Discipling the Ordinary
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the February 8, 2014
Sabbath School Lesson
“Jesus went through all the towns and
villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the
kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had
compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without
a shepherd.” Matthew 9:35-36, NIV
Some might
find it strange that Jesus would think of the people as sheep without a
shepherd. After all, wasn’t Herod in charge? Wasn’t Pilate the Roman governor?
Wasn’t Caiaphas the high priest? Were there not many priests, Levites, and
scribes to instruct the people? How could Jesus feel this way? Perhaps He was naïve
or confused. Surely He could see that the people had many leaders to shepherd
them. Maybe He did see all of this and yet still felt that way.
Was it
possible that what He saw was shepherds who instead of caring for the sheep,
were jostling and shoving for power and control over the flock and each other?
Perhaps wherever there is opportunity for leadership there is also a temptation
to abuse it. Did Paul create a monster for modern Christianity when he wrote, “Whoever
aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task,”[i]
Some seem to have read in that simple note license to bite, claw, scratch and
backstab in order to achieve clerical and lay ecclesiastical offices. While all
are sinners,[ii]
even those who aspire to greater office, some who perhaps have managed to keep
their sins hidden from public view may privately gloat when an opponent is less
perspicacious about the need to do so. And even if their opponent is more
circumspect, there is always the possibility of ferreting something out that
will challenge someone’s reputation enough to remove them as a viable opponent
for a coveted position of power.
We see such
Machiavellian machinations in the field of civil politics where much dirt is
flung back and forth in the hope that some of it will stick and allow the
flinger to gain a moral advantage in striving for public office. As disgusting
as it is, we have perhaps become resigned to such antics from political
candidates. However, we may not be aware how much it is present in the Christian
church, also. Sadly, it may even be worse for outwardly everything may appear
beautiful and circumspect, but hidden away behind closed doors the dirt is
tossed around without the victim even knowing that it is happening.[iii]
While I wish
it were otherwise, I have seen such behavior hidden away from the general
church population, while I was serving on various committees and boards of the
church. For example, I have been approached by those who would have a sitting
elder “dealt with” and punished by being removed from office based on an
allegation of bad behavior. When referred to the biblical process for dealing
with such things in Matthew, chapter eighteen, his accusers refused to follow a
process that would bring their accusations out into the open. Instead, they
insisted that they wanted the church committee or board to deal with the individual
by removing them from office solely on the accuser’s say so without benefit of
a defense. Of course, they often tend to see themselves or a close friend or
family member as an ideal replacement candidate.
Those who
engage in such smear campaigns sometimes do not rest even if frustrated in
their initial attempt. Often such obstacles only seem to encourage them to
begin a continuous campaign of defamation until they achieve their goal. They
may bring other family members or friends to add their denunciations to the
pool. A network of spies may begin to secretly report anything suspect no
matter how trivial. They may print and share privately what they feel are
questionable communications obtained from the internet, careful to add their
own interpretive commentary.
The
interesting paradox is that this behavior often pertains only to positions of
control and power. In the Seventh-day Adventist denomination this might apply
locally to the lay positions of Sabbath School Superintendent, Elders, and
particularly Head Elder. While many positions that do not give individuals such
control go begging for people to fill them, ugly battles may rage over the
rest. It is not uncommon to see family dynasties seize control of the Head
Eldership, with supporting family members or friends they can count on assuming
other remaining local positions of power, perhaps other elderships, as a
political reward for their support once the family has been victorious in its
struggle. When the battle has been won at the local church level then the power
base is established to similarly battle for influence and control at the higher
levels of conference, union, and division. It would seem to be naïve to think
that such struggles in the local church do not also play out in these larger
arenas.
Sadly, too many
have been wounded beyond healing over the years by such “Christian” infighting.
The nurture of the flock is neglected and the sheep may be pretty much left to
themselves as long as they do not have the temerity to challenge those who have
fought so hard to obtain and consolidate power. At times some within the flock
will bleat out a concern about the failure of the church to evangelize and add
new members. However, they may not understand the behind the scenes scheming
that makes it difficult to focus outwardly.
New members
are a threatening unknown quantity. They do not understand “how things work”
and may come into conflict with the already established culture of power and
control that no one is currently questioning. Until those in power find them “safe,”
new members may find themselves very much on the outside of things. This may go
on for some time until the members leave in frustration, never having felt that
they belonged, or they may begin to build their own power base to challenge the
existing cadre. This can more easily happen if the new member or members can
muster more charisma than the current leaders.
Lest we
think that Jesus was not thinking of such things when He referred to the
ordinary people being like “sheep without a shepherd,” we perhaps should
consider the words of Isaiah. He was the prophet who identified Jesus as the
true Shepherd.[iv]
He wrote of the greedy shepherds, “Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack
knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream,
they love to sleep. They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have
enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own
way, they seek their own gain.”[v]
Such
shepherds see the flock only as a means to build a power base for further gain
and greater power. When it comes to truly protecting the flock, they are like
sheepdogs unable to bark, because they lack even a basic knowledge of the needs
of the sheep in the flock and what it takes to meet those needs. They will
utter platitudes of faith and prayer while doing little to involve themselves
in those needs.[vi] A
Head Elder who has not visited the homes of the church members to know their
situations is likely a faithless shepherd. The same may be said of one who has
not visited the homes in the neighborhood around the church to know their
situations.
To be sure,
there are those in leadership positions who try to faithfully fulfill their
responsibilities as shepherds, but often, like Nicodemus, they are relegated to
roles as bit players and if necessary shouted down by those who exercise the actual
political power and control.[vii]
Young pastors in their naïveté may come to their first parish with a desire to
impartially serve their parishioners with grace and compassion, but they will
quickly be instructed by the parish’s power brokers whom it is they must
appease, and how they should not upset the normal order of things. If those in
power choose to withhold their financial support because the pastor has “forgotten
his place,” the unwise pastor may soon feel the heat from his bosses at the
local conference. Sometimes the grip on power is so widespread that more than
one conference, and even the union, may begin to raise the temperature in the
pastor’s parish.
If this is
the way with the sheep within the fold, how is there any hope for those who are
not yet in the fold? Can a church which calls itself the remnant, last-day
church[viii]
charged with bringing the Earth the final message[ix]
fulfil its mission under the leadership of such shepherds? Perhaps not, but
what is the solution?
Much of the
political chicanery takes place behind the scenes through private meetings that
arrange for supposedly democratic votes but with predetermined outcomes. Perhaps
a better, more Christian method of conducting business would be with total
transparency. Instead of providing an atmosphere for hidden manipulation as closed
meetings can be prone to, examine the motives of all involved and understand
how they would gain in power and prestige if things went their way. Then remove
from participation those that would have such conflicts of interest as to
profit from a committee, board or constituency vote.
Those with
such a grip on power will not easily surrender it. They would likely not agree
to transparency in any meaningful sense. But rather than give up the struggle
for right perhaps we should remember the words of Jesus. ““With man this is
impossible, but with God all things are possible.”[x]
