Where Is The Pasture?

I hope I have learned a few things from the 18 years that I have tried to serve as an elder in the Lord's church. I certainly have not learned all there is to know, and don't ever expect to. Some things have been learned by just dealing with breth­ren, but the most important things have been learned by looking at what God ex­pects from such men, and then fulfilling that responsibility.

One of the things God expects of elders is to "feed the flock of God which is among you..." (1 Pet. 5:2). One of the key words here is "feed." This figure is taken from that of the shepherd as he would see that his flock received the nourishment they needed. That is why one often sees a flock of sheep "on the move" - the shep­herd is taking them to a feeding ground that will sustain them. The word "feed" derives from poimaino, from whence the word "shepherd." The word actually means "to act as a shepherd" (Vine).

There may be more than one way for a shepherd to feed the flock which is in his care. One way may be to see that the flock receives the proper nourishment. Obviously, this is done by seeing that the sheep are fed from the word of God; to see that they understand what God has revealed to them.

Herein lies one of the most frustrating parts of the work of an elder - to deal with sheep who need to feed upon the word of God, and yet refuse to do so. This is the attitude that causes lack of growth among members of the Lord's body. Elders need above all to feed the "lambs" in the flock; i.e. the younger ones, either in chronological age or in terms of being a member of the flock, although they may be older in age. It seems to me that as time goes on in the lives of the "sheep" of God, that they would require less and less feeding by the shepherds. That is not to say that elders should ever quit doing their job of feeding. But there comes a time when members of God's flock, as they grow and mature, should take upon themselves more and more of this re­sponsibility. If they don't, they will not grow up to be "adult sheep," but will remain "lambs" all their lives. How can this be avoided?

There comes a time when God's spiritual shepherds need to tell some sheep, “Here's the pasture; now what are you going to do with it?"

Shepherds need to understand that this is one way of feeding the sheep. The shame resulting from a failure to do this is that many sheep do not know how to feed themselves. Bible classes offered in the congregation are good, but they should never become a "crutch" for one learning what God's truth is. People need to eventually know how to study and learn from God's word on their own.

So - may I say to those of us who are shepherds - don't ever neglect the duty of feeding the flock. But at the same time, it might be well to tell some folks who have been around awhile, "here - let me show you the pasture!" - Bill Moseley

 

 

 

Fodder for this column often comes from the news we read in our papers, or hear on TV - and frankly, that's about the best thing I get out of slanted and biased newscasts! But one thing that amuses me is the "fixes" that some folks seem to get themselves into. One such report got my attention, and made me realize it may have a spiritual applica­tion. Seems like some guy down in Bra­zil broke into a glue factory for the ex­press purpose of sniffing the stuff (must have been hard up for a fix)! Anyhow, as he left he fell and knocked himself out. On his way down he pulled over a big vat of glue - smack dab on top of him! When he finally came to, he had all the glue he could handle and then some. Found himself completely stuck to the floor and could twitch nary a muscle ­and there he lay for 36 hours before he was found. Talk about getting wrapped up in your pastime!

When I heard of this little escapade, I could not help but think of what Solo­mon once said: "His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins" (Pro. 5:22 ). Except in this case he was "hol­den with sticky strings of glue!"

It all goes to show that messing around with things we ought not will get us in dire trouble - everlasting trouble. When that happens, 36 hours will surely look good! Be where you ought to be; do what you ought to do - and you will keep yourself out of sticky situations! - Bill Moseley