It is easy enough to speak ill of shepherds, particularly when they are not shepherds, but hirelings. It’s especially easy when envy fuels the hearts of pastors of small churches berating the pastors of large churches for all their worldly marketing gimmicks. Under-shepherds, however, being merely human, will always have failures we can talk about.
What we may skip over lightly is that the sheep are likewise merely human. They too will always have failures. Human sheep do have a great deal in common with their wool covered counterparts. That, however, is not always a good thing.
We tend, I think, to think of sheep, or lambs, as embodying the virtues of gentleness and innocence. Jesus, after all, the Lamb of God, was certainly both. He opened not His mouth when led to the slaughter. They are also, however, not the smartest animals in the barnyard. They can be demanding, and are prone to wander. All of which shows up in the local church.
We rightly reject the concept held among church leaders that the church needs to discern the felt needs of the surrounding community and tailor its message to them. Crass marketing. What we ought to reject is the concept held among church followers that the church needs to discern my felt needs and tailor its message to me. That is, while there is plenty of guilt to go around, one of the reasons hirelings sell what they sell is because foolish and demanding sheep are demanding to buy it.
So the sheep wander, from pasture to pasture, and from pastor to pastor. One pastor may, for a while, feed us our favorite treats. Another may actually for a time feed us the Word. But as long as we are deciding where to eat, we have hired ourselves to watch over ourselves.
I’m not suggesting that joining a church is a lifetime contract. I am suggesting that a genuine sheep would want his shepherd to direct him to a healthy flock. I am suggesting that sheep ought to move slowly and not bolt the first time the pastor does or says something we may not like. The pastor may be in error, or in sin. So might the sheep be. One thing is for certain- the sheep probably shouldn’t be so certain it’s not him.
Our problem in the church, in short, is the church. God gave us a bevy of New Testament epistles to show us dozens of ways churches can go astray. And those same letters to show us dozens of ways sheep can go astray. It has been wisely said, “If you find the perfect church, don’t join it. You’ll ruin it.” I would add, “If you find your current church is imperfect, be sure your next one also will be, the moment you join.”
This is the thirty-ninth installment of an ongoing series of pieces here on the nature and calling of the church. Stay tuned for more. Remember also that we at Sovereign Grace Fellowship meet this Sunday April 13 at 10:30 AM at our new location, our beautiful farm at 11281 Garman Road, Spencerville, IN. Please come join us. Also note that tonight we continue our Bible study on issues dividing the church, tonight considering complementarianism and egalitarianism.