Concerning shepherds of the Lord’s flock…
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:1-4
Concerning the false prophets ….
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” Jeremiah 23:16-17
How well do you really know your spiritual leaders — or the ones whom you sit under week after week listening to their spiritual ‘teaching’? Are you ‘family’ to them? Are they whose lives you see day to day? Do you know their own struggles? Are they mature in the Lord — and you know this by the fruit of the Spirit they are displaying in their actions day to day. How well do you know the ‘prophets’ that you are listening to? Do you also know them personally? Do they display the humility and patience of a mature spiritual person? Do you know the struggles in their lives and families? Are your spiritual leaders constantly giving you ‘giving / tithing’ messages? Are they teaching false prosperity teachings / prophecies? What do your spiritual leaders do when people are missing from the fellowship? Are they genuinely concerned for their welfare? Remember the lost sheep parable from Jesus? Do your leaders exhibit that kind of behavior towards those who have left?
Folks we’ve gotten lazy in this modern world where we listen to people we don’t even know personally. We have no clue what their lives are really like. We have no clue if they are displaying and producing any type of spiritual maturity and fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives and families. Words are easily said, and hypocrisy is also easy. We need to learn to really KNOW those from whom we are receiving spiritual ‘food’ on a regular basis. We should be more about spiritual relationships than ‘spiritual teaching’. First and foremost your Shepherd is Jesus. And your Teacher should be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit should also be your comforter, counselor, and guide showing you constantly who Jesus really is in your life. The Holy Spirit should be interpreting the written scriptures for you — so that the Rhema Word can be planted within your hearts, from which our faith is implanted by God. We’ve become complacent in our spiritual relationships and standards of who we call our spiritual leaders. Do the leaders conform to the standards Paul gave Timothy and Titus? Are they examples of humility and the fruit of the Spirit? How do you know? Do you see their day to day activities and interactions? Do they often speak of how the Holy Spirit is asking them to change? Are they leading you to the feet of Jesus and the counsel of the Holy Spirit for your answers to your spiritual questions? Do they give examples of how the Holy Spirit is challenging their own lives and give personal stories and examples showing their own vulnerability?
Be careful of choosing spiritual leaders to be put into place too early, just because they volunteered for that ‘ministry’, or they have a very flashy ‘gifting’, or testimony.
Find a spiritual family that REALLY knows YOU!! Don’t hide in the big auditorium thinking that they are you spiritual family — and you really don’t know any of them deeply. Find a small group or two or three you can have really solid, deep, spiritual conversations with that help you process what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life.
Be careful who you choose to place as your spiritual leaders. Know them. Learn to tend your own spiritual relationships with depth, honesty, vulnerability, humility, gratefulness, and constancy and consistency. Learn how to pray with them MORE. Not the ‘religious speak’ prayers but REAL, honest, vulnerable language heartfelt prayer.
For what is coming — we need real people and relationships we can really trust.
Begin working on that goal today. Build a REAL spiritual family around you. Know with real personal (your own — not just what they ‘say’) depth your spiritual leaders. How do you find them? Begin by being vulnerable and sharing spiritual things with others as the Holy Spirit prompts you to do so.