God has very clearly commanded His shepherds to sacrificially care for the weak. The pattern was laid out in Scripture by the apostles concerning what this looks like. But what do we see today, and how should we proceed?
Paul set the standard for the shepherds by way of the conduct of his own life:
“I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (please see the full exhortation in Acts 20:28-36).
This was not a recommendation – it was a command given with the foundational authority of an apostle (1 Cor. 12:28). It is important to remember that commands are not suggestions – they are orders from those with greater authority which are to be followed. We do not have the right to do whatever is right in our own eyes and then consider it worship (Leviticus 10:1-3).
The shepherds were commanded to not only say the right things, but to emulate the righteous and holy pattern of life laid out by Paul. This was, in part, to be done by working with their own hands, providing for not only their own needs but for the needs of those who were vulnerable. The expectation to both say and do the Word of God was a character safeguard to prevent shepherds from erring into the way of the Pharisees, whom Jesus characterized as those “who say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (please see Matthew 23).
It’s worth repeating that Paul was able to say, with a clear conscience, that he had “coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing.” It is beyond question that Paul needed money to engage in his ministry. Ship rides, food, water, clothing – money was an honest need. So aside from the generous giving of churches for his needs, how did Paul generate needed income? He worked as a tentmaker – he worked a full time job just like everyone else: “So, because [Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila] were of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers” (Acts 18:3).
Paul did not use his ministry to peddle the Word of God. He said of himself and Timothy, “For we are not, like so many, peddling the Word of God; but of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ” (1 Cor. 2:17). To be clear, to peddle means to sell for profit. He used his job as a tentmaker to generate income, so that he could steward his ministry in a way which sought to please only God (Gal. 1:10). He accepted money given as a gift as supplementary, but more often than not he managed those offerings as a responsible steward by bringing that which was given from churches with abundance to churches which were struggling with poverty (see Acts 11:27-30 and 2 Corinthians 8-9; specifically 8:13-15).
Please understand that after having been a Pharisee, Paul (formerly Saul) worked a regular trade to provide for himself and for those around him just like everyone else. And this pattern was the pattern commanded to be emulated by the Spirit of God who spoke through Paul: “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern” (Philippians 3:17).
The initial twelve very clearly demonstrated the pattern to allocate resources for the sake of the poor as the pattern of a healthy church took root in Jerusalem:
“…none of those who believed claimed any of his possessions as his or her own, but they had all things in common. … nor was there anyone among them who lacked, for all who owned lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds and laid them at the apostles feet, and they distributed to each as anyone had need” (see Acts 4:32-37).
So the purpose of giving in the healthy church was to meet needs – not to generate profit for only some. The apostles were faithful with what had been entrusted to them by stewarding resources which were given for the good of those who were in need – for the weak, the sick, the poor – because the Lord warned them that whatever they did to the poor, they did to Him (Matt. 25:37-40). It was Christ at work by His Spirit in those disciples who gave freely out of their abundance to care for the needs of those who lacked – because Jesus Christ loves His people in sincerity.
And Paul himself saw this pattern, lived it himself – because Christ was at work in Him as well – and he commanded the shepherds to do the same:
“I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak” (Acts 20:35).
So shepherds and leaders were given to the church as a gift – among other things, but certainly not neglecting, for the care of the vulnerable sheep who suffered from poverty, sickness, weakness, and injustice. That care was to be of spirit, of soul, and of body – God did not distinguish in the Scriptures.
But many of you reading this have gone the way of Balaam by selling out to yourselves and to the kings of the earth for the sake of your own profit. Like Ahab, you have surrounded yourself with an echo chamber of diviners and soothsayers while the prophets – cut off from the people by your Spirit-quenching system of dead religion – have called you to turn from the wicked ways of faithless shepherding which feeds off the flock rather than feeding it:
“Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. … My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them” (Ezekiel 34:2-6).
And so down to the present time, things are just as they were in the days of Ahab, of which the prophet Micaiah spoke, saying, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd” (1 Kings 22:17). Down to the present time, things have unfolded just as Paul warned, saying that “from among (the shepherds), men will rise up, speaking twisted, misleading things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:30).
Woe to you, wicked shepherds, upon whom the judgment of the ages has come!
You have not ceased to divide the sheep; you have quenched the Spirit for the sake of your traditions; you have not ceased to feed off the flock. The sheep are without funds for bills while you twist Old Covenant laws for the sake of your own income. They are sick and dying while your attention is on your own following. They weep in pain and confusion over injustices propagated and perpetuated by men of your own ranks as you shout, “Peace! Peace!” when there in fact is no peace (Jer. 6:14). You have drawn away the disciples after yourselves to set up your own kingdoms as you live in luxury and extort the saints with false threats of damnation and excommunication by your own harlotry.
“Therefore you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, and because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock’ – therefore, O shepherds, hear the Word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; and I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them’” (Ezekiel 34:7-10).
If you look closely at the judgment of Babylon in Revelation 17-19, you may notice that the shepherds are altogether missing from God’s command to rejoice. In several instances, God invites the apostles, the prophets, and the saints to rejoice in the fall of Babylon; but the shepherds are not mentioned (Rev. 18:20, 19:5). Why would that be, unless that system of harlotry was instituted, maintained, and preserved by wicked shepherds, or pastors?
Several years ago, Francis Chan put words to many things that many of us had been feeling at the time in his letters to the church. He also was speaking great frustration towards the religious system which worships God in vain (Malachi 1:10), but he seems to have been unclear concerning which direction the saints should take.
Emulate the example of those who have gone before you in faith. I recommend you simply leave that system of harlotry as I did seven years ago and embrace a free, fruitful life in the wilderness, where the church of God is cared for, away from the presence of Satan (Rev. 12:14).
But more importantly, what does the Word of God say?
“Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4).
In the wilderness, you will find faithful shepherds. You will find that the church is actually built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone (Eph. 2:19-22) – not upon the foundation of hypocrisy built by seminaries and monasteries, whose lust and sexual immorality have perverted way of righteousness through unceasing commandments of men.
In the wilderness, you may find that perhaps you have been given by God to His people as an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a shepherd, or a teacher (Eph. 4:11)! You may find that He has gifted you to lead (Rom. 12:6-8). And you will find that those who indeed are gifted as such make it their aim to build up, to free up, and to empower the people of God with their gifts rather than using them to lord over the flock. And you will be greatly built up as you grow in the grace given to you by Christ Jesus. You will find gladness and joy as you return to Zion, and “Sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Is. 51:11).
But perhaps you yourself have led the church like Balaam and Ahab. Perhaps you have sold out on integrity to the Word of God for the sake of profit, or perhaps you have cut off “the prophets, the servants of the Lord” to cover up your own lawless ways. Perhaps you have seen ministry as an opportunity to glorify your own name and to exalt yourself rather than humbling yourself and allowing Christ to operate through you by His Spirit.
Repent, or your judgments will come from the hand of God “in a day…in one hour,” for “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
“Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come” (Rev. 18:10).
These are admittedly very confusing times in the religious landscape which professes itself as Christianity. I’m sorry that things are so difficult these days, but the Lord promised that perilous times would come as those with a form of godliness without its power would increase (2 Tim. 3). And so here we are.
But the power of God will attest to those in whom He has placed His Word (1 Kings 17:24), “for the Kingdom of God is not in talk but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20). “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your GOD is with you wherever you go” (Josh 1:9). I leave you with the words of John, who gave us such comforting words during that promised tribulation, and who reminded us to depend on the Spirit of God for all leading:
“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. …
These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from His abides in you, and you do not need for anyone to teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:18-28).
His return is drawing near.
The Cave at Mizpah 