It’s Time for the Shepherds of Christian churches to Protect their Flocks!
The New Testament uses the analogy of the shepherd tending his flock to describe the role of a pastor in relation to the members of his local congregation. The four basic responsibilities are knowing the sheep, leading them, teaching them, and protecting them. The last one is critical: Protecting the sheep from foreseeable harm. Failure to protect can render the first three duties irrelevant or no longer possible.
Jesus made it very clear that silence in the face of evil is complicit conduct. It is a sin of omission. And given that pastors are held to a much higher standard in relation to this issue than the lay members of their church, their silence is deafening in the Kingdom of God.
I understand that the last four years have presented challenges to Christian pastors who are seeking to continue to share truth from the Bible in ways that avoid losing groups of members on either side of the political divide. The courageous few who called out our former president for hateful and divisive policies and rhetoric saw offended members of their flock head for the exits. Ninety nine percent stayed safely silent, or, worse yet, doubled down on positions Jesus would never countenance.
I often thought I was alone when I started posting critical pieces concerning evangelical support of Donald Trump on this blog a year ago. But later, leaders I respect, such as Ed Stetzer and Beth Moore, told it like it is. And more are speaking out each week. But we still have mountains to climb.
The challenges have not diminished since our new president assumed office. The fruits of divisive and hateful seeds planted by his predecessor are sprouting all over the country. Hate crimes against ethnic minorities (some committed by card carrying members of Christian churches), white supremacy gone amok, so-called “Christian nationalism,” and election “reforms” designed to discourage or diminish voting by poor and historically disenfranchised African Americans and other minorities (Native Americans, Latin Americans) aka “black and brown”: all these fly in the face of the loving and selfless example and teaching of Jesus.
Unless the shepherds start protecting their flocks, the flocks will eventually conclude that they need protection from their shepherds. In other words, the shepherds will be perceived as wolves. If you are a pastor of a Christian church, or for that matter, a leader of any religious group that worships the God of Abraham, it is not too late to be redeemed. For the Christians, the Bible makes it clear that the pastor needs to repent before God, seek and receive God’s forgiveness, and then publicly repent before their congregations and receive forgiveness from all who would grant it...and then start preaching Biblical truth to the issues that are tearing our people, our families and our country apart.
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