A great irony

[vdelacruz]

Dr. Laniak wrote:

"One of the great ironies in the world of shepherds—whether literal or figurative—is that the best thieves are good shepherds. Not good in the sense that Jesus was. But extraordinarily effective in gaining a following."

What an insight!

As I was reading this, a recent experience popped in my head regarding our startup church.

During our first year (2021), a former pastor who was a friend of mine joined the church to help out. But this pastor had a track record of literally dividing and destroying churches he had been involved with either as a pastor or as a leader of the church. Nonetheless, he's a dear friend of mine and I wanted to give him another chance at redemption, so I allowed him into the core startup group (mainly as an observer) under the following conditions:

1. He was to go back to all the churches he has hurt and apologize to their leaders. I reasoned that he will never be effective and used by God until he has cleared his past.

2. He was to stay simply as a member of the church for two years while occasionally helping in the praise and worship team (music was his primary gifting). This was going to be a test of humility and patience, a trait sorely missing in his character.

3. He was going to trust the leadership of the church by abiding in all of the disciplinary actions set in #1 and 2, proving his willingness to submit to the leaders, specifically to me as the pastor.

Three months into it, he already asked a couple of times why I haven't using him as a leader/pastor.

On one occasion, he got impatient with how slow the Praise & Worship (P&W) team was progressing he sent a series of lecture materials to the people without consulting either the P&W leader or me. He intended to teach the theology of worship and technicality of worship leading. I was surprised by this blatant move. So I confronted him gently by asking him if I could see the notes first. He was not very happy with this request, to say the least.

The following week, he said he was going to leave and plant a church in the same area as us, reaching out to the very same people as us. I was not only shocked and saddened by this, but I was also angry. After I have given him a chance in the church, he decided to repay the help with this move. I told him firmly and with love that he has failed the test (I was thankful to God for giving me the wisdom and the strength to be the gatekeeper).

One thing true about this person is that he is a very charismatic person, likable and approachable. So he started actually inviting the people in our church to visit his home bible study for his church plant. He even invited our leaders including our very own associate pastor! And then posted on social media that the singers (including the associate pastor) was part of his church plant. Wow!

In my mind, I've always imagined the Pharisees to be unlikable people. We read Jesus' harsh words to the religious leaders and I kept thinking that if I was living during Jesus' time, I would probably stay away from them. But as Dr. Laniak pointed out, they probably were the opposite. I probably would have ended up being attracted to them for their pious lives. But they are really just thieves in spite of their religiosity, just like this pastor.