Good and Bad Shepherds

A shepherd is a person who tends to, feeds or guards sheep, especially in flocks

.quoted from wikipedia.org.  

 

How clear can this be known, even among secular references, Jesus talking about himself being the good shepherd, in the OT, God pointing out his distaste for the bad shepherds, and how he will personally lead his flock and cast away the ones that were supposed to be in charge of his flock.

 

It's not about towering knowledge, shepherds were never placed in a class of being highly educated, it's not about rank and position, shepherds were considered the lowliest of the social status, and the Jews themselves used to distain them often, treating them as second class citizens.  The thing that is clearly pointed out here, they care for and tend the flock, putting their lives on the lines at times defending them from predators, staying with them during distress, and leaving the entire flock to recover the lost lamb, a shepherd is also there to help birthing of the newborns, to mend the broken bones, to adminster medicine to the sick, to clothe, feed, and care for in all manners their flock.  

The underlying theme here, without their flock, they are out of a job, the two are interpretable.  How often do our church leaders, teachers, ones in charge consider their position as being higher, more integral to the church then the flock, how many consider that the sheer volume of people under their care, one or two wandering away means so little to them?  How often have I faced trials and difficulties in my life, only to be ignored by the very people that I should have relied upon for moral and spiritual support, even a consoling word goes a very long way for many of us, yet here we are left out, because we don't have the picture perfect life, because we are sad and in distress.  There has been far too many times, after both protestant services and Catholic mass, where upon leaving, I just wanted to cry in the parking lot, because nobody cared, and I was just shoved off to the side and told to move on, quit wasting the "masters" time.....

I remember in my old parish, the one I grew up in, the one I was baptized in, the one I was confirmed in, I finally just left it for good, and upon rare occasions, would visit, to see how things not only did not change for the better, it got worse.  At this stage, I have little regard to ones rank, position, or status in the church, far too many are so self interested, so completely out of touch with the flock, it's amazing how nobody speaks up, but alas, the political powers in place prevents any one of them from being dislodged from their position.  I can talk to them until I'm blue in the face, I can go toe to toe with the best of them when it comes to discussing church doctrin, the bible, and God, but I cannot instill empathy with these modern day Pharisees, they don't get it, nor do their flock.  

I wonder if any of them realize, God will not allow this to go on forever:

In Jeremiah 23:12 relates a warning from God:

“Woe be unto the pastors (shepherds) that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.”

If I cannot even get the time of day on the most basic of principals, how does the following apply towards the true nature of many of our current shepherds? 

 

 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10:11

 

It should read differently in their books to say:

I am the shepherd, I will give you the time of day if you are affluent enough, and if you have a picture perfect life, and if you are politically correct enough to fit in with the rest of the bunch....My life means more to me then yours because I run this church and without me being here to administer everything, you will not achieve salvation because attending this service every Sunday is the only way to achieve it...

 

Jesus went out of his way to get close and personal, even to the lepers, and those especially cast away from society.  How far off the mark have too many of our leaders gone?  How many could you honestly say would remotely lay down their lives for their flock?  Being in a position of leadership carry's a huge responsibility, far, far more then most of them realize, and too many are going to face condemnation to extreme levels due to their inaction.

End of the world theory

With the vast number of people interested in this potentially volitile little topic, one must always keep things within "proper" biblical context, and not take things too far past what's written within it.  There doesn't seem to be a whole lot along church tradition which covers it, so we are rather limited to scripture, while too many people tend to include outside speculation from others, I choose not to, and will keep this discussion brief.

Personal opinion here may be predominate over this area, but being a conservative Catholic, radical for our Lord, but grounded in my faith and it's tradition, I take subjects like this one with scrutiny, not overstepping my boundries, and taking note of all that's going on around us.

Jesus mentions how there will be warnings, in the sky, on the earth, and under, to allow us to prepare, he does also tell us only the Father knows the exact date, but he does leave clues for us to follow so that in his mercy, the faithful will be prepared.

Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."

What I see in the earthquake records are alarming, never in the age of recorded history have we had so many earthquakes globally, they increase in frequency as time moves forward,  without going into the numbers here, exactly like how it's pertaining to the following scripture:

Matthew 24:8-9 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.  Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name."

