Will All of The
REAL pastors
PLEASE Stand Up!
Sadly for some, their image of The Lord has been coloured by everything except Scripture. You are not alone. I’ve been there. When I was a child, I said my bedtime prayers with my older brother, reciting the words of one of Charles Wesley’s great hymns before we went to bed. ‘Gentle Jesus, meek & 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, & mild; Thou wast once a little child.’ Perhaps a look at Jesus in Revelation 1 would have inspired Wesley differently. The High Anglican Church that we attended as children was decked out with the usual depictions of a very white 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 & 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. I also remember thumbing through Church publications in 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.
Although 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 sometimes have a place in the back 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 (Ephesians 1:15-23, Colossians 1:14-20, Philippians 2:9-11).
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 (Ephesians 4:11-12, 1st Corinthians 12:27-28), but every single one these representative offices of service belong to Him. He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11&14). He is the Shepherd & Bishop of our souls (1st Peter 2:25). He is the Chief Shepherd (1st Peter 5:4). He is the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20). 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 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 contemptable.
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, these wolves encourage the sheep to lay their lives down. I am a sheep & I write as one who has had a sheep’seye view of The Church almost four decades. As such, as one who wandered from my Shepherd & the flock in frustration, rebellion & disobedience, my own heart has cried out for true Shepherds & real Pastors.
The Lord rebuked the Shepherds of Israel through the Prophet Ezekiel. It strikes me, that if The Lord was 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. These men eat of the milk but do not feed the flock of God.
The Apostle Peter, who was personally instructed by The Lord Jesus Christ to feed His sheep (John 21:15-17), said to his fellow elders, ‘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.’ (1st Peter 5:1-5).
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. (Acts 20:28-29). 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 (Matthew 23:33-35).
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 (Hebrews 11:4). 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..’ (1st John 3:12&15). The Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ the righteous (1st John 2:1-2), also paid for His righteousness with His life at the hands of His brethren, those whom He said were of their father the devil (John 8:39-44). That wicked one, who was a murderer from the beginning. God respected Abel & his offering (Genesis 4:4). God was also well pleased with His son Jesus Christ & His offering of himself (Ephesians 5:2). 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’ 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 (Genesis 37:2-4).
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.’ (Matthew 7:28-29). The real deal always stands out from the fakes. Like Joseph, The Lord Jesus Christ was moved with compassion despite the opposition & hatred He faced, because His concern was the salvation & welfare of the flock.
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 (Genesis 45:5), The Lord Jesus Christ Himself has gone before us, having secured our salvation (Hebrews 6:20). 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. 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.’ (John 5:45).
Before leading Israel out of bondage in Egypt, Moses had been a Shepherd in Midian, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro (Exodus 3:1). 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 (Matthew 11:28-30).
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 (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25).
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 (Hebrews 3:1-6).
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 (Hebrews 4:16). He does this for us just as Moses did who once led & fed Israel. The Chief Shepherd leads us to the promised land.
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 our Shepherd. 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 (Ezekiel 34:23-24).
And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God (Ezekiel 34:31).
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 (Philippians 2:5-8). 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. What a Pastor.
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 to do it.
I
ask these questions & say these things as a sheep. However, there are those 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 with that said; will all of the real Pastors PLEASE stand
up.
