I am the Good Shepherd…

"...Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Ephesians 4:15 

I don't often get on my soap box but today I have dusted it off and, with your permission, will take a few moments of your time to share what has been grieving my heart this last week.

Most people have heard of Willow Creek Community Church and the recent news headlines involving Bill Hybels and his fall from grace. If not, you will easily find it if you search for it. Willow Creek was the "model" for so many churches as "the way to be a successful church". So many eyes were/are on Willow Creek and on churches like Willow Creek who are perceived as growing and successful. My heart hurts for Bill Hybels and all the other pastors who have fallen over the years. One after another fall, either sexually or financially (embezzling and so forth), or experience severe depression and even commit suicide. We see it in the news headlines on a regular basis announcing yet another "man of God" has fallen. And for all those who have been "caught" or confessed to sexual misconduct, there are countless more that are still living in secret sin, as well as experiencing emotional pain and or depression. 

In the ministry Tom and I are in, our eyes have certainly been opened to the truth of the condition of the men and women in the church, and not just the parishioners, but especially the pastors who are on the stage and in the spot light. In one of the books we read years ago (Tom thinks it was Pure Desire by Ted Roberts?) it listed a bunch of statistics, one of which was that the Promise Keepers and Pastors conferences have the highest X-rated movie rental in the hotels than any other conferences!! Say, WHAT!? Are you as shocked as I was!? And this statistic was at least 15 years ago. How much more now with smart phones and technology which makes it way too easy to access this information as well as to "hide"?? This statistic makes it clear that not only are the men of the church (Promise Keepers) but also the Pastors are struggling MORE than anyone else!

My point is not to condemn or heap guilt or shame on these men and women, but I would like to propose that "man" (short for human, including women) should NEVER be placed in such a lofty position to begin with. I truly believe we were never created to be there. Why do we have a church system that places "man" in a position, over other men and women, that God never intended him to be? And why are we surprised when a "man" falls into sin? Men fall into sin all the time, the world is FULL of temptation, so why are we surprised when a Pastor, who is still a "man" falls? Do we have different expectations of a Pastor than any other man? If so, why is that? Who said he was different? 

This is what Jesus says:

"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:8-12

"It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me." John 6:45

And after a couple of the disciples were discussing who would be the greatest in his Kingdom Jesus said:

"...You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:25-28

Have we embraced the "world’s" ways of "lording over" and "exercising authority over each other"? We are taught in the church that the Pastor is "over" us... somehow? But that is not what Jesus says. He says "Not so with you"! We are all brothers and sisters and we have ONE teacher, the Christ. When we look to "man" to teach us we get "tainted" information. While everyone may be well meaning we still make mistakes, believe and pass on lies, hear things wrong, see things wrong and understand things through our broken filters (I know because I have personally done this!). But, Jesus doesn't make mistakes, ever. Why don't we go to HIM and reinstate HIM as the Head of the body?

I know that most people, when they feel "the call" to be a pastor or to preach have very good intentions and have a pure heart to please and serve the Lord but, after a while, in a position they were never meant to be in, they change. And over time they start to believe they are better than, more spiritual than, more godly than... everyone else and pride changes their hearts and they take chances and risks they would have never taken in the beginning. “…For whoever exalts himself will be humbled…” Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

You may be saying, "But I know people who have wisdom and know the Bible better than I do, why can't they teach me?" Tom has a really good visual for this, he says there are people who are farther down the road on this journey than we are, and can help us with directions, but they are never OVER us. And, while we may share our testimony of what God has done on our personal journey to encourage others, we should always send them back to God to have them ask HIM for the answers for their own journey. Everyone's journey is different so God's plan for them will be different than ours so only HE can help them with the details of their journey. 

In the Trinity we have a "Father" who loves us, cares for us and provides for us, and a "Teacher" in Jesus who makes NO mistakes, and a "Counselor" and Comforter in the Holy Spirit that is full of TRUTH and wisdom and oh, by the way, He is FREE! We have all we need, why would we look to man, who is imperfect, for what God gives perfectly and freely? Why do we elevate a man and then are surprised when he falls or fails us?

