{"id":5562,"date":"2018-01-03T12:30:06","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T18:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5562"},"modified":"2018-01-03T12:30:06","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T18:30:06","slug":"shepherding-the-flock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/03\/shepherding-the-flock\/","title":{"rendered":"Shepherding the Flock"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In God\u2019s infinite wisdom,\u00a0He had a plan for church leadership. According to the Bible, that plan does not include some \u201cgoverning body\u201d or a system where the preacher makes all of the decisions. Rather the Bible speaks of elders watching over the local congregation&#8211;shepherding the flock (see Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3). The church will never grow, long-term, beyond her leadership. The direction that elders will lead the church into this 21st Century is crucial for our souls. We may easily see the need for faithful preaching, but do we just as quickly acknowledge the need for sound elderships? In this issue of\u00a0<i>Think<\/i>,\u00a0we are making an effort to support these good men in the work to which they have devoted their lives. We pray that it will help them in some way. We deeply appreciate every faithful elder in the Lord\u2019s\u00a0church. We say to them, \u201cThank you for who you are and what you do.\u201d<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nEvery Christian needs leadership provided by elders.\u00a0If there is to be anyone in the congregation that not only leads Christians but\u00a0also\u00a0demonstrates the Christian life, it must be the elders.\u00a0Sadly, in many congregations there is a vacuum of true leadership and courage to stand on His Word. This office and its work isn\u2019t the design of men but of God.\u00a0On Paul\u2019s first missionary journey the\u00a0Apostles, working as messengers and ministers for God, introduced the office\u00a0of\u00a0elder into Christ\u2019s church in Acts 14:23.\u00a0The Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28) qualifies men to serve in\u00a01\u00a0Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.\u00a0Terms such as\u00a0<i>elder<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0<i>overseer<\/i>, describing the men and their work,\u00a0are not\u00a0titles which\u00a0create an arrogant hierarchy.\u00a0In fact, that is precisely what Jesus was condemning when He said, \u201cThey love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, &#8216;Rabbi, Rabbi.&#8217; But you, do not be called &#8216;Rabbi&#8217;; for\u00a0One\u00a0is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren\u201d (Matthew 23:6-8).\u00a0Since we are all \u201cbrethren,\u201d these terms point to what God expects of the man and his work.\u00a0For example,\u00a0<i>elder<\/i>\u00a0points to the maturity of man who would be older.\u00a0<i>Bishop<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0<i>overseer\u00a0<\/i>describes his responsibility to care for all as a superintendent would do.\u00a0<i>Shepherd<\/i>\u00a0obviously describes the pastoral relationship of these men collectively providing and protecting God\u2019s sheep.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nThese men have a great challenge.\u00a0There is no new sin under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9), but there are new methods and cultural indulgences that are wrecking lives.\u00a0This brings opportunities\u00a0for elders to consider their role as shepherds.\u00a0Elders must consider how God would have them care for these souls. How would God want you to support a members struggling with homosexuality? Jesus died for their souls.\u00a0He loves them. and\u00a0His church is to love them too.\u00a0Elders must not compromise the truth while doing this, therefore needing the\u00a0wisdom\u00a0of Solomon. While they love the homosexual, they also must provide truth and wisdom to a congregation that is being bombarded with questions\u00a0in their daily walk\u00a0about same-sex marriage while being accused of intolerance and bigotry.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nThen for the elder, the pendulum of responsibility swings to families hurting because of disease or death.\u00a0Families caring for those with Alzheimer\u2019s disease or other debilitating illnesses need a special support from the church.\u00a0Shepherds in God\u2019s family ought to be leading the way in making sure their congregations are caring for them.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nAnother need much more frequent, but far different, is to help those deceived by pornography.\u00a0Pornography is perhaps the most epidemic sin in the church today and far too many shepherds have posed as ostriches while souls are dying in their care.\u00a0The silence of the\u00a0leaders is\u00a0screaming shame, which in turn drives them deeper into their addictions.\u00a0If they cannot come to the church for healing, where should sinners go who are hurting?\u00a0\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nAnother challenge facing elderships today is\u00a0because of\u00a0the increased mobility\u00a0of our\u00a0culture.\u00a0The mobility is no longer people simply moving from state to state, but more than ever from country to country.\u00a0But no matter their nationality, their souls are mentioned in the\u00a0Great\u00a0Commission and have a place in Christ\u2019s church.\u00a0The challenge may lie in the fact that some of us grew up in congregations where everyone was born, reared, lived, and died in the same community.\u00a0That is rare today.\u00a0Yesterday, without\u00a0it being\u00a0any special occasion,\u00a0I sat down for a weekly Bible study with six other men.\u00a0Two were from the Philippines, one was from Honduras,\u00a0and the other half was from the U.S.\u00a0How well are elders doing at bringing all people of their communities to the Lord? It is a challenge to bring all the ethnicities into unity through Christ when so much is different, including the language! Finally, we will ask elders to consider who shepherds them? Every Christian benefits from having elders.\u00a0So who shepherds elders according to God\u2019s plan?\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nWe pray this issue helps the church and its leadership.\u00a0We are calling on parents across the nation to rise to the challenge of rearing up their children to be strong elders. Stop complaining and start molding.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nAlthough it may seem to have articles written only to elders, that is not the design.\u00a0If you are a member of the Lord\u2019s church,\u00a0we hope this issue helps you better understand what your elders are dealing with and also help you to appreciate them even more (1\u00a0Thessalonians\u00a05:13).\u00a0If you are a young family man,\u00a0we hope this issue will challenge you to see the heavy responsibility that will need to\u00a0one\u00a0day\u00a0rest on shoulders such as yours.\u00a0We urge you to give your all to carefully lead your soul and your family\u2019s souls toward God so you will be equipped and qualified to lead God\u2019s family when that time comes (1\u00a0Timothy 3:5).\u00a0If you are a young unmarried person,\u00a0we hope this issue will cause you to consider that now is the time to purpose in your heart to marry someone that will help you do great things in the Lord\u2019s\u00a0kingdom.\u00a0We pray you would one day become an elder or elder\u2019s wife.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nEvery eldership will have to deal with the problems of modern culture, because that is from where new converts come and where war is waged against wayward saints.\u00a0As always, we hope you will\u00a0think on these things as you pray for your elders.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:562,&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120,&quot;335559740&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In God\u2019s infinite wisdom,\u00a0He had a plan for church leadership. According to the Bible, that plan does not include some \u201cgoverning body\u201d or a system where the preacher makes all of the decisions. Rather the Bible speaks of elders watching over the local congregation&#8211;shepherding the flock (see Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3). The church [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,66],"tags":[49,542,956,1232,1233],"class_list":["post-5562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-think-excerpts","tag-church","tag-elders","tag-from-the-editors","tag-november-2012","tag-shepherd","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Shepherding the Flock - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/03\/shepherding-the-flock\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shepherding the Flock - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In God\u2019s infinite wisdom,\u00a0He had a plan for church leadership. 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