Who cares about the sheep...
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. - Acts 20:28
(Tim) I was discussing leadership with a friend who'd served a number of years in the Navy and Marines. A Viet Nam vet, he was wounded twice during the Tet Offensive's Battle of Hwa.
My friend said the military teaches men to make decisions, and
that the worst thing an officer can do is to avoid making a decision. He
illustrated the principle with a story about a patrol he'd been on
where the men came under fire. Instead of maintaining command and
assuring his soldiers' safety, the officer dove for cover.
From the way my friend told the story and the silence at the story's end, I knew this was about as bad a thing as an officer could do. "So what happened to the guy?" I asked...
"When we got back, someone reported him and he was reassigned," he responded.
"Who reported him--was it you?"
"Yes," he said.
"But weren't you afraid to report an officer--that he'd be mad at you?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"He was just happy he was alive."
"Happy he was alive? Weren't you all happy you were alive? What are you saying?"
"If an officer did that, a lot of times he'd be killed," my friend responded.
I hadn't caught on yet. "Killed? By whom?"
"By one of his men," he replied. "If a squad comes under fire and their officer abandons command to run for cover... That's about the worst thing he can do. A lot of times in Viet Nam, he'd never come back; one of his men would kill him."
* * *
Through the voice of the church, the Holy Spirit has called and set pastors and elders apart to guard His precious flock. The sheep are under fire and it's our duty to lay down our lives for their protection. We are not to run for cover, but to maintain command. The lives of the sheep depend upon us and we don't have time to think about ourselves.
True?
Well actually, no. We are blessed
to live in a time when the roaring lion has stopped roaring and roaming,
seeking whom he may devour. He's satiated and asleep over there in the
shade of that Baobab tree.
Anyhow, what good does it do for the pastor to die? Then who will protect the sheep? If the pastor dies, who's going to be around to hand the congregation's keys and organ and grand piano and new roof and 52-page-a-minute color copier and iPhones and satellite congregations down to the next generation?
Anyhow, when stoles and collars and chasubles are stained with blood, they don't look good. A pastor should look safe to the children and their mothers. He should have a soft reassuring voice.
Put the guns away, brother. I know you mean well, but we live in
a different--a more gracious time.
Sunday morning worship is on our turf. No one argues; no one fights; no one even raises his voice.
The rest of the week is enough of a bloody mess; who wants that mess in the sanctuary on Lord's Day morning.
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Comments
This post reminds me of Brueghel's painting, "The Bad Shepherd":
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Brueghel-j_bad-shepherd.jpg
But, dear intrepid Bayly brothers,
I thought that if we created a gospel ecosystem, that the world would see that the church is a cozy, safe place, and would like us?
Now I have to scrap my plans for both my art gallery AND my soup kitchen. Thanks a lot.
A friend of mine who graduated from USMA commented on the same subject; because of the imperative to keep leading, the life expectancy of junior officers in some battles during World War Two was apparently measured not in hours, or minutes, but in seconds.
Obviously we lost to Hitler because of that "asinine" attitude.
Unfortunately, men in ministry run a lot of risk of being shot by their own side for doing the /right/ thing, as well as the wrong one.
Worse than diving for cover, many of our church leaders go over to the enemy and take all their cues from them, betraying the sheep. Books like Unchristian" have become the real bible to these men and lay the tracks down which their agenda trains run.
Don't know where to begin but my pastor told me that Francis Chan had resigned his position at his Simi Valley Church over the weekend. I feel bad for the parishioners. I can't judge his motives etc but I do lament that so many pastors kinda just walk out on their churches and move on. Early on as a Christian, I noticed that it usually was a bigger and nicer church or a job that had less responsiblity than being a pastor with it's day to day difficulties. I know someone is going to tell me that the LORD is our real shepherd and that pastors are not to put up on platform but do you really believe that? My pastor grew up in this town, went to be a missionary for 11 years in Italy. came back over 15 years ago and pastor's the , same church with no intention of every going anywhere else. Has an excellent reputation in the community for loving lost people and the poor and bringing the gospel uncompromisingly. He says he is investing his life in our community. Yet so many pastors move around more than the military moves it soldiers. Not only is he my pastor but a friend also who has invested himself in my life and hopefully mine in his. Our church is not a stepping stone for something bigger and nicer. God bless him. He has taken some tough stands and taken some hard knocks but he is still there in the fight. He will probably never write any books, make a lot of money, fly to nice places for a conference or be a speaker on a Christian cruise. Barring something dramatic, 10 years from now he will probably still be pastoring our church, going to the jail, and reaching the lost in our community.
I wish we had more pastors like him. Now that is real leadership to me. Staying on for the long haul.
I love the double reverse of your post after the story. Really gets the brain juices flowing.