Take note, birth labor takes some women hours, minutes, or days, and how often has there been false birth pangs with so many of them, this is why he tells us several things must come to pass before the times finally draw to a close.  I won't cover all of them here, but will point out one of them that too often get's misquoted as having already came to pass:

Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come."

There still are many natives living in the jungles throughout the world that have never heard the gospel, there are many in developed countries that also have never heard of it, and the more secularized our world becomes, the less it's being spread.  What I see with our technology is setting the foundation for it to be spread to all men, but it's still in the setting the stage process, we still have to advance further within it, to the point no human being can be free of it, and this will likely mean a global government, or at least some universal global force that's in control on some level.  This has not come to pass, and this clearly points out our time is near, but it's doubtful it's going to happen tomorrow.

I have to speculate here myself further, another reason why only the Father knows the exact date, man still has free will to repent, just as he sent out prophets to the Israelites in the days of old, and they repented, so he too is doing this same thing today.  It's a cooperative effort, we will bring upon ourselves destruction or peace, it's still our choice to do so, and those of us with faith, it's urgent to reach out to all that you know, in and out of the faith, to come to repentance.  It's states that the rain and the sun will fall and shine down on the wicked as well as the righteous, so take heed to that advice, we are all on the same ship, and if it sinks, we face the same problems and suffer right along side of our non believing brethren.

I know, many are saying that they don't know how to reach out, or they have in the past and failed, but honestly, have you researched the subject at length, have you taken classes, acquired guidance and instruction from your elders along how to go about it?  I tend not to complicate things too much in my life in regards to spreading the good news, and this is a good rule of thumb for everybody.  Once we take things too far, reveal advanced understandings and teachings to non believers, we always lose their interest in the process, yet at the same time, it's always on a case by case basis.

I'll list a couple of examples  here:

Case one, a fallen away believer, they no longer go to church, they don't study the bible, they do not pray, they have lost their way, and they remain in a miserable state, thinking they are totally cut off and seperated from God.  What goes on in their minds, they think they must some how become perfect, they must have their lives in order, and they have their problems eliminated before coming to God, going back to church, and studying the bible.  This is a lie from the devil himself, and is a classic case of him leading one astray, then telling them they went to far and cannot come back home.  I tell these types, get a bible and open it up, if they can't do that, then simply put their hands together and pray, if they cannot do that, then I pray with them where ever they are at.  All they have to do is achnolege God's presence, and he will take care of the rest, leading the lost lamb back into the flock.  Just ask them how their prayer life is going and nothing more, some people need a little support in this area, they need someone to urge them on, yet once they start a regular prayer life, just sit back, observe and be prepared to be amazed.

Case 2:  The person is adamantly against Christianity and church of any form, they consider those of us that are Christian as being weak, or inferior, they tend to have been told all about love and mercy, perhaps even God's wrath, and want nothing to do with it.  This is where we get to show off just how hard core some of the individuals of the bible are.  You can use names if you want, you don't need to quote everything line for line, but getting the point across to these people, that these guys with the strength given to them of the Lord, did things that make even the most hardened war veteran or mercenary look like a boyscout.  Our faith is not for wimps, and if they think of themselves as being true rebels, true warriors, give them a list of story's to show clearly, they have some tough acts to follow.

There are many more cases I can go into here, but that's side tracking the original context here.  Surely the urgency to spread the gospel is necessary for the end to come, and surely, you don't want to be one of those that sit around and wait for the rapture, but if you are in him, you will see how precious your time on earth is, not for your own sakes, but for others that you can reach out to.  Bringing someone closer to the Lord is storing up treasures in heaven and it doesn't matter how close we are to the end of the world.

The bottom line, surely we have plenty of work that is ahead of us, and surely we are seeing some of the things foretold in the bible coming to pass, but we have not seen it all, not by far, so instead of jumping the gun, waiting for Armageddon, look into who you are, like the end is tomorrow, but be prepared for a long wait. Our times are going to get far worse then any time in recorded history, but know that many of things that are going on now are not at all new, we have the same problems in too many areas as the first churches did, and as the Jewish church did back in their day, so don't be alarmed at that, keep your focus on the physical signs, not the political ones.

