Judgments Against Shepherd Leaders

[mmenke]

In discussing leadership during the times of the exile and destruction of Jerusalem, Laniak observed, ". . .both prophets [Jeremiah and Ezekiel] explained the devastation as God's deliberate judgment on Judah's shepherd leaders" (145). It is sobering to realize that the judgments of God came against his own people because of the failures of leadership. All the wonderful qualities of shepherd leadership - guidance, provision, protection, are set aside. Instead the leaders of Israel have neglected God's sheep, and looked after their own interests and needs at the expense of the well-being of the sheep they are called to care for.

As leaders today we would do well to remember Dr. Laniak's statement: "Ezekiel depicts shepherds who show no regard for the obvious needs of the flock, and -- especially to the point -- they appear oblivious to the expectations inherent in their role as undershepherds. Shepherds were not expected simply to tend a flock; they were serving its owner. The perennial problem with kingship was the tendency to forget whose the people were" (152). It is so easy to forget that the sheep we serve do not belong to us. We are not the owners - we are caregivers and leaders who must show good stewardship in leading those who belong to God. We must lead under his direction, and with the knowledge that we will give an account to him for how we led his people. Jesus' call to Peter in John 21 was, "Feed my sheep" (Jn. 21:17b).

Of course the prophets point to a day of the regathering of God's people under God's leadership. God says, in Ezekiel 34: "I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them" (vv. 23-28). Though this points directly to Christ as the Shepherd, each of us who serve as under shepherds to the New Testament church would do well to remember the Lord is the Shepherd and any human leadership exists to "serve as a prince among them" (cf. 157). Let's remember our place as leaders in God's church. Let's realize that God's Spirit today enables and empowers and gifts us to lead with all the wonderful qualities we find in the godly shepherd examples throughout scripture.