SHEPHERDS PROTECT THE SHEEP FROM SAVAGE WOLVES
MFUNDISI (Part 3)
Wisdom in Pastoral Ministry doesn't mean standing by or looking away when brutal beasts butcher the flock under which God has made your an overseer.
Confronting the beasts should not be interpreted as Mfundisi fighting another Mfundisi.
Or the commonly used phrase the church is fighting the church and stumbling unbelievers.
We so often underestimates the intelligence of unbelievers.
They don't have a relationship with God, but they are not stupid not to see the immoral & unethical behaviour exhibited by those who claim to be men/women of God.
You can't be a shepherd, but refuse to confront the the wolves that endanger your flock, and the thieves who jump in to steal.
Pastoral ministry among other responsibilities includes PROTECTING the flock, and WARNING the flock against wolves.
"But David said to Saul, your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from it's mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God" (1 Samuel 17:34-36)
Mfundisi allow these words from the Shepherd boy David to sink in you. He Protected the sheep against wild beasts.
He said when a lion or bear came and carried off the sheep I WENT AFTER IT, STRUCK IT AND RESCUED THE SHEEP!
Mfundisi while you are making excuses why you can't confront savage wolves among you, David the Shepherd boy teaches us how it should be done.
Go after the savage wolves Mfundisi and strike them. Rescue them if possible from the teeth of these profit driven impostors!
The business of shepherding is not for the sissies, cowards and faint-hearted. Mfundisi you are at war with false teachers out there coming against the flock of Jesus Christ under your care.
Like the Shepherd boy David be prepared to fight the bear and the lion. The sheep is not running away into the mouth of false teachers because these false teachers are more anointed than you.
But because these are deceivers who use their lubricated tongues to lure the flock of Christ to themselves. Mfundisi go after them. Strike them. Rescue the sheep!
PASTORAL MINISTRY IN THE FACE OF SAVAGE WOLVES
"Keep watch over yourselves and 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. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears" (Acts 20:28-31)
Stay with me while I unpack the above scripture Mfundisi.
"Keep watch over yourself and the flock....."
Mfundisi watch yourself jealously. Watch what you believe, and what you practice publicly because you model the life Christ in word and practice.
Yes Mfundisi is also a man/woman who is bound to error. But the fact that we make mistakes doesn't give us a reason to relax.
A mistake is just that; a mistake. However, when we intentionally lie in the pulpit, exaggerate a testimony and fake a miracle we are intentionally, deliberately giving ourselves to lies and submit ourselves under the father of lies.
Watch your doctrine and Practice carefully.
There are many believers who are watching and imitating you. They believe your words and follow your life style without a question.
But there are also those whose eyes are on you ready to strike you when you error.
Then watch carefully over the flock.
Mfundisi is a Shepherd, and Shepherds don't just lead the sheep to greener pasture, but to watch that the sheep is safe.
You watch what they eat and drink. Mfundisi must be the first in the life of defense. We protect the sheep, not expose them to danger.
If someone will come in your area of pastorate. Holding seminars and over night prayers inviting the members under your Pastoral care it's important to know this person.
Sometimes not saying anything is not wisdom.
Your silence is often interpreted as consent by the flock. And when you know someone is preaching heresy and some of your members are going there WARN them.
Explain from the scripture why you don't agree with that traveling speaker.
Some of the Pastors say they prefer not to fight the false teachers they just leave them to God.
The work of Mfundisi is to PROTECT and WARN!
When we confront false teachers it doesn't mean we don't pray, we do.
But we do both, and beyond by CONSISTENTLY EXPOUNDING the truths of God's Word with Great Patience and Perseverance.
And at the same time EXPOSING LIES OF THE ENEMY.
Mfundisi stop falling for "the house divided". We are not a house divided. The messengers of light and the messengers of darkness don't belong to the same house.
"Be shepherds of the Church of God....."
Feeding the flock is a big part of shepherding. That's why Pastoral ministry is heavily a word based ministry.
The Prophetic ministry that has taken over the pulpits today lack depth that the Pastoral ministry provides.
A Pastor should be opt to teach. Teaching involves more than just delivering a sermon.
He who is not prepared to be taught by another person, is not ready to teach others.
Mfundisi you should be willing to sit down to be taught in order to stand up to teach. When we fail to feed the flock we make them vulnerable to vultures.
"Savage wolves will come...."
Savage wolves are not just some predictions of the future, they are here present with us.
Some came among us, some came from among us.
Savage wolves will not spare the flock but destroy them. One of the signs of savage wolves is that they draw disciples after themselves. While shepherds know that theirs is that of entrust.
The flock is not yours Mfundisi. The Church belongs to God who bought it with the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.
"What I mean is this: One says I follow Paul, another, I follow Apollo, and another, I follow Cephas, and still another, I follow Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised into the name of Paul?"
The Question I have for you Mfundisi is; are you making disciples of Jesus Christ or you making disciples for yourself?
Are we preaching the gospel so that we see the manifestations of the sons and daughters of God?
Or we are seeking to make sons and daughters of Mfundisi. Biblical sonship always points to God as our Father.
Savage wolves are in the business of gathering disciples to themselves. Making sons and daughters of Papa.
Mfundisi should protect him/herself from Paparism. And to warn the flock against falling prey to Paparism.
Lawrence Musunte
+27817030540
Commentaires