Modern Day Pharisees - sign of the times

Jesus condemned these guys back in the day and held back no punches.  They tried their best to get our Lord and Savior tripped up with his words, his teachings, his healing, and his blessings.  Why is it that people go to such lengths in order to slander another human being?  It's out of insecurity being one of them, it's also out of how the ones with the most flaw's, not wanting to see their own errors, but ignoring them and would rather focus on other's, even if other's aren't in the wrong what so ever.

There are some mentally ill people in the faith, this is clear, and here is a good example of this gone awrigh:  http://falseprophetwatch.blogspot.com/  She loves to name names in the process, cannot even generalize her statements, and according to her, everybody is a false prophet, everybody is a heretic, everybody that doesn't believe what she believes, as misguided as much of what she understands is, must some how be a sinner, demon possessed, and going to hell.  I take particular pity on cases like this, where they cannot even properly quote scripture, changing words, meanings, and most people can see right through it, yet the layman, or particularly, one new to the faith and it's teachings.  People allowed to post like that, unabated causes far more harm then even the most anti christian, worldly folk ever could.  What else also happens in cases, where actual names of individuals are being addressed, if there are any fiscal damages incurred as the result of them, the individual could be held liable for slander, and it would result in a lawsuit.  Bottom line guys, be careful who and what you post about anywhere, for you never know when and if you get a knock on your door with a subpoena to court over the matter.  I might add, here is a classic example from her archives:  http://falseprophetwatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/demon-possessed-false-prophet-lora.html  I happen to know Lora Shipley, and she's simply brilliant, she's also one of the very most devout Christians I've ever met in my life and she knows her stuff as well as she also reaches out to people of all walks of life with her gentle heart, combined with her knowledge of scripture, she has proven herself to be a very effective evangelist.  Yet, if one were doing research upon her, they would see the overwhelming posts in support of where her walk with the Lord is at, yet that one individual manages to hold search engine rankings right along with, slandering Lora Shipley all the while.  All I can say especially in this case, please excuse that falseprophetwatch.blogspot.com owner, and pray for her troubled soul, surely, she needs to get the psychiatric care she so desperately needs, and just as Jesus helped so many, pray that he helps heal this persons troubled mind. Giving credit to Lora, on the other hand, takes it all in her usual gentle tone and in stride, knowing there will always be people of the world that have nothing better to do then persecute believers. 

This all said, looking at the people that attend too many churches, often they are there for the social setting, they are with like minded, similar clothing styles, similar income levels, similar material wealth, and they tend to follow their guidelines quite rigidly.  Ever been approached by someone calling themselves a Christian, then being told you need to do this or that, you need to stop doing this or that, and that seems to always be the focus of the conversation?  Can you imagine Jesus's reception in the homes of the sinners, if all he talked about is how they are wrong and going to hell?  Surely, he did point out discrepancies, but he really layed into the Pharisees and scribes.  Why do you think he held back on one side, people clearly sinning, yet not the other?  Part of it is when you dawn those robes, when you publicly show that you are one of the elect, you by default are held to a much higher standard, you have all of the knowledge needed, so there is no excuse.

Taking into account, how Jesus treated them, why in our modern day society simply let them alone, let them proclaim their version of salvation, which is utterly false, and yet they are so rarely even questioned?  I often visit churches, and too many of the messages are right from the prosperity gospel, I shrug it off and choose not to return, but many of these same churches bad mouth other denominations, from the pulpit itself for that matter.  I'm attending, being a Catholic, which tends to receive the brunt of most attacks, I share with the pastor how the message was not appreciated.  Sometimes they listen, sometimes they avoid any kind of dialog, and I sit back and wonder, what if Jesus himself was in the crowd, how do you think his reaction would be?  Surely, not as gentle as my approach, and surely he would walk out in total disgust, while giving the pastor a serious piece of his mind, just as he did with the Pharisees and false teachers of old.

The thing is guys, we have so very many souls, completely turned away from Christianity entirely because they faced these types of individuals who claim to represent the faith, when clearly they do not at all.  We must never be afraid to be bold enough to rebuke our brethren when we see them turning away people of the world interested in following our Lord.  To stand by and do nothing is the same as endorsing it, and as it's been written, you never know if you are entertaining angels.....We can use others that are bold enough to stand up, and understanding enough, such as Lora Shipley to help bring more people to our Lord Jesus Christ.