FEED THE FLOCK OF GOD.
Josimar Salum
I woke up this morning, January 4th, 2022, scared, heart pounding, anguished, my heart filled with indignation and very sad.
I had a horrible nightmare and woke up crying and desperate.
I dreamed of some friendly leaders who, in their zeal to do God's work, are mistreating God's flock.
They are putting God's “work” above people. They are leading the flock of Christ by teaching the commandments of men. They are putting a weight on the shoulders of Christ's sheep that they themselves do not carry. They are forging a spirituality that only serves others and not themselves. They are forming elites in the Church from people they set up as theirs favorites. They are acting as shepherds while there is only one Shepherd and they are not being sheep of the same Shepherd. And among these pastors they are forming elites of these pastors in building a pyramid of “Babelic” leadership to reach the top and control the Flock of Christ.
My God! My God! My God! What unbearable pain! Jesus, my God! What's happening to me?
Texts of Scripture leap into my heart and hurt my soul! Jesus, have mercy on me! The Word is bitter inside me! My Jesus!
“To the presbyters among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not Lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away." 1 Peter 5:1-4
Oh! Flock of Christ! Flee from these men who do not take care of your soul, flee from these men who use psychological tricks to control you, flee from those who speak unwillingly to you, flee from those who dominate you and train others to dominate you.
Did their words weigh heavy? Did they put a yoke on your neck? Did they control your communication? Has they turned discipline into controlling all the details of your life? Has they lacked compassion, understanding, did not hug you when you fell, did not reach out when you were caught in adultery? Did they turn your failure, your error, your misery into a spectacle instead of covering you and disciplining you to rescue you, redeem you, and restore you?
Oh! Flock of Christ! Run into the arms of the Shepherd and Pastor of our souls. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
“But above all have ardent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8
Flee, flock of Christ, flee into the arms of Jesus, repenting, confessing your sins, abandoning the disgrace of your transgression and genuinely converting.
“He that covers up his transgressions will never prosper; but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
Only Love heals. Only Love can lift you up. Love does not expose your weaknesses. Love does not brag about your mistakes. Love does not have a measure for you and another for the rest of the church. Love does not put a larger value on the sins of others while ignoring its own. Love is Light. God is Light. God is Love.
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:5-7
They made the Ministry of Christ a gain in life, a profession, an opportunity for jobs, a domestic business, a hereditary captaincy.
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." Acts 20:28-30
Jesus said: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
"By this all will know that YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES, if you love one another." John 13:35
“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “FEED MY LAMBS.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “TAKE CARE OF MY SHEEP.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep." John 21:15-17
Evangelical pastors, you don't have disciples or sheep. The disciples and the sheep belong exclusively to Jesus. We make disciples for Jesus and shepherd Jesus' sheep.
““Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." John 10:1-16
Who then is Jesus referring to as a thief and a robber? All who came before him were thieves and robbers, for the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. The mercenary, who is not a shepherd, whose sheep do not belong, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees; and the wolf snatches them and disperses them. Well, the mercenary runs away, because he is a mercenary and doesn't take care of the sheep.
The apostle Paul identified them in the present tense: "For I know this, that after I am gone, cruel wolves shall enter among you, who shall not forgive the flock." The thief who comes only to kill, steal and destroy is not the devil. These are the mercenary leaders.
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." 2 Peter 2:1-3
God promised Israel:
““Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding." Jeremiah 3:14-15
““Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. “ ‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken. “ ‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ ” Ezekiel 34:2, 4, 6, 11-12, 14, 16, 23-25, 31
Beloved ones, I wrote this text with deep pain and sadness in my soul, with no intention of judging or condemning anyone. I just obey the Holy Spirit that disturbed my soul with this message and that makes me pen it quickly. I am like the one who was defeated by wine, fell prostrate with weariness and I must say that I love the shepherds who shepherd the flock of Christ so much. I love our Shepherd Jesus' sheep so much.
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:36-38
Translated by: Filipe S.S. Gouvea
#ASONE
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