When The Sheep Go Marching In

by Van Robison

For many years, like my fellow sheep, I went dutifully marching into the church buildings. As with my fellow sheep, we all nodded a big "bah bah" to everything the "pastor" said and did. We all thought our shepherd was the local pastor and sometimes we even chorused "bah bah" to visiting "shepherds." One day the Chief Shepherd told the sheep that He is the ONLY HEAD, and many of the sheep decided to follow the voice of the Chief Shepherd and no longer heard the calls of the paid hirelings. Now many of the sheep follow Jesus Christ instead of man-shepherds, because the Chief Shepherd loves the sheep and gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11-14). When the paid hirelings see the wolf coming, the paid hirelings flee and leave the sheep to be devoured. Thankfully, Jesus Christ provides a safe place for the sheep to pasture.

Paid hirelings believe that sheep have to go marching into the church buildings, where they can be fed. Sometimes the sheep are abused and made to live in fear of the paid hirelings. The paid hirelings make the sheep think they (the sheep) are the personal property of the paid hirelings. Some of the paid hirelings act like dictators and spiritually abuse the innocent sheep. Many sheep have been wounded and some severely by the hirelings. Many sheep are so gullible and naive that they follow hirelings in blind obedience and subservience. Hordes of paid hirelings think that the Chief Shepherd is not qualified to lead His sheep, even though the Chief Shepherd says, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).

I have relatives in a major city in the South who have attended a Baptist church for the past several years. A few years ago this church hired a "pastor" (paid hireling) who has made some substantial changes and converted their church building into a seating arrangement to accommodate a megachurch. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law stopped attending this church, even though they did the "40-days of purpose" program, and they have said that the pastor has become a "dictator." He is a "nice" guy as long as you agree with his ways.

It is my opinion that human beings, including Christians, are not meant to rule over other human beings. That is not to say that we do not mentor each other, or learn from others. When people are given positions of "authority" and given flattering titles, it is cause for vanity, pride, self-importance, and often leads to spiritual abuse of others. The mistake that the church world makes with titles and positions is in thinking that "apostles, evangelists, prophets, pastors" and so forth are "positions" or "offices", when in fact they are functions and not power or control positions. The term "apostle" was never used by Jesus Christ in the four Gospels and it merely means "one sent." Some sources think that the term "apostle" is a powerful, high level position of authority in church hierarchy and they even teach that "God's Generals" are "Apostles and Prophets." They think that the entire worldwide church system, including every local church on earth should be "under" authority to apostles and prophets. That is a recipe for disaster--a total dictatorship. So-called pastors are not Jesus Christ and they are not infallible human beings. In fact, those who call themselves "pastors" are no different from the sheep, it is just that when they look in the mirror, they see a "professional pastor", where many of us see a paid hireling.

People who thrive on power, control, position, and who love authority over others and free money from tithes and offerings, will always make others feel guilty for not submitting to their supposed authority. They will teach that God ordained spiritual rulers to control and to do the thinking for all others. They will control your life and your pocketbook for as long as you live, if you allow them to do so. While the name of Jesus Christ is paraded in front of the sheep at all times, the paid hirelings will forever take advantage of the flock. Paid hirelings believe they are ordained by God and that they have a right to rule over your life. No paid hireling was ever nailed to the cross for your salvation, which is exclusive to the real Chief Shepherd--Jesus Christ. Many paid hirelings may have honorable intentions, but that is no excuse for making personal disciples, when the real commission is to make disciples to follow Jesus Christ.

When the sheep go marching into the church buildings, the paid hirelings will fleece the flock.