In our last post, we continued to explore the duties a shepherd and laid the foundation of what the word of God says about the fourth responsibility of a shepherd: A shepherd must feed the flock in all seasons and provide water even in times of drought. Because food and water are vital necessities, fulfilling this duty is a matter of life and death for the sheep. Sheep must be fed, but sheep are not responsible for providing their own food. Neither are sheep responsible for bringing food to feed the shepherd. A qualified shepherd ensures the sheep entrusted to them do not go hungry. A qualified shepherd acknowledges that it’s their responsibility to provide nourishing food to the sheep year-round.
In today’s post, we will explore how pastoral leadership in unhealthy churches are “seasonal” rather than Spirit-led in their approach to what and how they feed the sheep.
All Seasons vs “Seasonal”
In 2 Timothy 4:2, it says, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” Paul was instructing Timothy to be ready and consistent in his ministry and teaching, regardless of the season. A pastor following God is Spirit-led and preaches the word and trusts that the word given to them is exactly what the body needs to hear at that time – to convince, rebuke, or exhort as the Spirit leads. In all seasons, the pastor ensures that God’s word is pure and preached according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In this way, the sheep are nourished year-round with the truth of God’s word – growing in faith and in the knowledge and understanding of God and His will. One season does not differ from another.
At the same time, the pastor is also fed what the sheep are eating by the same Holy Spirit. So in a healthy sheepfold, whatever situation or circumstance arises in the lives of the sheep or the pastoral leadership, whether good or bad, everybody is equipped to handle that season because they have been prepared by the Helper, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth (John 14:16).
In an unhealthy church, instead of feeding the sheep in all seasons, the pastoral leadership is “seasonal” in their approach. This means the sheep are only fed in a particular season or time of year. Or in some cases, the pastoral leadership only feeds themselves, and as a result, the sheep are left weak and malnourished. Because it’s all about the pastor and not God, this seasonal feeding could be according “their season” or “your season.” Let’s break down how this looks in an unhealthy church today.
Feeding the Sheep According to “Their Season”
We discussed in The Root Cause of Unhealthy Sheepfolds how there are some pastors in the body of Christ today who started off as qualified, appointed, chosen shepherds, but along the way, began to degrade the word of God by injecting their own beliefs and personalities into the word of truth. They disqualify themselves. At the heart of it, they don’t want the sheep to be disciples of the Lord Jesus. They actually want the sheep to follow them. They don’t want the sheep to be Spirit-led and free in Christ. They actually want control and their voice to be heard, not the Holy Spirit’s. They distort the Chief Shepherd’s voice all while claiming to be speaking in His name. It’s really their opinions and feelings at the center. These egocentric pastors feed the sheep according to “their season.”
How does feeding in “their season” look? Well, in these churches, there is food, but the food is contaminated. Contaminate means to “make (something) impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance.” The word of God is preached, but it’s contaminated with the pastor’s pride, arrogance, conceit, greed, impatience, unbelief, envy, insecurity or other works of the flesh, even their ignorance of the word. Yes, the pastoral leadership takes the pure word of God and makes it impure by mixing it with their own flesh. Because they have chosen to go their own way, the word and version of God they preach and teach are contaminated by these poisonous and polluting substances. They want to be heard, so they wrap their feelings, opinions, and beliefs up in Scripture and feed it to the sheep. Bottom line: They feed the sheep their flesh.
The pastoral leadership purposefully takes the focus off of God because they want to be the center of attention. You can identify a pastor who feeds the sheep according to “their season” by reflecting on a recent church service and asking yourself two questions: 1)Who was the teaching focused on? 2) Did the teaching build up and make free or tear down and bind?
Who’s the Focus
As believers, the Lord Jesus said our first priority is seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). We should be striving to walk in what God has provided for us in Christ Jesus. Colossians 1:9-14 says, –
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.“
In unhealthy churches, the focus is constantly on what the pastor is feeling or doing and not on what God has done or His will. The Shepherd’s voice is distorted by misquoting and misinterpreting Scripture or taking verses out of context to fit the pastor’s narrative. Whatever is happening in the pastor’s personal life is front and center. Whatever mood the pastor is in on a given day, whether they’re sad, glad, angry, frustrated, happy, or disappointed, that is what the sheep are fed. It becomes all about the pastor, and the sheep are fed according to “their season” and not what the Holy Spirit wants the church to hear. As stated earlier, the sheep are fed the pastor’s flesh.
Boundaries are crossed when the pastor uses God’s sheep and their valuable time to vent and rant when they should be edifying and equipping the sheep with the truth of God’s word.
