Why shepherds have a challenging and difficult task today: When it comes to racial division in the church, the culprit is today’s social justice agenda, and immoral sexual identity or tolerance relates to the LGBTQ activism and agenda.  The former is not biblical justice, and the latter is not biblical morality.  Racially, we are called to be one in Christ.  Sexually, we are only physically male and female in Christ–—not emotions or immoral desires.

Shepherds, that is ministers, priests, and other church leaders, have a most challenging and difficult responsibility–—especially today.  You may ask why or even articulate a Hmm! Throughout church history, it has not been easy.  There have been challenges resulting from false teachings, heresies, apostasies, moral scandals, and persecutions.  However, it may be questioned how can it be more challenging or difficult today?  Hopefully and eventually, I hope to be capable of shedding light on the why.
First, the flock and shepherds themselves need reminding of what shepherds are tasked to do and how they genuinely fulfill their obligation to the sheep.  Wouldn’t it be helpful to go to a sheep farm to observe what they do or to even go back in time in order to understand the biblical definition and description of shepherding?  Basically, shepherds were responsible to both feed the sheep by leading them to green pastures and to protect the sheep by anticipating dangers such as predators, rocky cliffs and dense bushes in which they could become entangled.
Personally, I’ve wanted to visit a sheep ranch to learn how differently ewes and rams are treated, as a constant conflict exists throughout church history and today as to the roles of men and women in the church.  I once thought of writing a book or essay entitled “Ewes in Rams’ Land.”  I hope this brings a smile on both men’s and women’s faces!  I’ll leave you to guess in what direction that would go; and you might be surprised!
Back to the shepherds and their task(s); feeding and protecting the sheep appear to be equal in importance for the sheep.  In many churches, expository preaching–— preaching through an entire book of the Bible–—is considered the summa cum laude preaching method, so much so it can even become an idol for some.  In other churches, topical preaching is the favored choice, while yet in others short, pithy homilies are de rigeuer.
Each perhaps has its strengths and weaknesses.  Certainly, expository preaching feeds; but does it protect when specific threats arise?  Topical preaching may do a better job of protecting, but does it promote nurturing feeding?  Not as familiar with short homilies, I’m incapable of distinguishing clearly which is stressed or if neither are.
Today’s shepherds do well to recognize their sheep–—like those grazing in a meadow–—are seriously in need of lush pastures for feeding and anticipatory protection from predators, falling down rocky cliffs or becoming entangled in thick bushes.  Both are equal responsibilities for shepherds who love and care for their Master and His sheep.  In other words, feeding and protecting the sheep are fulfilled by shepherds who are genuinely committed and loyal to their Master/Owner of the sheep.
The sheep will never flourish or thrive without feeding from “the whole counsel of God.” They also will not persevere if they are not protected from false ideologies and teachings or moral scandals.  They require clear focus on what the dangers are.  Someone else has written that sheep have poor eyesight but have a keen sense of hearing; are timid and nervous–—defenseless against predators; tend to huddle together and go where one sheep goes.  In other words, they are fragile and self-defenseless.
Today, just as throughout the Church’s history, Christians and the church are speedily assaulted with one deceptive ideology after another.  It’s not the time to ignore or be silent in face of such assaults.  This may be the weakness of expository preaching, that is, it doesn’t take a rest from feeding to protect the sheep.  The sheep need to be made aware of what ideologies are false and why from diverse biblical passages.  That requires topical preaching.  It also requires sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s urging to focus on protecting the sheep.  Shepherds do well to remember there are also new lambs in the flock.  It‘s not enough for church leaders only to be aware or to be engaged in fighting infiltration of racial divisions and embracing sexually immoral identities or tolerance.  These are just two of the most aggressive false ideologies infiltrating the Church currently–—all three branches–—and particularly Evangelical and Reformed Faith churches and denominations.
I expressed hope to shed light on why shepherds have a challenging and difficult task today. When it comes to racial division in the church, the culprit is today’s social justice agenda, and immoral sexual identity or tolerance relates to the LGBTQ activism and agenda.  The former is not biblical justice, and the latter is not biblical morality.  Racially, we are called to be one in Christ.  Sexually, we are only physically male and female in Christ–—not emotions or immoral desires.
Shepherds (clerical and laity), continue to feed the sheep, but please–—really please–—protect your flock as well.  Don’t ignore or be silent to the dangers your Master’s sheep face.  They need you to do both tasks.
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder andwitness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glorythat is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you,exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, accordingto the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness . . . (1 Peter 5: 2)
Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.