The Body of Christ has ONE Head and that is Jesus: "And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:22-23. The purpose of the members of the body is to support, encourage and to build each other up, not to be over each other. Paul talks about the body of Christ and our gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and his point is that, even if we have different gifts we are all one body. And while there are different parts we are all interconnected and need each other. Yes, there are pastors and people who are good at teaching, exhorters, encouragers and so forth, but we are all brothers, on the same level, using our gifts for the good of the body. The only one who should be over us is Jesus, as the True Head.

Tom brought up another great scripture:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep." John 10:11-15. These men and women who are put “over us” are "hired hands" who don't care for the sheep like Jesus does! While they may have good intentions in leading the flock they will not lay down their life for the sheep like Jesus did.  

So yes, my heart hurts for these men and women who are deceived and have gotten caught in the lie and believed they were more than they are and have found themselves humbled before God and man. I guess I do need to say that I truly believe that God works through these men and women and lots of good things are done through them, but just think how much MORE He could do if we allowed the TRUE Head to be over us! As always, don't take my word for it, look it up yourself! Go to the gospels and see what Jesus says about this matter.

Ok, I am stepping off my soap box now. This is my two cents worth… whether you agree or not, it is worth thinking about and asking God yourself.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:19-23 

"Treat them like a pagan or tax collector..."

"...If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Matthew 18:15-17

Recently a friend and I were talking and she had a question about how to handle a difficult situation with someone else she knew. She brought up this  scripture and asked/wondered if it was applicable; “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Matthew 18:15-17 

My initial response to my friend was, NO, that isn’t the way to handle it, and then asked, who said that verse anyway? It just didn’t seem “Jesus” like to disassociate with them… So, after she left I asked Tom who said that scripture and he said “Jesus did!” I was like… No way, really?! (You would think I would have known that considering how many times I have listened to the Gospels!! DOH!). But then something very interesting happened.

I went to that verse and read the whole chapter. I discovered something really important here. After reading the whole context, I discovered that MY “understanding” of what Jesus meant by this statement was VERY different than what HE meant by it! My knee jerk emotional response was to think “negatively” about how we should treat the pagans and tax collectors… i.e. shun them, disassociate with them, ignore them… (This was very eye opening for me and I am feeling a bit embarrassed about it!) But, that is not at ALL what Jesus meant by that statement!! Let’s look at the lead in scripture; “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” Matthew 18:12-14. THIS is the heart of Jesus!! He was seeing the person who sinned against us as a “lost sheep” that needed to be found!

Then I started to think about all the scriptures that state that Jesus spent more time with the Tax collectors and sinners than He did with the “righteous” people! Here are just a few: “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:10-13

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners”...” Matthew 11:19

“Which of the two did what his father wanted? "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” Matthew 21:31-32

“A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” Luke 19:2-6

He even chose a tax collector to be one of his disciples! “As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” Matthew 9:9

And then he says things like this:

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Luke 6:32

So… I had to do a major perspective shift with seeing that scripture in the way that Jesus actually meant it! He is not saying to treat a brother who sins against you “unfavorably”, but instead, adjust your expectations of them, don’t think of them as a “brother” but as a lost sheep, someone who needs MORE grace, mercy and kindness… like a pagan or a tax collector! Please tell me I am not the only one who thought this way! Apparently this was a perspective that I had adopted and didn’t even realize it! I am very thankful that the Lord revealed this attitude so that I could change it!

So, as it turns out, I was wrong and my friend was right! That is exactly the way she needed to handle her difficult situation, with more grace, love and compassion! I now see these specific words of Jesus very differently than I did before… do you?

Come, Follow me...

“Come, follow me, Jesus said..." Matthew 4:19

I love to dance. I always have. When the right music comes on, my body just wants to move and groove to the rhythms. Recently Tom and I watched Dancing with the stars because he heard they were going to have sports figures as the contestants, one of which was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar! The 71 year old, 7’2” basketball player! He didn’t do much dancing but he gave it his best shot and was a great sport about it. And I think they assigned him the shortest partner they had! At one point she was on the shoulders of another dancer and only then was she tall enough to face him for a couples dance move! I enjoyed watching the program and imagined myself (much younger of course) right there with them. I wished I could be a part of the show so I could be taught how to dance with style and grace, refining my current “interpretive” dance moves.

