Will All of the REAL Pastors PLEASE Stand Up!

A MASTERCLASS

9.I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10.I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11.saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last : and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12.And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13.and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14.His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15.and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16.And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17.And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18.I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19.Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

As a believer in Christ, my image of The Lord was [more often than not] coloured by everything except Scripture. When I was a child, I said my prayers with my older brother, reciting the words of one of Charles Wesley’s greatest hymns before we went to bed.

‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child. Pity my simplicity, suffer me to come to Thee. Fain I would to Thee be brought, Dearest God, forbid it not; Give me, dearest God, a place in the kingdom of Thy grace. Lamb of God, I look to Thee. Thou shalt my Example be. Thou art gentle, meek, and mild; Thou wast once a little child.’

The High Anglican Church of Saint Peter’s that we attended was decked out with the usual depictions of a Caucasian baby Jesus in His mother’s arms, always with a precocious & knowing countenance, blonde locks & a peculiar positioning of His fingers, almost as if He were mimicking the holding of a gun. Then there was the obligatory crucifix, with the figure of Jesus, nails ‘n’ all, firmly fixed to it & looking more as if He were taking a nap than taking away the sins of the world. Whoever had the task of painting the little wound onto the side of each Iggy Pop lookalike model as it rolled off the production line, must have been onto a very cushy little number.

In the homes of every West Indian family that we knew, I can guarantee you that there were, without fail, the same three religious items adorning the walls of the front room. First there was the plaque which read, ‘Christ is the head of this house. The unseen guest at every meal. The silent listener to every conversation’. I kid you not when I tell you that as a child I believed those words quite literally. This was always in a prominent place so that no matter where you were in the room, you could see it clearly. Then, on walls that opposed each other, there were always two paintings present. One would be a depiction of The Holy Family At Work & the other was a rather rough looking reproduction of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper. The latter was upgraded to a 3D version in the mid 1970s, which was considered quite cool at the time …honestly.

I also remember thumbing through Church publications throughout my childhood & even after I had received Christ as a teenager, the instantly recognisable portrayal of Jesus, complete with beautifully perfect teeth, conditioned hair & the slight smile of a lottery winner, was always at the forefront of my thinking. There He was, in successive pictures, with a wardrobe more extensive than a popular action figure, effortlessly carrying a perfectly well behaved lamb in one hand & a conveniently crafted crosier in the other. He looked just like Robert Powell. The Good [handsome, evenly featured, smartly dressed, softly spoken] Shepherd.

Even the occasional painting of Christ driving those who bought & sold out of the Temple, make Him look as if He was perfectly composed whilst casually strolling through God’s House, naughtily rearranging the furniture as part of an elaborate practical joke, with whip of chords poised for the cracking, like an expert animal trainer. All of this with not a single hair out of place. He didn’t even break into a sweat.

Even though we assert our belief that The Lord Jesus Christ is co-equal, co-eternal & integral to the Godhead, Saviour of the world & soon coming King, we still have a place in the back [& occasionally at the forefront] of our minds where He is gentle Jesus, meek & mild. He is infinitely more than that; He is Lord of all & He is The Head of The Church. The image of Christ foisted upon our collective public & religious consciousness for centuries, is poles apart from the biblical vision of Him in prophecy, in ministry & in resplendent, resurrected glory. If His life & ministry are to be a model for ours, then our picture of His life & ministry have to be accurately portrayed & represented. This is only done by Scripture (Just look at Ephesians1:15-23, Colossians1:14-20, Philippians2:9-11 for instance).

There are no man-made pieces of art, nor any literary works that can adequately portray Jesus Christ in His life, death, burial or resurrection. Neither are there any mechanisms of human government that will ever come close to, or rival His preeminence in all things. To gain a true picture of Jesus The Christ, we must rely on the Scriptures & in our reliance on them, we will develop our reliance on Him. In our Saviour, we have been given a supreme masterclass & as we look closely at His example we learn so very much about so very much.

In His preeminence before, over & above all things, The Lord Jesus Christ takes His position as the undisputed Head of The Church. Certain ministries & gifts are set within The Church (Ephesians4:11-12, 1^stCorinthians12:27-28), but every single one these representative offices of service belong to Him. He is the Good Shepherd (John10:11&14). He is the Shepherd & Bishop of our souls (1^stPeter2:25). He is the Chief Shepherd (1^stPeter5:4). He is the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews13:20). In this, Christ is typified throughout the Scriptures. A man may be called to be a Shepherd over a congregation, but ultimately The Lord Jesus Christ is the Senior Pastor.

