Pastors, fulfill your calling in gentleness

(1 Thessalonians 2:7)

This message today relates to all Christians, but especially to those who hold positions of authority in the church. It is a reminder to pastors to fulfill your calling in gentleness.

The pastors of the church are in a unique position because like shepherds, they tend the flock of the Lord. They are meant to ensure the flock is fed good food, that is, the true spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ who is the Chief Shepherd.

And they will be held accountable to Him for their actions, which is why I say today, Pastors, fulfill your calling in gentleness.

Fulfill your call in gentleness

This is what the scripture says today.

7 But we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children. (1 Thessalonians 2:7)

When Paul was amongst the people of the church of the Thessalonians, he and his fellow travelers were there in gentleness. They were teaching the people and helping them to understand the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ with a gentle spirit.

Paul describes how they worked with the people in these words, saying that they were like a nurse taking care of her children.

So what this says to me is that they cared for the people. They took care of their spiritual welfare to ensure they received the truth and were fed the good spiritual food of the Lord and the gospel of salvation when they needed it.

They were gentle with the people because new Christians need gentleness and not harsh ways.

New Christians are often referred to as babes in Christ, and you do not treat babes with harsh words. Nor do you try to feed them heavy and hard foods because they cannot stomach them.

So it is with babes in Christ. You cannot teach them the deeper things of Christ because they cannot understand them. They need milk and not solid food, as the scripture says.

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some one to teach you again the first principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food; 13 for every one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)

This is why I say today, pastors, fulfill your calling in gentleness.

Be kind and gentle with those that the Lord has committed to your care, feeding them spiritual truth at the right times and building them up in Christ. Help them to grow and become mature in the ways of the Lord so that they can then help others and be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Harsh Shepherds

Tragically, not all pastors, or shepherds, for that is the meaning of the word pastor, are gentle. Not all are kind and seeking the best for the flock of the Lord.

And in some cases they don’t even know they are like this.

There are those who unwittingly fail the flock in their charge because they know no better. And there are those who seek their own gain and use the flock of the Lord to get it.

The first group who do their best but still fail the flock, do so because they teach what they have learned. There are many false teachings that have infiltrated into the church and these have been perpetuated by the bible schools, colleges, and universities. New pastors are taught these false teachings believing them to be truth when they are not. And they then take those same teachings out into the church under their care and force them on to their flock not realising the damage they are doing.

Who is at fault in this situation? Is it the flock who accept these teachings blindly because they trust the pastors? Is it the pastors who follow these teachings because they are doctrines of that particular church, even where they are not the doctrine of the Lord? Or is it the bible school who accepts these false doctrines and then forces the pastors to accept them or not be able to graduate and become an ordained minister of that church?

In my opinion, there is fault at all three levels. I am particularly critical of the bible schools because they are in a position to study the truth and pass it on to those they ordain, but the do not. They blindly accept false teachings that have been passed down from earlier generations, sometimes for many hundreds of year, and then refuse to ordain a pastor who rejects those false teachings.

But there is fault with the pastor too who then force feeds bad teaching on to the flock of the Lord to further perpetuate the lies the devil has managed to feed into the church. These men are supposed to study and learn the word and be bastions of the truth. But how can they teach the truth when they do not know it themselves?

And finally the flock, who are in the most difficult position, need to check and test all of the things they are taught against the word of truth, praying over it for the Lord to provide insight. However, very few are even taught that this is necessary and simply accept the false teachings from the pastors.

Finally, there are those pastors who simply fleece the flock and look out only for their own welfare and not that of the flock. These are those who line their own pockets by forcing teachings of things like the prosperity gospel onto their people.

They are not pastors trying to serve the Lord and serve the flock. These ones are in it for themselves seeking to be served rather than to serve. And they will be judged by the Lord who has spoken many words against the false shepherds in the words of the prophets.

What to do about this

This raises the question as to what can you do as an individual.

First, whether you are a pastor or part of the flock, seek the Lord to show you the truth. Jesus told us to, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you,” and that those who ask WILL receive (see Matthew 7:7-11).

So the first thing to do is to ask for the Lord to help open your eyes.

The second thing is to study the word often and immerse yourself in the words of the Lord, especially focusing on the New Testament where you will find the teachings of Jesus and the New Covenant. The words of the Bible need to be at the forefront of your mind and on the tip of your tongue so that whatever comes up you can ascertain if it is truth or error.

The third thing is to look at all of the accepted teachings of the church or anything you hear proclaimed in the name of the Lord and test them. Examine what is being said to see if it aligns with the rest of the gospel and teachings of the New Covenant. It is my experience that there are no contradictions in the doctrine of Jesus Christ or the words of the New Covenant. The teachings are perfect and do not contradict each other.

Understand also that if you find teachings that seem to contradict others, then there are two possibilities. First, you simply do not yet understand what the teaching is saying because the Lord hasn’t opened it up to you yet. In this case, go back to the first point above and ask, seek, and knock, and the Lord WILL show you or lead you to someone who can explain the truth of the matter.

The second possibility is that there may have been a mistranslation from the original Greek texts. And there are some in spite of the best efforts of the translators. So check other translations of the scriptures to see what they say. Check the original Greek texts using a Greek-English lexicon and go through the scripture word by word, praying as you go.

Remember each of us will stand before the judgement seat of God and give account. We need to ensure that we have done our very best to seek and find the truth because our ministers and pastors will not be there with us.

And those of you who are pastors must also remember this scripture.

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness. (James 3:1)

If you are a pastor, fulfill your calling in gentleness. You are responsible for teaching the flock of the Lord and He will judge severely those who fail at this task, and especially those who rip his flock to shreds for their own benefit.

So seek the Lord in these things and do not blindly accept what you are fed. Go into God’s kingdom with your eyes wide open. And you pastors seek the Lord so that you can serve Him in your calling and fulfill your calling in gentleness, leading the flock for their benefit and in accordance with the Lord’s will.

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