Your friend shares about their special needs child? You are listening to a story of your friend who is a caregiver and the surgery the person they care for just had? Your friend just took their family to a special camp and had a great experience? Phil. 2:3-5, “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for our own personal interests, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” Let’s do this and care about others, their story, and give them “their moment!”

Impressed recently about this idea, I have realized that we don’t often give others a chance to share their “moment” without others (or myself) wanting to share a similar experience or story. Something that happened to us recently has us really reflecting and being much more observant of letting others share what is important to them without topping their story or telling our own unless they ask.
Upon being asked how we were, Joe shared that I (Cindi) had just gotten out of the hospital and shared in 2 sentences how critical I was in the ICU -going in for one reason and other things popping up. Without missing a beat, nor asking a question or showing any interest, they shared about a friend who went into the hospital for something and died of something unrelated. It helped us to realize some things we should be aware of when others share something with us:

Others (outside our closer circles) probably don’t really care and thus their own story will come to mind and trumps ours (we didn’t know this persons’ friend, so how was this story pertinent in the moment?)
Their story was obviously more important or they would have asked about ours (not a question asked nor a concern shown except, “get better soon”.)
Their “death” story of their friend didn’t encourage our journey!
The “can you top this” attitude can leave one feeling unheard and invisible. (It did us.)

So how did we handle it? We said not another word, listened to the story and commented on it, sharing our condolences on the loss, and went on our way.
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Sins must not be minimized or trivialized. Sin caused our world to fall into the depths of depravity and violence. Sin caused our precious and spotless savior to undergo the wrath of God. And sin, while promising pleasure, becomes the bane of intimacy between us and God. Knowing this, let us be vigilant in fighting, making war, and mortifying our flesh so that we can experience more joy, more intimacy, and more pleasure in knowing God.

There are no such things as little sins. Every minuscule action or inaction, every microscopic thought, feeling, or the lack thereof that is tainted with even the slightest trace of sin, is eternally damaging to our relationship with God. And yet, we live in a world constantly seeking to minimize what the Bible calls sin. I do it. You do it. We all do it. We all want to reduce the gravity of our sin to the point where it no longer stings the soul.
We take things that are offensive to God and then reframe them in language that is more palatable to our egos and consciences.
For instance, how many politicians or celebrities have you heard make the claim “I made a mistake” when it is discovered that they are cheating on their spouse? They do not call it sin or adultery; they reduce it to the level of accidental carelessness. The same word I would use to describe spilling a glass of milk or tripping on a street corner – a mistake – is the word used for intentionally planning a prolonged illicit relationship of sexual and emotional infidelity. These two actions are not the same!
This is why infidelity is cast as “my needs aren’t getting met” because the perpetrator wants to become the victim. Divorce has now been recategorized as “falling out of love,” “drifting apart,” or “we just weren’t a good fit” to avoid a sin that God hates. Digitally depicted sex acts, incest, rape, and grotesque forms of violence are all rebranded under the guise of entertainment and joyfully consumed without question. Homosexuality and pedophilia are called “love,” rebranded as normative expressions of affection and sexual behavior instead of the rank perversions they are. Abortion, which is the intentional slaughtering of innocent humans, is more politely called “rights” and “healthcare.”
Yet, we not only play these games with big sins but also do that slimy dance with the sins we consider to be smaller ones. For example, many treat lying as no longer “wrong” in an absolute sense but sometimes can be situationally advantageous. Gluttony can be called words like “comfort,” “foodie,” or “boredom.” Even sins of omission, where we do not do what God commanded, can be seen as “not my gifting” or “Not qualified,” which does not Biblically work. See Matthew 28:18-20 for an explicit command that is woefully ignored today.
I am convinced that this behavior is a universal human condition. Christian or not, believer or skeptic, we all long to maximize our ego and minimize our culpability before God.
How can I say this? Because I want to minimize my sins right along with you. I cannot speak for everyone, but I know intimately how the human condition works because I am very much human. I detest that I am a guilty sinner and would gladly scuttle past that point without a moment’s reflection if I could. To do that, I either have to deal with how sinful I am and be brutally honest about it, or I will do what we all do and minimize, trivialize, and placate our sins.
And maybe you will ask, why do we do this? I think it is evident in Scripture that when we chose rebellion against God, something intrinsic to our souls was broken so that all we now do and everything we crave has been tainted by the disease of sin. Instead of honesty, we weave clever ruses to picture ourselves as the good guy. We do not want to face the music that we have failed and are deeply flawed in ways we cannot fix. We do not want to admit that we would fail a million times if we were given a million chances with God. We avoid the obvious truth, so we can keep our sin outside of us instead of dealing with the reality that it is going on within that is affecting, effecting, and infecting us all.
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