It ought to follow then, that men who claim to have been called into service as Shepherds, would take The Lord as their example. Sadly, this has not always been the case. There are men [& women] in parts of The Church today who have the position & title of Pastor, Bishop, Elder or Overseer, but they do not have the heart. They are not Shepherds. They are more akin to rustlers. Jesus Christ is not their example. They are not moved with compassion. In this, they have taken the honour of a worthy place of service & made it completely ignoble. They have no care for the flock of God whatsoever, but happily line their pockets at the expense of those who believe in & follow them.

These imposters wouldn’t dream of laying their lives down for the sheep. Instead, they encourage the sheep to lay their lives down for the comfort of their lives & furtherance of their ministries. Lord, have mercy.

I am a sheep & I write as one who has had a sheep’s-eye-view of The Church for over 35 years. As such, as one who wandered from the flock in rebellion & disobedience, my own heart has cried out for true Shepherds & real Pastors.

I remember going to the office of a man who had been one of the Pastors on staff at the fellowship I had attended in North London. I just wanted someone to talk to. I wasn’t a faceless congregation member. I had served behind the scenes & knew all of the ministers on staff before I had left. I walked in & asked to see him if he was free & then I waited outside in the reception area. I waited & I waited & I waited a little longer. Finally, his assistant came out of his office & told me that my former Pastor couldn’t see me because he was waiting for a telephone call from another minister. I cannot adequately convey my thoughts & feelings to you here, but it is sufficient to say that in that particular instance, my heart sank & hardened simultaneously.

If that man had taken me into his office & rebuked me [which I thoroughly needed, deserved & still do on occasion], if he had given me a slap to knock the sinful arrogance from my proud countenance & given me a good shake to boot [which I thoroughly needed, deserved & still do on occasion], I would have left thinking that he genuinely cared for me, if nothing else. I left there with a very firm resolve, which The Lord reminds me of, often.

The Lord rebuked the Shepherds of Israel through the Prophet Ezekiel, saying, ‘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? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. 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. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.’ (Ezekiel34:2-6).

It strikes me, that if The Lord is a wee bit ticked off at these men for not fulfilling their duty of care towards the sheep, it’s precisely because they should have been doing these things, but had failed. It also strikes me that they didn’t neglect to reap the benefits & rewards associated with their roles, even though they had done none of the work. Paul speaks the truth when he says ‘..who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? (1^stCorinthians9:7). These men eat of the milk but do not feed the flock of God.

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke19:10).

The Apostle Peter, who was personally instructed by The Lord Jesus Christ to feed His sheep (John21:15-17) said to his fellow leaders, ‘The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.’ (1^stPeter5:1-5).

Paul warned the elders of The Church at Ephesus, ‘Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. (Acts20:28-29). This is not a joke. This is gravely serious, because Jesus Christ, The Head of The Church, has mandated a duty of care towards His flock & just as Ezekiel, who was called the son of man, was instructed to prophesy against the Shepherds of Israel, so also The Son of Man prophesied against them during His earthly ministry (Matthew23:33-35).

Throughout the Scriptures we can see The Lord Jesus Christ typified as our Shepherd by other men who were chosen in Pastoral ministry. When we looked at the lives of Abel, Joseph, Moses & David, we clearly saw the characteristics of our Saviour, not only as Messiah, but also as our Pastor. I believe that this is well worth studying. The Lord is our Shepherd.

Jesus cites the blood of Abel, the first Shepherd recorded in Scripture, calling him righteous, as does the writer to the Hebrews (Hebrews11:4). Abel paid for his righteousness with his life at the hands of his brother Cain, who is referred to as being ‘..of that wicked one..’ (1^stJohn3:12&15). The Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ the righteous (1^stJohn2:1-2), also paid for His righteousness with His life at the hands of His brethren, those [whom He said] were of their father the devil (John8:39-44). That wicked one, who was a murderer from the beginning. God respected Abel & his offering (Genesis4:4). God was also well pleased with His son Jesus Christ & His offering of himself (Ephesians5:2). The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? (Luke4:16-22).

It seems almost fortuitous or coincidental, that Joseph was the name of Jesus’ [surrogate] earthly father & yet it’s also quite handy, because the title ‘The Son of Joseph’ is also a Messianic designation. Furthermore, the Patriarch Joseph, who was also a Shepherd, typified Christ in His Pastoral role.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him (Genesis37:2-4).

Like Joseph, The Lord Jesus Christ was beloved of The Father, a Shepherd along with others among His brethren. However, unlike those who were charged with a duty of care for the flock of God, Jesus was the Shepherd spoken of throughout the Scriptures they revered, but His contemporaries refused to submit to Him. He too was hated by them because The Father gave Him an unmissable & undeniable mantle of significance, a proverbial coat of many colours. The Lord Jesus Christ wore His God-given power unreservedly, unashamedly & unapologetically, ‘..for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.’ (Matthew7:28-29).

Like Joseph, The Lord Jesus Christ was moved with compassion despite the opposition & hatred He faced, because His concern was [& always is] the salvation & welfare of the flock of God.