A variant of this, which I've seen in several churches of differing theological traditions: as a church grows to the point that it can afford to hire an assistant pastor, more often than not a senior pastor will get someone on board to do the straight pastoring, leaving him to do the management: teaching, administration and training. The down-and-dirty pastoring is left to a newbie who is left to face situations far more challenging than even liberal theology in seminary!
Seriously, it is rare that senior pastors hire someone to take on the other jobs, leaving them (the senior) free to concentrate on the pastoral arts.
As a Marine myself I can relate to what you are saying. It is true, the most important thing an officer can do is make a decision, usually in a stressful, chaotic situation; and that decision needs to be for the successful accomplishment of his mission and the good of his men.
I have been writing about similarities between military leadership and church leadership at my blog as well. Basically I notice that most people think there is a great dichotomy between authoritarian military leadership and humble church leadership. I make the point that there isn't/shouldn't be such a great divide. Many military leaders are not humble enough, not acting as servant leaders. Conversely, most evangelical church leaders are not authoritarian, or actually authoritative, enough - wringing their hands and pleading with their congregations instead of proclaiming "thus saith the Lord" with confidence and authority.
Ditto's Craig. Most civilians don't know that the officers eat last after everyone else has been served. Usually the first up in the morning and last to go bed. Not looking out for your men's welfare one of the ultimate sins of an officer in peacetime or war. While I wasn't a marine (army and navy, if you want to learn what servant leadership is, read the history of "Chesty Puller."
He eventually rose to rank of Commandant of the Marine Corp from enlisted. Cussed a lot but lead by example, made hard decisions and was loved by the men and is an example to this day to Marines.
Ask any marine and he can tell you about Chesty Puller. Many pastors just won't talk about the difficult subjects if at all or if they do, it is with almost an apology. Imagine if an officer told his men that they must take this Afghan village full of Taliban and I am pretty sure we can do it. I hope things will work out and I believe we might have help from the Air Force but I am not sure because other sources have something to say about that so in the end we really can't be sure. And by the way did I say anything that offended you even though it was an order from the superiors? If so I am sorry and I hope you won't leave the outfit and go somewhere else. We could sure use you here with your special gifts that you possess. How many guys would have the confidence to go into battle? In these days pastors need to "man up" (including me) as a retired Green Beret says in my church and serve the Lord (this guy does, unbelieveably,
he is 6ft 2, full of muscles, and has a large red beard (looks like a viking) . and even the lost people don't brush him off cause their a little bit afraid of him We need to pray for courage for our pastors.
Sorry Chuck, but there are several errors in your post. Lewis Burwell Puller ("Chesty") was medically retired from the Marine Corps at the rank of Lt. General. He was never Commandant. Given the controversy that surrounded him, he was never likely to have achieved that office regardless of his medical condition. His son's autobiography makes an interesting counterpoint to Chesty Puller's history.
Aside from picking nits, I agree with the thrust of your post. Chesty Puller is one of my heroes because he didn't pull his punches. Right or wrong, you knew where he stood.
Thanks Kevin for the corrections. I am sure half the stories of him are legend but their is enough truth in them to still admire him. Even with all of his blemishes.
You are right, Kevin, Chesty is one of our heroes. And, the Marine Corps is unique in our tradition that the officers always eat last. I am sure the other Services have their share of servant leaders, but in the Corps it is part of the ethos.
The ideal leader, in the military, or in the church, is someone who is solid and confident in authority, but humble and selfless, giving first priority to the mission and second priority to those in his charge and last priority to himself. Jesus Christ is still our best example of this sort of leadership. But, through common grace and according to His providence, God gives us some human leaders who give us glimpses of this ideal.
Paul called Pharisees the sons of Hagar, the slavegirl, for their theological positions. Jesus called them sons of the devil.
Both these statements were certainly inflammatory. If they were preaching today, would one of our big church leaders tell them to cool it, you young hotheads -- follow us as we model genteel fraternity -- getting along when we don't agree? That does seem to be the meta-narrative embraced by many in presbyteries when issues like women's roles are brought up.
From my position in the pews, it seems like there a more young men becoming pastors these days, not because they actually love God, His Word, and His Sheep, but because there are low expectations for work and results, you can count your personal devotion time, as well as Sunday Worship, as part of your billable hours, and you get a lot of attention and accolades, even if you do the base amount of required work. Or, and this is my personal favorite, you have a guy who doesn't know what he wants to do, and has no ambition to find his calling, until miraculously, he "senses God calling" him to the ministry, at which point, he brings his aimless drifting, laziness, and indecisiveness to a place where only "mean, unchristian" people will negatively judge these flaws. Plus, any inaction can be hid under the label of "praying about it" and "waiting on God". Sadly, 90% of guys I know just out of seminary, or currently in seminary fit into either of these categories, and the churches that are hiring them don't love them enough to tell them to shape up or fire them. In most non-ministry fields, you don't do your job, you lose your job, with minor eternal ramifications. With ministry, you don't do your job, you usually get to keep, but have very great, very scary eternal ramifications.
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