Lately, even before watching Dancing with the Stars, in my time with the Lord I visualize us dancing together. It is either on the beach or in a field of wild flowers in the sunrise or sunset. We don’t talk but just enjoy each other and He leads me in a wonderful dance.

In Dancing with the stars they have judges who critique the dancers and they told one of the contestants that she needed to stop trying to “lead”! They told her to just relax and trust her partner to lead her. This morning, as I was enjoying my dance with the Lord, I thought about this and about how important it was for the “follower” in the dance to just let go, relax and allow the leader to LEAD. Back in the day it was more common for couples to dance the Waltz, Tango, Rumba and Foxtrot which were much more popular then. Now days you have couples on the dance floor but they are doing different dances, dancing their own steps to the music, and sometimes not even facing one another. So, I think we have lost the art of “following”!

Once years ago I had an opportunity to dance with a professional Ball room dancer. All the ladies were in line waiting for their chance to dance with this man… including me! When my turn came I wanted to impress him with how good a dancer I was so I tried to “anticipate” his moves and because I didn't know how to follow, it resulted in resisting and fighting against HIS lead and the dance ended MUCH quicker than I would have liked. I was a bit embarrassed and disappointed and most certainly humbled! I wasn’t relaxed or paying attention to his ques or “following” his lead at all… and so the dance ended quickly and abruptly.

Tom brought up another good visual. The old movie dancers and actors Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. They were the most well-known and best dancers in the 30’s and 40’s. They could dance and make it look like it was the easiest thing in the world to do! But they had two different styles, they danced arm in arm and it was like silk… just as smooth and effortless as can be. But when they danced side by side, it was more of a “competition”, they both wanted to out-do the other!

As I think about Christian life, and dancing with Jesus, I think most of us are just so happy that Jesus is on the dance floor with us that we don’t “engage” Him in an “intimate” style of dance. WE like to be in control of our “moves”, dancing our own steps and trying to show off, hoping He will like what we are doing and compliment us on our funky and creative moves! While I don’t think that is necessarily “wrong”, I just think that we are MISSING an amazing opportunity to get closer to the Lord. To be drawn into His arms and to enjoy the strength and talent of the Lord of the Dance, and marvel at how graceful and easy this dance can be when we let HIM lead!!

As I continued to ponder this, I thought of Jesus’ words to the disciples “Come follow me…”! Isn’t that funny! His words can even be applied to a “dancing” reference! Then I thought about how our walk with the Lord is just like a dance! He say’s “follow me” but, just like in dancing, we don’t quite know how… or we might try to anticipate where His is leading us to show off, or see it as a competition.  Or we might be afraid to let go of control and prefer to just be on the dance floor with Him, doing our own thing. I was so used to dancing by myself in life that I developed a very independent way of doing things. Taking control and making things happen “my” way. But as I continue to walk this journey to know God He is teaching me to be more of a follower than an independent dancer. A GOOD leader knows how to move you with just slight and gentle pressure on your back with his hand. We need to learn the signals of course but once we do, He can lead us gracefully and effortlessly along life’s dance floor. But we have to relax and pay attention to His signals. It has taken me a long time, but I am learning to let go and trust the Lord of the dance and His leading in my life. I am doing less “independent” dances and more intimate dances with Him and learning to love the freedom of just “following”!

So… What does this look like in real life? How can you apply these dancing principles to your life with Him right now? Well, everyone is different and in different places on their journey, but God will meet us where ever we are, all we have to do is ask, and then take His hand and begin the dance. I do know that without TRUST we will not follow him where He desires to leads us. We may “say” we trust Him but when the moment comes and we have to place our lives in His hands we suddenly realize just how much fear, and how little trust we have, or don’t have. This is a really GOOD thing! It is only then, when we can see the fear and lack of trust, that we can actually DO something about it! This is a journey and each day offers you another opportunity to take a chance, take His hand and grow in your trust that His leading is true. He is so very kind and patient with us!

Would YOU like to move in closer and dance with the Lord? He is reaching out for your hand right now!