*By the way, there is a trendy & modern belief that the compassion with which Christ was moved, was actually indignation at a certain point. This is not true. This erroneous assumption is based on a very thin & obscure reading of selective Greek texts by equally thin & obscure liberal lower critics & their subscribers. Scripture is very clear concerning the occasions on which The Lord was angry. I am happy to debate this falsehood, which is being perpetrated by one liar in particular that I know of & it is rooted firmly in word-of-faith mythology & the belief that the word ‘if’, when used in a prayer request, is evidence of doubt & a lack of faith & that this lack of faith infuriates Christ. What a load of hogwash & complete & utter nonsense as well as being some of the poorest exegesis that I have ever encountered. I assure you brethren, that Jesus Christ is moved with compassion still.

Joseph’s Pastoral care brought salvation to Egypt. The death, burial & resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Good Shepherd, brings salvation to the world. Like Joseph, who was sent by God to go before his brethren (Genesis45:5), The Lord Jesus Christ Himself has gone before us, having secured our salvation (Hebrews6:20).

Like Joseph, The Lord Jesus Christ could have brought an evil report against the pseudo-Pastors of His day, but instead of doing this He simply left them with a stinging castigation. The Pharisees were well known for walking through the streets with the Torah scrolls aloft, declaring them to be ‘The Bread of Life’ & ‘The Shepherd of men’s souls’ & yet when the very Word of God was among them they rejected Him. Like Joseph’s brethren, they sought to kill Him. Jesus said, ‘Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.’ (John5:45).

Before leading Israel out of bondage in Egypt, Moses had been a Shepherd in Midian, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro (Exodus3:1). He was a meek man (Numbers12:3), beloved of God, tasked with an awesome responsibility to which he was obedient & faithful (Numbers12:7). He typified Christ as our Shepherd. Jesus said, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew11:28-30).

Moses continually interceded between God & His people Israel, falling on his face & pleading with The Lord, Who heard Moses’ cries & often withheld His awesome judgements. Even so, because The Father loves The Son, He hears the intercession of Christ our Shepherd on our behalf (Romans8:34, Hebrews7:25).

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end (Hebrews3:1-6).

Jesus Christ our Saviour & Shepherd has led us out of the bondages of sin into His salvation. He intercedes for us before God, allowing us to obtain mercy & grace to help in time of need (Hebrews4:16). He does this for us just as Moses did who once Shepherded Israel. The Chief Shepherd leads us to the promised land.

I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God (Ezekiel34:15).

As I write these closing paragraphs I would encourage you to go back to The Gospels & read them again. Time & my limited knowledge do not permit me to go into any great detail here, but as I have looked again at my Saviour, the undefeated, undisputed, unequalled, preeminent Head of The Church, I catch a glimpse of true Pastoral ministry. The Lord is my Shepherd.

Perhaps when David wrote the 23^rd Psalm, he had understood that the very things he was doing for the flock he tended, were the same things The Lord was doing for him. I would recommend an excellent teaching on Psalm 23 by Jacob Prasch. David the Bethlehemite boy became King of Israel & a Messianic figure, but he also typifies Christ as our Shepherd. He is the humble servant who is also the conquering king.

And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd (Ezekiel34:23-24).

And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God (Ezekiel34:31).

Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people (Isaiah55:3-4).

Even after David was crowned King, he returned to tending his father’s sheep. He experienced & dispensed mercy. He was a servant & he never, ever forgot that. Even so, our Chief Shepherd humbled Himself & took the form of a servant (Philippians2:5-8).

even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many (Matthew20:28).

Christ Jesus clearly demonstrates the tender, lovingkindness of a Shepherd, as well as the firm-handedness of a leader. He possesses the wisdom & majesty of a king & yet He patiently comes to us, teaches us, corrects us, disciplines us & lovingly forgives us. What a great Saviour.

For any man who claims a calling to Pastoral ministry, I only have one request. Don’t abuse your position. As a lamb, I have recognised the need for Shepherds who take Jesus Christ as their example & standard. I write these words [almost] begging you, please. Congregations are crying out for real men of God who will reflect Christ, lead, teach & protect God’s heritage, His people.

Will you do this on behalf of The Chief Shepherd until He appears? Will you take the masterclass given by The Lord Jesus Christ Himself & feed the flock of God for no other reason than this; He has called you.

I ask these questions & say these things as a member of a fellowship. I love my Pastor & willingly submit to his leadership, following him as he follows Christ. However, there are others out there who are thieves & robbers. They are wolves. They are liars & perverters of the truth who are leading the sheep into a ditch, instead of into green pasture. Not sparing the flock. May God in His mercy gather them up & deposit them into the care of genuine Shepherds, so will ALL of the real Pastors PLEASE stand up.