A warning from Ezekiel: Woe to the Pastors....

Eze 34:4 NET  "You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them."

This passage in Ezekiel begins with this statement found in verse four b: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock?" I have written several blog posts over time that deal with spiritual abuse. I want to emphasize the portion of Eze 43:4 that speaks of ruling over the flock with force and harshness. I have known pastors with what I would call a pastors heart which DO NOT rule with force and harshness, but there are all too many who DO. Furthermore, there is a natural tendency among congregations to worship the pastor and elevate him or her above what should normally be the case. Some pastors demand it but many more simply do not discourage it. I realize that the main thrust of Ezekiel's message is focused on the kings of Israel and their leaders. But, there is also a way in which this warns about future events, and one could make the case that in the church, the pastors who are spiritually abusive fit the intent of this passage. 

It is important to introduce the concept of fractals at this point. If you are unfamiliar with the term, it means that exact things and sometimes similar things are repeated over and over again. If you would like a better understanding of fractals you can google the term and find the definition on the web. This is a passage that illustrates the concept of fractals because while the intended audience was Israel and the intended subject was about Israel's kings, the church is definitely spiritual Israel and the pastor's are very similar to a monarch.

Paul stated his prime directive in 1 Cor 2:2. He determined to not know anything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (the gospel.) If the great apostle of the Gentile Church had decided that the gospel was his only edict, how much more should pastors have the same prime directive. The gospel of grace should be paramount in all they do. It should be the foundation of everything they are called upon to do for their particular flocks. Sadly though, the reality is that the gospel plays very little in the week to week ministry of most pastors. They erroneously believe that they must continually pressure their followers to be more obedient by focusing on a legal constitutional, read and do approach to scripture. They should instead be proclaiming the gospel of grace all the time. They should be pointing out that it is the grace of God that leads to a repentant heart. They should explain the foundational pristine operation of the gospel. What is that you ask? It is that peace with God through grace is established by reinforcing and explaining that they are justified by the faith of Jesus.

The pastors should be emphasizing that their followers can rest in the gospel twenty-four-seven. In not doing this, they are actually perpetuating the job that was relegated to the devil. They become the accuser of the brothers and sisters. In fact, they accuse them day and night before God, angels and the assembly. How many times have you attended services where the pastor left you accused? There will come a day of reckoning of that you can be sure, however that day will be far to late for all of the spiritual abuse laid at the feet of the saints of God who should be daily encouraged in the gospel.