Freedom or Bondage
A church is unquestionably unsafe when the pastoral leadership uses the pulpit as a stage to draw attention to their position and authority. A church where the pastor is the center of attention is a place of bondage. In these churches, the pastor wears authority like a badge of honor rather than a calling and responsibility from God. Sermons are pastor-focused, and they insidiously use the word of God to exalt their position and authority – what they want, what they think, what they believe, what they like, what they don’t like.
A pastor-focused church eventually becomes abusive because fear of the pastor is ingrained in that church culture’s. This fear leads to control, domination, and manipulation of the body. Even, the word of God, usually Old Testament Scriptures, are misused to solidify the pastor’s authority and instill fear. An example is Saul ruthlessly attacking David out of envy and David not retaliating but still honoring him as king or “the Lord’s anointed.” Another example is Korah, Dathan, and Abiram leading a rebellion against Moses where the Lord opened up the earth and swallowed them and their households. By harping on these Scriptures, their aim is to convey that they’re “the Lord’s anointed” and are untouchable, and God speaks to them like Moses and no one has the right to question or challenge them. In short, these pastors give themselves the place and authority of an Old Testament king and even Moses! We should know all of God’s word, but beware if a pastor teaches and preaches on these Scriptures repeatedly. Any pastor that dwells on these Scriptures today sees the souls they are supposed to be watching over as objects to control, berate, mistreat, misuse, and abuse anyway they choose without question, correction, or accountability as we discussed in Feed My Lambs. Tend My Sheep.
In The Root Cause of Unhealthy Sheepfolds, we talked about how the church at Pergamum was dominated by the strange voices of the Nicolaitans, and the Lord Jesus hated the compromise that was going on in that church. We must have the truth of God’s word in our lives and only yield to the Holy Spirit. John 8:31-32 says, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Fed According to “Your Season”
In unhealthy churches, there will be cycles and eventually it will be “your season.” In “your season,” the pastor has a want or need to be gained from you. It’s not always obvious what they’re after. For these self-serving pastors, it’s not always money they want – it could be praise, attention, admiration, recognition, honor, etc. It could even be for power or validation of their perceived position or authority.
During this “seasonal” feeding time, the pastor appears to be interested in presenting God’s word to you. They will teach and preach a distorted version of the word of God – usually about giving and honor, and even about you having faith in God, but it’s only a tactic. Yes. They blatantly use God to get what they want. They are actually after what belongs to God alone – your “all” as we discussed in Shepherd, Not Owner!
How can we recognize these cycles? From a practical standpoint, these manipulative cycles will be during certain times every year, such as around the pastor’s birthday, pastor appreciation month, tax refund season, bonus time, close to certain holidays like Christmas, or when they know someone has received a windfall of money. Only at these times of the year will the pastoral leadership seemingly honor God, but make no mistake about it, the honor is really all about them.
A telltale sign to spot this type of pastor is how they react if they didn’t get what they expected – the attention, the honor, or the amount of money they think they deserve. They will rebuke the body for “not honoring who God says to honor.” They will remind the body they are entitled because they are “God’s gift” or “they hear from God for you” or “they are the voice of God.” They will berate the body, both individually and as a group, for not giving them what they deserve.
We must note and avoid these “cultish” churches that make works for the pastor the gauge of God’s acceptance and approval while minimizing what we have by faith through grace. As believers, we must be vigilant of these cycles and behaviors – they may be subtle. We must not ignore them because compromise and idolatry will insidiously creep in if left unchecked.
Spirit-Led in All Seasons
“Seasonal” teaching and preaching is not Spirit-led. We as believers go to church to hear the truth of God’s word, and we must expect to be fed what the Holy Spirit alone is providing in all seasons. We must know the Shepherd’s voice and not follow a stranger speaking in His name. We must flee any church where we’re being fed the pastor’s flesh or even worse, the enemy’s ideas. We must avoid a church where the focus is really on the pastor and not on what God has provided for us in Christ Jesus. We must leave any church where the examples put before us are the works of the flesh rather than the fruit of the spirit. We must note and avoid any pastoral leadership who magnifies themselves. We must pay attention and recognize when the pastoral leadership has veered from grace and truth and presents their own self-serving version of God.
In conclusion, continuing to be misled by a “seasonal” shepherd according to their deceitful flesh robs us of the abundant life that the Good Shepherd came to give us. This contamination is damaging to the body because life is only found in the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus (John 6:51-56). He said the words He speaks to us are spirit, and they are life. It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63).
In our next post, we will discuss how pastoral leadership in unhealthy sheepfolds provide polluted water or only water themselves while the sheep are deprived of the living water God has provided.
Disclaimer: Before making decisions or changes that affect your spiritual life and well-being, always personally seek God for His perfect will for your life and always follow peace.
