Food for Friday
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. 1 Peter 5:2
Someone recently posted an interesting quip that a preacher’s responsibility is to feed the sheep, not to entertain the goats. It’s hard to find fault with that. But it’s also hard to find a place today that calls itself a Christian church that follows that maxim. Modern ‘Christian’ music is designed to appeal to the emotions, not to the soul. Most sermons have more content from secular sources than from the Scriptures. They are presented in such a way as to generate the most chuckles and laughs than the most ‘Amens’ and tears of repentance. Feeding the flock of God is a serious business that has lost its seriousness and has been converted into a business. Those who would feed the flock of God as God would require must do so as a shepherd would feed his sheep.
A shepherd who knows sheep tells us that if sheep are on a pasture that they are comfortable with, they will remain there and eat all of the grass. When the grass is gone, they will eat the stubble, and then eat the sod, and then eat the dirt, before they will go looking for more pasture. Sheep have to be led to pasture. So does the flock of God. Those who would take the responsibility of feeding the flock must know where the good pasture is, and lead the flock to it, whether that flock is a flock of sheep or the flock of God. It takes someone who knows the Word of God to take the flock to fresh pasture. Otherwise, the flock will starve.
A shepherd who knows sheep also tells us that sheep lack the ability to tell what food is good for them. They will eat good grass or poor grass, healthy grains or poison weeds, if you will let them. So a shepherd who feeds the flock must know where the good grass is and where the bad grass is, and keep the sheep feeding on one while leading them away from the other. Otherwise, the flock will be poisoned.
A shepherd who knows sheep tells us that he has never seen a sheep fight for itself. That’s because it can’t. A sheep is unable to bite or scratch or kick, or even run as fast as any predator. Few creatures in the world are as defenceless as a sheep. Sheep desperately need a shepherd to defend them from enemies and from their own foolish behaviour. Otherwise, the flock will be destroyed or led away by an enemy.
Who is feeding the flock of God where you are? Are they truly feeding the sheep, or just entertaining the goats? – Jim MacIntosh