Take Heed to Feed the Flock

PASTORAL THEOLOGY SHEPHERDING LECTURE 7 FEED THE FLOCK (part 2)

Take heed to feed the flock Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Take “heed” to “feed”; Make a major effort to do this most noble task. This feeding here is directly associated with the blood of Jesus Christ in importance; meaning, feeding is incredibly important to the Lord. These dear sheep you are suppose to be making sure get fed good, are bought with the precious blood of your Saviour! Take heed, shepherd! You are going to have to really put forth effort to make sure you do this; it usually doesn’t come naturally for a man to set aside the time for this and to put forth all the preparation needed here and then to promote it to the dear flock. Being a pastor involves lots of duties; many of them don’t involve active feeding; take heed, pastor. This beloved flock was bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. These sheep deserve the very best you’ve got, preacher! You should be a “Master Chef”….a “Nutritional Scientist”. Take a lot of time in thinking what they need to eat… what’s good for them…where they are at spiritually…how often they should be eating. You are to be feeding ‘all’ the flock; not just those sheep that show an interest in feeding. There are many sheep who don’t seem too hungry; they need to be eating good whether they show interest or not. But, you can’t really ‘force feed’ them… can you? There is no-one else designed by God to be feeding those sheep spiritually but you dear shepherd. You are it. It doesn’t say to appoint a good man in the church to do it…no, it is you, the God called shepherd of that flock.. Sad to say, if you don’t take heed to feed them good, they may indeed go to a different pasture to be fed by some other so-called shepherd. Most of these are feeding them food that is not good for them; hurtful; upsetting; sickening. Take heed! Many of the sheep are eating at several different ‘troughs’ on a regular basis; they have their favorite radio Bible teacher, they have their favorite author, they have their favorite TBN preacher, they have their favorite magazine article, they have their favorite internet site… It’s no wonder they haven’t got a desire to eat from you…they have spoiled their apetites on ‘junk’! Take heed to this preacher!

Feed the flock because you want to 1 Peter 5:2-4 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Shepherds are commanded by God to feed the flock. They are to be taking oversight of the flock and seeing who is eating, who is not, if they are eating enough, who might be hungry, who is sickly, etc.. They are to gladly, willingly, excitedly feed the flock. Don’t just do it because that’s what you get paid to do! Do it whether you get paid or not! A shepherd must have a strong desire to feed the flock or there is something seriously wrong with that shepherd! Their mind needs to be ‘ready’ to do this; their mind needs to be made up to do this. It is serious business…in fact, feeding the flock is the most serious business of a ‘pastor’ (shepherd). You are to be a ‘feeder’ of the flock, not a ‘beater’ (lord over)! You are to be out there with the flock in the field as a living ensample…feeding them, loving them, caring for them, leading them, protecting them. Do this well dear shepherd, and you will be rewarded well!

{The Art of Pastoring: pgs. 24-27,39 Commentary on this passage}

Lovingly feed them Isa 40:10-11 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Jesus Christ is our example of how to feed the flock. It is to be done ‘like a shepherd’. It shows us here that great care and love is to be the motivator behind the feeding of them. Some shepherds won’t feed the flock Jer 23:1-5 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

There are a lot of bad pastors out there (yes, in independent Baptistdom!). They are suppose to be feeding them, but they are scattering and destroying them. The shepherds are not taking care to feed them. They are taking care to cause the sheep to go elsewhere; to other flocks; to other pastures. They scatter down to the next ‘good’ church. Some don’t scatter on down the road like this, but are actually destroyed; they get real sick and effectively die (become useless for the Lord). All because of a bad shepherd; a shepherd that really doesn’t want to feed them; a shepherd that ends up hurting them.

Well, don’t worry, God will find shepherds that will feed them; that will care for their needs. Don’t fear any more dear sheep. God will show you where to go where there is a good shepherd. It’s amazing; God typically will have the bad shepherds leave and try and find ‘greener’ pastures (pastorates); and the sheep will then get a good pastor.

Getting fat off the flock Ezekiel 34 1-3 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

Some shepherds are only concerned about feeding themselves. They focus their life on getting fat off the flock; money, perks, housing, car, suits, conferences, vacations; more and more and more each year. Look at the typical Televangelist today! Just how many big gold rings does a man need to have?!!! These are focused on their own needs, and not the needs of the flock. They should be willing to die for feeding the flock; feed them even if you are starving! God really dislikes these type of shepherds that get fat off the flock! He says ‘woe be to’ these shepherds! They are ‘eating the fat’: taking almost all the church’s monies for your own selfish desires (buildings, cars, buses, fancy offices, big conferences, etc). But, almost no money goes towards edifying the body. Instead of feeding the flock, they are bleeding the flock…they end up killing most of them. Have you ever heard of a new pastor coming in to a church and he proceeds to quickly run off almost all of the sheep; and then sets up ‘his regime’; and lives high on the hog!?!

10 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

O ye shepherds! Is the Lord God against you?! Have things not been going well lately? Have you been treating the Lord’s sheep well? Being harsh? Neglecting them? Not feeding them much? Focused on your needs, not theirs? God may require His flock at your hand! He may deliver them to another shepherd who will take better care of them. God may remove you from the shepherdship. And, if you are not a shepherd yet, and you have this selfish, uncaring attitude like these did, God will surely not ever place you into the shepherdship.

14,15,23,24,28,31 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.