This morning my mind and heart are drawn back to my reflections of the last few days. I am reminded of some additional points the Lord made to me, as I continued to let that reflection rumble around in my mind and heart.
The first thing that I felt the Lord add was that He, not the church, is our Lord! Specifically this applies to each and every person individually. His relationship with us is the most important thing in all our lives, and He sees it that way! He is more interested in us individually, and our relationship with Him, than He is about our role or position in the Church!
I hope that makes sense!
Our role, our job, our position, our gifts, our ministry all are supposed to flow out of our relationship with Him, and are never meant to replace our relationship with Him, or take precedence over our relationship with Him.
Secondly, He is our Shepherd, our Lord, not church leadership. He is fully capable of shepherding each of us, of speaking to us, of directing and guiding us! He says in John 10:2-4,14 NIV:
[2] “The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. [3] 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. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. “
[14] “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—”
Sometimes in our humanness and our desire to help, we can start thinking we are responsible for speaking for Him. While that is true to some extent (proclaiming the Gospel, preaching and teaching, and prophesying), we are never meant to be the sole voice of the Lord in anyone’s life! We all know His voice, and we all need to learn to hear His voice, and while He does speak through us on occasion, He desires to speak to us all, individually, first and foremost. We must help one another group in our ability to hear and discern the word of the Lord!
Church leaders are called to care for those under them, but that does not mean they replace the Lord, rather that they become examples and bring encouragement, counsel, pray, preach, teach and aid in discipling. Peter specifically cautions leaders against replacing the Lord - 1 Peter 5:2-4 NIV:
[2] “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; [3] not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. [4] And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”
Thirdly, the Lord deals with each of us through our unique relationship with Him! We are each unique, and the path the Lord has each of us on, is custom developed for us! We can’t take our path, or experience and force someone else into the same process and path. We can talk about what the Lord is doing, but we should never think that what He is doing in our life is exactly the same as what He is doing in someone else’s life.
For example, it is amazing to me to see how even in a church service, the Lord will speak completely different things to many people. He is crafting His voice so that we hear what He wants us to hear, and this actually reminds me of the day of Pentecost, which each heard the Good news in their own language (See Acts 2:6-12).
Fourthly, my role in someone else’s life, even my spouse’s, is one of encouragement and service, not Lordship. (See verses from Peter 5 above) Jesus is each of our's Lord! I must never replace Him for any other, for that would be idolatry.
Sometimes, I have seen churches so elevate a pastor or leader that they think they have a position right next to the throne of God (it seems) and this is always a bad thing. Not only for the leader, but for those that allow that leader to take a role in their life that is the Lord’s! Yikes! I have seen leaders that think that their perspective, their understanding, their view of what the Lord is doing is more important and more accurate than anyone else’s, even if it conflicts with what the Lord might be saying to another individual directly.
Fifthly, if the Lord is each of our's shepherd, then we must believe that He is the one that can most effectively bring correction, direction and guidance. Psalm 23 is a wonderful set of verses that describe the shepherding of the Lord - Psalm 23:1-4 NIV:
[1] The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
[3] he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
[4] Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me”.
We must not try to take that role (shepherd/judge/Lord) on for ourselves or others. We never know fully the heart and mind of another, only He knows that, and thus our judgment of someone’s motivation is always incorrect to some extent. The Lord is fully capable of being each of our's Chief Shepherd and Lord, individually! We must believe that He is capable of doing so.
Jesus, during His ministry was specific in not taking on the role of judge. He said the following in John 12:47-48 NIV:
[47] “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. [48] There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.”
I know I have written on this specific theme recently, but I guess it bears repeating. If Jesus didn’t come to judge, then who are we to think we can? Jesus is also very clear about who the Judge will be, and that is His spoken word! Our job, if anything, is the proclamation of His word, and the teaching of His word.
Oh Lord, help us to embrace a right perspective, right mind-set, and right relationship with You! Help us to encourage one another, serve one another, care for one another, extend grace, mercy, compassion to one another! Help us to preach and teach Your word! Help us to be good examples to those around us of living connected to You, making You the Lord of our lives! Help the church to have a right understanding of her role, especially those in leadership positions.
I am encouraged that the Lord is providing us a plumb-line to allow us to get ourselves and our thinking in proper order and perspective. The Lord spoke of this through the Prophet Amos 7:7-8 NIV:
[7] “This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. [8] And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.”
In our days, a plumb-line is meant to enable us to see where we are out of alignment, to bring repentance, and change. The Lord cares deeply for each of us, and cares deeply for us corporately, as His Body, and we must believe that He is our Lord, the Good Shepherd, and that He will guide us and direct us, whether with rod or staff (See Ps. 23) and lead us to good places.
My prayer for each of us is that we might learn to hear the Lord, that we might know His voice, and that we might embrace HIs invitation to go deeper, to pursue Him, to allow Him to direct, correct, and lead us to life!
Help us all to get in proper alignment, that we might bear up under the weight of His increasing glory!
Amen and Amen!
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