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One of the pillars of the pastoral and teaching ministries of Christ Jesus for the Church is found in the book of Jeremiah 3:15, “And I will give you SHEPHERDS according to My heart, who will FEED you with KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING.” Should we become confused about who a shepherd is, we might quickly see how God shepherded a man called David, the King of Israel:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Psalms 23:1-5
If we examine the words of King David very carefully, we will be fully conscious of the responsibilities of Pastors and Teachers. Authority and provision in the pastoral and teaching ministry is assured by God – so much so that many people even desire the work of the shepherd because of the rewards of the service; not necessarily because they have the heart of the work.
The work of the Pastor is a great work – From provision of feed to the sheep to their care, their healing, their protection and their direction. The shepherds are responsible for the lives of their flock! They must feed the sheep – both in season and out of season.
The issue is not in the feeding, the issue is in the excretion of the digested food! While the shepherd look for the right feed for the flock, the shepherd must also take care of the flock’s waste. The implication of this for the pastors is simple. While you must find the right word for the healing, teaching, admonishing, direction of the people of God; you will ultimately be faced with the results of your teachings and counsels through their testimonies and their complains.
The prophetic destiny of every pastor is the future of the flock – if you feed the people with the right words, they will grow and bear fruits. If you feed them with chaffs, they will turn back to curse you and perhaps call for your remover.
While teaching could be cheap and easy, the result of your teachings will come in time to eat the fruit of your lips through the transformed lives of your flock or the condemned lives of your flock.
Every word of the teacher and pastor will stand either for or against for pastor and teacher in the future. If you say people should not beat their wives, but you secretly torture your own wife; you will be judged by your own word soon. If you forbid your ushers from taking out of Church money, but you freely spend Church money without any form of accountability, you will very soon be examined by your own words.
The prophetic destiny of every teacher and the pastor is the fruit (reward) f the word (seed) spoken (planted) to your flock in time. May God help you to be a good shepherd of God’s people – who do not just talk for the sake of being heard by a people, but for the sake of being accountable before God in time.
