Ezekiel & The Shepherds of Israel

Ezekiel 34 is a frightening chapter. It records the judgment of God upon those charged with caring for God’s people, his sheep. Those Shepherds failed miserably at this task. They engaged in selfish ‘me first’ narcissism. Read the words of God’s indictment against them:

Ezekiel 34:4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.

The text of Scripture is very clear and precise concerning the role of Shepherds.

James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

It has been my practice for 47 years to engage in self examination. Each week on Friday at noon I looked back over the week just completed and ahead to the week before me. I endeavored to honestly assess my leadership from God’s perspective. This was sometimes quite painful. There were failures that required repentance and God’s gracious forgiveness. There were triumphs to be celebrated. I sought to be well prepared for the challenges ahead. Ephesians 6 provides a detailed profile of how we must be clothed and equipped for the battles that are before us.

The New Year is a great opportunity to examine your effectiveness as a Shepherd of God’s people. Look at both what you did that was wrong and what you failed to do that you should have. Make the necessary modifications in your leadership.

Pastor we serve a God that is gracious and merciful beyond your wildest comprehension. Go to him. Confess. Repent. Then bask in his glorious mercy and enabling grace. He loves you and he loves his people. He blesses his people through you. What an amazing way to invest the life that he gives.

Help, LORD, to whom for help I fly,

And still my tempted soul to stand by

Throughout the evil day;

The sacred watchfulness impart,

And keep the issues of my heart,

And stir me up to pray

My soul with thy whole armor arm;

In each approach of sin alarm,

And show the danger near:

Surround, sustain, and strengthen me,

And fill with godly jealousy

And sanctifying fear.        

(Charles Wesley)

Then & Now - Circus & Football

“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: Bread and Circuses.” – Juvenal – Satire (100 A.D.)

Juvenal’s satire indicted the Roman citizenry for a total corruption of cultural and civil priorities. They wanted ‘Bread & Circuses’ over sustainable civil order. Today in Alabama we need only replace ‘Bread & Circus’ with ‘Football’. There is far greater concern for the outcome of the National Championship and who wins the ‘Iron Bowl’ than for an accurate honest assessment of the moral fiber of our community. A prime example is the condition and direction of the local church.

What is the general condition of the church in America? Thom Rainer with Life Way Research in Nashville states that 94% of American churches are declining. Other denominational leaders confirm this trend.

“The SBC is rapidly dying, and resistance to change could kill over half of the denomination’s churches by 2030. Unless something is done to reverse the downward trend, SBC churches could number only 20,000 - - down from the current total of more than 44,000 - - in fewer than 22 years.” (Frank Page as quoted in the Assoc. Baptist Press, May 6, 2008).

                          

The CFO of the United Methodist stated at their National Conference in June of 2015 that unless they implement immediate changes in the way they conduct ministry, by the year 2030 the United Methodist Denomination will be bankrupt, and, by 2050 they will no longer exist as a denomination.

What is the response of those that occupy a leadership role in these churches? DENIAL! It is no longer possible to deny the reality of decline. However, when presented with irrefutable data that validates this precipitous decline there is an overwhelming refusal to implement any ministry modifications that lead to effectiveness. The stadium in Tuscaloosa will be filled to capacity on Saturday but there is little or no interest in spiritual formation among the same people that fill church services each Sunday.

When Martin Luther led what resulted in The Reformation that changed not only Germany, Europe and ultimately the world, the German people became a driving force in that movement. The people in the American Church must do the same today. Decline is not only persistent, it is accelerating – rapidly.

Where are your priorities? Are you more concerned with Football, or, the stability and nobility of America as a ‘City on A Hill’, the beacon of Truth and Righteousness? The people in our churches must demand the modifications that evidence true spirituality as measured by Special Revelation. What are your priorities?