Lost Sheep, Lost Shepherd

How to maintain the characteristics of healthy Christianity

SOAP

Scripture

Jeremiah 50:6 (NKJV) “My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place.

Observation

Characteristics of lost sheep:

1. They follow pastors who lead them astray. This is not always the fault of the pastors. Some pastors follow rewards and if sheep reward them for bad doctrine, they will keep leading more sheep the wrong way. There are good pastors who will lead them the right way, but they won’t Follow. They won’t change church to get the right teaching. Why? On the one hand, they get used to church being their social club and inadvertently reward low quality sermons and unscriptural pastors. Or else they swing to the other extreme and become disenchanted and hate all pastors. No, Christians are responsible for following a good shepherd and prioritizing God’s Word when attending God’s House.

2. They go from mountain to hill, from high to low. They go from being on fire in evangelism to being lukewarm towards outreach, from being passionate and diligent with prayer to being negligent towards devotional time, from standing on the high ground of divine healing to the low ground of being sick and accepting the devil’s temptations as part of normal life. It’s always more effort to climb higher. They stop climbing and stay low.

3. They have forgotten their resting place. An interesting phrase. A counter-intuitive thought. You would think lost sheep have forgotten their working place, but no, they don’t forget to work. They might appear to work very hard, and yet be very far from God. How can you tell? They are not restful. They don’t know how to sit still and enjoy God’s voice and presence. They don’t know how to rest with their pastor and let him lead them gently. They are busy and respond to shock and awe, accidents and sharp rebukes draw their attention. Lost sheep don’t know how to perk up to gentle guidance or how to read between the lines when a wise counselor speaks.

Application

Every good pastor must first be a good sheep to Jesus. That means for me:

1) I should seek good mentors to follow. I will enroll in good courses.

2) I should climb to higher ground, and maintain the high ground I’ve attained. I must not slide to lower ground. Don’t back off of divine revelations like healing, speaking in tongues and praying for Justice to be revealed nationally.

3) I will monitor my state of restfulness. There are always things to fix and to do. But to lead others, my heart must be in a state of rest.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, send me good church members who put God’s Word first and know how to rest in You—Christians who are not tired of climbing but motivated to reach higher grounds. But first, make me that kind of sheep to You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

First-timers

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