“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.
Hello Friends:
Last week we capped off Pastor Aubrey Maye’s Pentecostal Witnessing book, Chapter 4. We discussed the mental attitudes we must have to be effective soulwinners. Also, the benefits of having a plan to share Jesus with people.
This week I was a little stymied in direction. I prayed and I’m sharing a post about “Loyal Shepherds Who Will Lead You With Knowledge And Skill”, and I’m trusting God’s Holy Spirit to use it. It’s based on Jeremiah exhorting the scattered Israelites to return to God. Jeremiah then made a declaration directly from God in Chapter 3:15, where God said, “I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me, and they will lead you with knowledge and skill.”
First, what leads to sheep being scattered? It’s likely due to shepherds that don’t really care about the sheep, and/or ones that don’t attain the knowledge and skill needed to lead and guide them effectively and safely. Think of the times that we had knowledgeable and skillful bosses. They knew each employee and the strengths each possessed to draw them in to move collectively toward getting the job done.
Then compare it to a boss that might have been promoted but doesn’t really have the best interests of the team or the goal in mind. That boss wants to exert authority and they usually make decisions to show that he or she is as my wife sometimes says, “are large and in in charge.” The employees under them usually are unsettled and in many cases scatter toward other jobs.
Most people, me included, usually gravitate toward the boss that really cares, and has a great deal of knowledge and skill in guiding the needed processes toward getting the job done. The boss doesn’t even need to be the most personable person on the planet if they know what they’re doing and can encourage and draw in their employees to follow the path toward the goal.
Why is it in churches that we don’t require, or at the least encourage those same types of qualities? We think that if a person has a somewhat dynamic personality with a degree of charisma, that he is a good fit to be the leader of a church.
Think of the time of Saul and David. Saul was chosen to be the Israelite king. He was what today we might call “a man’s man”. The problem was that he was very insecure, had very poor judgement, was full of jealousy and rage, and he proved to be a very poor leader.
Then comes David. He was the runt of his family. Everyone thought that Samuel would have chosen his bigger, more experienced brothers to be the next Israelite king in place of Saul. David was just a shepherd boy. Oh, but what they didn’t figure out was that this little shepherd boy was very knowledgeable and skillful in leading and guiding his flock, and in slaying imposing predators. He didn’t meet the “eye test”, but he certainly met the loyalty, knowledge, and skill test needed to be a good king of Israel.
I’m not posting this to just dog the church as it exists. I understand the importance of loving and supporting the church body and its leaders. But as a layman and a longtime Christian, I am posing these questions with concerns that I think church leaders should consider moving forward.
What is the motivation of someone wanting to be the shepherd of a group of people? Following are what I think are prerequisites of choosing shepherds of churches. They should:
See you next time,
Arlen
Most people, me included, usually gravitate toward the boss that really cares, and has a great deal of knowledge and skill in guiding the needed processes toward getting the job done. The boss doesn’t even need to be the most personable person on the planet if they know what they’re doing and can encourage and draw in their employees to follow the path toward the goal.
Why is it in churches that we don’t require, or at the least encourage those same types of qualities? We think that if a person has a somewhat dynamic personality with a degree of charisma, that he is a good fit to be the leader of a church.
Think of the time of Saul and David. Saul was chosen to be the Israelite king. He was what today we might call “a man’s man”. The problem was that he was very insecure, had very poor judgement, was full of jealousy and rage, and he proved to be a very poor leader.
Then comes David. He was the runt of his family. Everyone thought that Samuel would have chosen his bigger, more experienced brothers to be the next Israelite king in place of Saul. David was just a shepherd boy. Oh, but what they didn’t figure out was that this little shepherd boy was very knowledgeable and skillful in leading and guiding his flock, and in slaying imposing predators. He didn’t meet the “eye test”, but he certainly met the loyalty, knowledge, and skill test needed to be a good king of Israel.
I’m not posting this to just dog the church as it exists. I understand the importance of loving and supporting the church body and its leaders. But as a layman and a longtime Christian, I am posing these questions with concerns that I think church leaders should consider moving forward.
What is the motivation of someone wanting to be the shepherd of a group of people? Following are what I think are prerequisites of choosing shepherds of churches. They should:
- Be loyal to God and His plan on earth. What is His plan? Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “I came to seek and save the lost.”
- Embrace knowledge and skill to effectively lead the flock toward God’s goals as outlined in the Bible.
- Protect the flock from danger.
- Love the flock deeply with great passion and energy and go after sheep that are scattered.
- As the shepherd gets to know the traits of each sheep and lamb to keep them safe and in the fold, the Christian shepherd should also get to intimately know his sheep, to really know “what makes them tick”. In that way the sheep are naturally drawn toward him because they sense his great care for them.
See you next time,
Arlen
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