“Know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away disciples after them.”

  - Acts 20.29, 30

Britain has priests, but they are fools; very many ministers, but they are shameless; clerics, but they are treacherous grabbers. They are called shepherds, but they are wolves ready to slaughter souls. They do not look to the good of their people, but to the filling of their own bellies. They have church buildings, but go to them for the sake of base profit. They teach the people – but by giving them the worst of examples, vice and bad character...They do not reprimand the people for their sins...

  - Gildas, The Ruin of Britain, British, 6th century

Gildas was reflecting on the sad state of the churches in Britain, due to the failure of those who led them to be true shepherds of the Lord. They were called shepherds, but Gildas showed that this was not at all the case.

What makes a good shepherd of God’s flock?

Jesus tells us in John 10. True shepherds know and love their sheep, taking the time to develop real relationships of mutual trust and love with those they serve.

They lead their flock in following the Lord, to the places where they can feed and fellowship in His grace and truth – to His Law and to mutual ministries of love and edification.

Shepherds lay down their lives for their sheep, so that what matters most to them is not their free time, but freeing their sheep from the constraints of unbelief, fear, and sin.

True shepherds defend their sheep against temptation, the assaults of the flesh, the world, and the devil, and their own fears and failings.

They also bring other sheep to the fold and are the most consistent evangelists in the congregation.

Finally, Jesus said, shepherds nurture their sheep in the grace of eternal life, making sure they are growing in the Lord and in His Word.

Pastors who aren’t shepherding in this way are merely called shepherds – “pastors” – but they aren’t. Are they fools? Wolves? Know-it-alls who look more to marketing and management techniques than the Word of God for their primary resources in ministry? Are they just too busy raising money, or making money, or passing money out for the use of those who inhabit the church’s facilities?

True shepherds build strong churches, churches that fulfill the vision of the church projected in the Old and New Testaments. Are churches today growing in unity and maturity (Eph. 4.11-16)? Becoming holy centers of joy and beauty in their communities (Ps. 48.1-3)? Are they cities set on a hill to which the lost and needy are streaming in order to learn the grace and Law of Jesus (Mic. 4.1-8; Matt. 5.13-16)?

You’ll have to answer that for yourself. I think if Gildas were writing today, though, in many ways, he wouldn’t change much in his assessment concerning where we stand.

Are we churches in name only? And, if so, is this because, in many ways, our pastors are shepherds in name only?

Pray for your pastor, and pray for your church.

Psalm 48.1-3 (Cwm Rhondda: “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”)
Great is God, now greatly praise Him in the city of the Lord.
Holy she, His lovely mountain, great and glorious by His Word!
God her King is great within her, He, her Stronghold ever sure!
He, her Stronghold ever sure!

Lord, thank You for my pastor; let me encourage my pastor in the work of shepherding Your flock.

T. M. Moore, Principal
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