"Let me entertain you" - Sorry you've come to the wrong place.

Ezekiel 33-34:31

The Watchman’s Duty

33 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, ³ and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, ⁴ then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. ⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’

⁷ “Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. ⁹ But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life...

Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel

34 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? ³ You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. ⁴ Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. ⁵ They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. ⁶ My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’”

⁷ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”

In this passage of scripture, from the daily reading in the One Year Bible, we see Ezekiel, a prophet delivering a message to the nation of Israel and to the shepherds or religeous leaders in particular. While this was a message to them for that time and a time to come, we can see some parallels with the church today and pastors or ministers.

Before we look at that though it is important that we understand the different gifts and callings God has provided to the church and their purpose. Ephesians 4 gives us that explanation.

Ephesians 4:11-16

¹¹ And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴ As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

We see that all these, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are intended to work together to equip the saints for the work of service. The end result is to be unity of the faith, knowledge of the Son of God and a maturity of the fullness of Christ. That's how God intends it. Unfortunately often it doesn't work quite so smoothly. The prophet's job is to hear God and speak His word. Just as with Ezekiel, that can become unpopular, particularly when the word is directed at the leaders. The intended structure is for these gifts to operate in unity for the benefit of the body. Unfortunately in many cases they become opposed to each other. Often it is the prophetic voice that is silenced or eliminated. The vision and direction of the church then has the potential to be man led and driven rather than God led. 

When I first read the text from Ezekiel regarding the message to the shepherds I was angry because of the amount of that type of behavior that exists in the church today. How many pastors and ministers see their position as a job or career rather than as a calling? They create churches and ministries that are self serving, profitable business ventures rather than God focused body equipping ministries. The budget, not God's direction, becomes the driving force behind the ministry. The vision for growth is a vision to create a bigger building and congregation. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of good work for the kingdom of God that is accomplished in and through even some of the most unbalanced churches. Unfortunately it has more to do with God's faithfulness than with the faithfulness of some leaders.

What I came to realize as I reflected on this prophetic warning is that while there are many leaders in the church today who will stand before God and be accountable for their actions, the church itself, the body, we the people share in the responsibility for this behavior and the condition of much of the church today. How can the sheep be at fault for the actions of the shepherd? Remember this, shepherds and sheep are only meant to be an analogy. We are not mindless creatures needing some one to feed us. Even the shepherd leads the flock to good pasture. He doesn't chew the food for the sheep. We in our culture and society have become so consumer/entertainment oriented that we are willing to pay some one else to do the spiritual stuff so that all we need to do is show up once a week and be fed/entertained. People will " flock "to churches that provide an entertaining experience rather than the word of God. If we will pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket to a concert or game to be entertained, why wouldn't we  throw a few bucks in the offering basket for a good program of music and encouraging words from a minister?  So the desire of many people to be entertained and hear an uplifting  message contributes to the problem of there being so many "professionals" leading the church today.

Jesus says this about the difference between a true shepherd and a hired, professional:

John 10: ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, ¹⁵ even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

For the true shepherds out there who may have fallen to the system that focuses on entertainment  and church growth rather than teaching, equipping and kingdom growth, hear the word of the Lord return to your true calling. Rather than silencing the prophetic voice in your congregation, promote them to your board.

 For the church body don't seek any longer to be entertained, or to have some one to feed you sweet tasting morsels. Worship God! Feed yourself from His word and find pastors and teachers who will help and encourage you to grow. That's the call to the body and the purpose for the gifts, that " we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."