They have gone the way of Cain. They know how to till soil, but they have no heart for the flock.

Abraham had flocks, as did his grandson Jacob, who became Israel. The sons of Israel [including Joseph] were all keepers of sheep & so began a long typological & pastoral tradition.

 Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren (Genesis37:2).

Joseph was Jacob’s favourite & the son of his old age, but this affection earned him the hatred of his other siblings. He did himself no favours by reporting them to their father & recounting the dreams that he had concerning their future obeisance to him. The brothers conspired to murder him, but Reuben was against this & suggested that Joseph was thrown into a pit. He had every intention of getting the lad home to his father. Instead, Judah elected that Joseph be sold into slavery & this was done behind Reuben’s back.

They stripped him of his coat, dipped it in the blood of a kid & gave it to Jacob when they returned home. Jacob was beside himself with grief, assuming that a wild beast had killed him in the wilderness. In Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife took a shine to the young man & tried to seduce him. Well, you know the story. Joseph ended up in prison for attempted rape, but was favoured in prison by the keeper of the jail.

Joseph the Shepherd boy was now Pastor of the king’s prison. ‘And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it’ (Genesis39:22). Pharaoh’s chief butler & baker were also in prison with Joseph ‘And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward’ (Genesis40:4). When dealing with the flock of God, a true Pastor’s calling & duty is that of service & care. I have heard many a sweaty & emotional motivational sermon on Joseph’s rise ‘from the pit to the palace’ & God’s ability to raise us up out of any circumstances (although technically it’s from the pit to the slave auction, to Potiphar’s house, to the prison and then to the palace. Sorry). But Joseph’s life reveals much more than that. He reveals Christ as Messiah, beloved of The Father, sent to his own who didn’t receive Him. Joseph also reveals Christ as Shepherd & notice that before Joseph was raised up to lead, he already possessed a Pastor’s heart & that never left him.

As a result of interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams concerning the coming famine, Joseph is elevated to ruler over Egypt, second only to the king himself. He’s also given a Gentile bride. The famine was so severe that we’re told ‘And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands’ (Genesis41:57). Jacob orders his sons to go down into Egypt to buy corn & the 10 of them go, leaving Benjamin, the youngest, behind. They fail to recognise their brother, who is now 13 years older than he was when they last saw him. Joseph is now 30 years old ‘And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him’ (Genesis42:7). He sells them corn but has their money placed back in their sacks, essentially feeding them for free. This is a Pastor; he always gives far more than he receives.

The second time that they come to buy corn, Benjamin the youngest is with them. Joseph goes even further, feeding them & giving his youngest brother 5 times as much as the others. He again gives his brothers as much as they can carry at no charge. Can you see the Pastor & how he cares for those who are under his authority? 

And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: and there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty (Genesis45:4-11).

When Joseph’s family are brought to Egypt, Joseph demonstrates unequivocally that he had never lost touch with his Pastoral roots. He gives his family strict instructions, saying, ‘And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians’ (Genesis46:33-34).

And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers. They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle (Genesis47:3-6).

In this, we see that Joseph was not simply a Shepherd by occupation, but as a true Pastor at heart. He was humble, with a servant’s disposition. What he did was done for the good of others, not for money, not for recognition or for power & yet he ended up with all of these things. However, what he prised far more highly, were those he was able to bless, give to & save. He is a true type of Christ. Joseph was a true Pastor. From thence is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel.

When Israel died & Joseph buried him, his brothers feared repercussion, ‘And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them’ (Genesis50:19-21). Joseph never, ever stopped being a Shepherd.

And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families (Genesis47:12).

When there was no money left to buy food, Joseph still fed the people. He took their cattle, their horses, their flocks & their asses in exchange for bread for that year. When the people returned & had no money or livestock, offering him their lands & themselves, Joseph still fed them. He also gave them seed to sow in order that they might feed themselves & their families.

And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones (Genesis47:24).

Again, Joseph demonstrates the heart of a true Pastor. He gives more than he has to, he gives more than he takes. How many [so called] men of God do this today? Whatever Joseph had was given to him to him. He didn’t engineer it. He truly gave God the glory for saving his life in order that he might save the lives of others.

The ministry today is not like that. The ministry today would rather enrich itself on the backs of those who are hungry & thirsty, who come to The Church for bread week after week. Yet week after week they are pressed for their donations & when their cash runs out, they’re asked for more. They take jewellery. They take property. When there is nothing left to give & the people faint because of a lack of bread, these people will make their people donate their time as volunteers, rather than pay them. I have seen this done & it makes me nuclear with an incandescent rage.

The word that Joseph gave to Pharaoh came to pass, but these men prophesy falsely, always telling their flock that something is about to happen. Just keep giving. The famine will soon be over, while it is they themselves that starve God’s people & fatten themselves. Where are the real Pastors? Where are the true Shepherds?

Eventually, Joseph died, having given instructions concerning his bones. A king arose in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph & because of his xenophobia he invokes bondage on the Israelites & instructs the Hebrew midwives to kill any males born among the Jews. Thankfully the women disobey this instruction, claiming that the Hebrew women deliver too quickly. God blessed them for this & Pharaoh ordered that every male child was to be cast into the river (Exodus1:8-22). Then, when perhaps things looked as though they were at their worst, there came a certain son, of the tribe of Levi!

End of Part Two

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