When Shepherds Beat Up The Sheep
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Have you ever been injured in church? I'm not talking about tripping on the steps or getting a splinter from the pew (we don't use those anymore, but it fits). Rather, I'm talking about when the Pastor (shepherd) starts (quote) "throwing blows" from the pulpit.Here's how it happens. The Pastor is upset over something. (He's human. That might be a revelation to some of you.) He carries his "upset" into church. He gets up to preach. He starts speaking. Everything seems normal up until - whammo! You don't know what hit ya. (And it wasn't the Holy Spirit that fell.) It came out of no where, left field, from over the rainbow. A cold cock (with words). POW! And you're on the ground (figuratively speaking). You're down for the count. 8, 9, 10. You're out! (Where am I?)
And when somebody says, "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," it's because they are, they know they are and they know it's wrong. But I digress.
Now it would be one thing if none of us ever beat up (with what came out of our mouth) another person in our lifetime. (Romans 3:10) Then we'd be free to condemn, hold a grudge against, poo poo a minister who treated us wrong. Right? (I always like to do that.)
It's not that I'm condoning what took place. It's not that I'm minimizing your hurt. I'm just reminding you of Jesus' words: "'I do not say to you, [forgive] up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven'" (Matthew 18:22) and "'For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.'" (Matthew 6:14-15)
Could it be there's a Pastor (shepherd) you need to show mercy to? (And if you're a Pastor reading this, maybe you need to confess your sin to your people/sheep?)
Labels: bible, blog, body of christ, california, christian, church, god, gold country, jesus, mother lode, pastors, sheep, sonora, teacher, tuolumne county, twain harte
posted by Mike C at 5:34 AM
3 Comments:
You hit home, bro'. I had one of those incidents that, I'm finding, still affects me, because it re-opened some old wounds that I had hoped were healed.
But don't worry, you didn't do the same with this post. :)
I experienced that and it was the biggest betrayal that Pastor made. Beside have people spy on my husband and I, he had wrong information that he chose not to verify. I have left that church knowing there are many Pastors that do not practice what they preach. Forgive yes, forget eventually, repeat never.
Great post. I think we have all been subjected to such an event. Forgive always, but at the same time we aren't asked to stay and take continual beatings. There are some instances that are not healthy for us and we need to remove ourselves. Jesus walked away from caustic circumstance numerous times. He knew He would not be received regardless of what He did. However, He never walked away in vengeful anger. And there lies the difference. We too often walk away and then do everything we can to bad mouth and destroy the pastor. That is not loving or forgiving. And, on a side note, God used your post to send me a much needed personal message in regards to the reference about the rainbow. Thank you for being his servant this morning. Blessing to you.
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