When Shepherds Sleep (article) by Terry L Michaels on AuthorsDen

What happens when spiritual leaders doze off? "Your shepherd-leaders, in charge of caring for your people, Are busy doing everything else but. They're not doing their job, And your people are scattered and lost. There's no one to look after them." (Nahum 3:13) "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) Though he may not have appreciated it at the time, Jonah witnessed a mighty movement of God's Spirit in Nineveh. A city once bent on rebellion exploded into revival. Jonah's immediate response was to find a quiet place in the shade where he could be alone and catch some Z's. It seems the other spiritual leaders called to care for these new converts followed in his footsteps. As a result, Nineveh fell back into her old rebellious ways with all the lying, warring and whoring. And what did her shepherd-leaders do about it? Zippo! They were busy with other things. Spiritually they were asleep, dead as doornails. They needed to be woken up. But from a worldly perspective, or even from a religious one, they were quite active. They just weren't doing what they were supposed to be doing. I am old enough to remember the Jesus Movement of the sixties and seventies. Our nation experienced a great revival back then. People were getting saved by the gazillions, especially youth, and churches were bursting at the seams. It was a time when shepherds were standing on the Word of God, proclaiming it unashamedly. They were wide awake. They were busy - doing what shepherds are called to do! The emphasis was on Bible teaching, evangelism and discipleship. Pastor Chuck Smith, often credited as the father of the Jesus movement, unleashed the Word of God by teaching through the scriptures verse-by-verse, Sunday after Sunday. People came by the droves and Pastor Chuck was busy baptizing new converts by the hundreds in the Pacific Ocean on a weekly basis. Today his style has not changed. His goal remains "to have the best loved and best fed sheep." These are refreshing words, especially in a day and age when, as Nahum put it, shepherds are busy doing everything else but. It is true that many shepherds doze off because they simply don't care enough about the flock of God. But there are other reasons. Because of the competitive church age we live in, there is a lot of pressure placed on pastors to out-perform the shepherd down the street. Oftentimes this pressure is self inflicted but in other instances it comes from a board of elders or a church appointed committee. If the pastor isn't packing the pews, or keeping the big thermometer behind the pulpit at a healthy level, his job is on the line. This type of pressure lends to a lot of compromise as the emphasis is taken off Bible teaching, discipleship and evangelism and everything becomes a big numbers game. Thus a bigger flock becomes more important than a healthy one. It is no longer about having the best fed or best loved sheep. The focus is on the best programs, best performances and best productions. All this competitiveness has changed the face of the church dramatically and, tragically, it has also changed the expectation level of the average attendee. Whether they stay at the church, or give to the church, or help out at the church is all conditional - the shepherd must deliver according to all their expectations. In this kind of environment the sheep are known to kick and bite, and the shepherd often gets wounded. He knows he will never measure up so he dozes off to protect himself from further pain, or he gets busy doing the "everything else but." Sadly, these are the realities of ministry in the present age we live in. We have sleepy churches and we have busy ones. The thermometer on the wall may register hot but the spiritual climate is lukewarm. By no means am I suggesting that shepherds are the victims in all this. Clearly, people are getting hurt on both sides. And the answers from the religious think tanks have not helped. Ideas like the "seeker friendly church" and today's "emerging church" do nothing more than introduce us to a new set of expectations. It's the same old thermometer, just a different color. Jesus' answer to the sleepy-busy church was, "Let me in!" Yet we mistakenly interpret His words as a kind plea to unbelievers only. However, these same words were directed to a lukewarm shepherd and his apathetic flock. "I know your works," he told them. They were neither hot nor cold, and it was enough to make our Lord want to hurl. Jesus went on to tell them: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (**Revelation 3:20) We hear this quoted time an again as an invitation for those who don't know Jesus. But he was actually addressing busy bees and sleepyheads in the church, those He considered to be lukewarm Christians. Practically speaking, if you're one who has dozed off, He is talking specifically to you. Or perhaps you've been so busy that you've lost sight of Jesus. He is also speaking to you. It might be lack of performance that has put you to sleep or maybe you're wiped out from over-performance. Whichever the case, it is your heart that Jesus is tapping on. And should you care to open the door, He has promised to come in and commune with you. In this fast paced world it's refreshing to learn that Jesus is okay with us "being still." It's true, He'd rather us take a break from our busy religious routine and get to know Him a little better. This is the whole idea behind supping with Jesus. It is an invitation for deeper communion with Him. The Jewish people, as with most Middle Easterners, understand the close connection between supping and communion. When it comes to sharing meals they truly do bond as one. They lean upon each other on common couches, eat from a common plate and fingers are favored over forks. For this reason, Jews are very particular about who they eat with. The experience is way too intimate to engage in with "outsiders." Jesus does not wish to be an outsider; He wants in. So, he kindly knocks on the door of our hearts and waits for a dinner invitation. Not the kind that we've grown familiar with where we sit in separate chairs on opposite ends of a long table, and we each have our own place settings. Jesus wants you right next to Him, leaning on Him and partaking with Him. He wants your hand in His as you reach for the bread. He wants you drinking from the same cup. It's a dinner for two where the two become one. Oh, and you're sure to love the lamb! From my upcoming book "My City Was Gone" due out 2009. Terry Michaels, 2008 All rights reserved.
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