What about "Feeding the Flock"

 I re-read my post from Monday... It's Wednesday now, the "mellow middle" of the week, and I have to qualify my assertions a bit. I want to say that I'm not anti-shepherding as it relates to churches. I don't think that churches are evangelism machines... just dragging people who are far from God across the line of faith and running out to grab some more.

You've heard the quote...

"Some people want to live within the sound of chapel bells,
but I want to run a mission a yard from the gates of hell." - John Wesley

That resonates with me on many levels... but it's not fully how I'm wired. It's not exactly what my heart envisions.

I think "a yard from the gates of hell." is the best place to reach lost people, people far from God. It's also a great place to encounter people lost in the miasma of good intentions... (i.e. "the road to hell is paved with good intentions") You know them... people who say "I'm a good person... God will save me because he knows my heart and I'm really a good guy..."

Here's how I'd explain my passion... I'd like to run "the testimony/praise service in a converted dance-hall a yard and six inches from the gates of hell." As i envision it, when people on the road to hell are approaching the gates, they'll hear the excitement they might not be able to help but stop in and check it out. When they see themselves in the countless stories of "good people," who were grabbed only inches from disaster, they may just stay and listen. Over time they'll come to realize that there was only one "Good Person" and turn to the One that can save them like he saved those who came before them.

I know that's splitting hairs to some extent. Witnessing is always "one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread." I guess I'm just wired up to focus on the celebration when the "lost sheep comes home."

But I think of the parable of the lost sheep, and the lost coin... The shepherd LEFT THE SHEEP who were in the fold and sought the lost sheep. The woman thought of nothing else but that lost coin... she swept and searched... and searched and swept until she found it. She thought of nothing else until that coin was recovered. I see Christ, in these parables, revealing his priority for shepherds and for the kingdom of God.

Fishers of men... seekers of lost sheep... searchers for the lost coin... fathers of prodigals... people who "GO" into all the world... I find myself so drawn to them that I scarcely have a though for the guy who he left the sheep with... Or the son who stayed behind while the prodigal roamed and rioted.

Perhaps I'm adding my own bias to the back-story, but I don't see either the shepherd who stayed with the flock, or the son who stayed behind while his brother roamed, as feeling they had the plum job. But both were necessary for the story. There was continuity to be maintained... sheep to be fed and calves to be "fatted."

A few years ago I was involved in a church-based seeker ministry... We did a weekly service targeted toward people who might be "kicking the tires" on a relationship with God. We were offered an opportunity to take our ministry team to the UK as an example of what might work in churches there... But we were also committed to holding a service at home every week so that we'd always be there when a seeker might show up. This meant we needed to leave a team behind to carry on while we "went into all the world." We would have gone anyway... regardless of weather we had a second team or not... But we valued the team that filled our places while we were gone. That being said... I wouldn't have chosen to stay rather than to go. It would be like Indiana Jones only getting to teach... he's made for so much more than that.

Keith Green used to say "Jesus commands us to 'Go...' it should be the exception to stay..."

I guess what I find strange is that we seem to have an awesome opportunity in our culture right now to intersect and make a difference right from our churches, and many are reluctant to embrace it. People today are actively seeking God's touch and many are looking in the the logical or traditional places first... Churches. If you can't experience the presence of God in a church, where can you experience it.

Yet many churches are more tied to their traditions or their customs that they are to reaching out to the people that God is sending, or would send, through their doors if He thought they'd find a connection with Him there.

I really believe shepherding is important... sheep get restless, they bicker and bite each other... and shepherds are needed to maintain order. But sheep do far less fighting when they're on the move. They need to be LED as much as they need to be FED. Congregations do far less fighting, and are far less needy, when they have a mission and are working TOGETHER toward a goal.

Army commanders have far fewer morale and discipline problems when the troops are on a mission than they do while the army is encamped and awaiting their next move. Sheep interact better when they're walking than when they're grazing or in the pen.

It would seem that maybe churches would need far less "tending and feeding" when they are "on mission" as well.

The life-cycle of a christian is akin to the life-cycle of a human being... you're born helpless and need feeding and training... and your diapers changed. As you get older you start to take care of yourself until eventually you're producing children/disciples.

When I was a baby, my parents fed me... My dad did "the airplane" and brought the food swooping in for a landing in my gaping/waiting mouth. But as I grew older, I began to feed myself. He still provided the food but I did my own eating. Now that I'm an adult, he still asks me if I've eaten... but he assumes that I'll say "yes" because I'm a self-feeder. In fact, he has watched, with great pleasure, as I've fed my boys... enjoying the passing of the torch and regaling us with stories of when he fed me.

I think spiritual development is very similar. When we're new Christians we need to be fed. As we grow our spiritual mentors teach us to feed ourselves. As we reach maturity they watch us give birth to children... by leading others to Christ... and feed them until they can feed themselves. Mature Christians NEED to be "making and raising babies" not laying back and being fed. It's a part of THEIR development as much as it is a benefit to the new Christian.

It's a pathology for and adult to still need to be fed by their parent. When that happens it's because of an accident or medical/mental condition that has kept the child from developing. We would be uncomfortable seeing a 30-year-old being spoon-fed by his mom or dad. We expect mature individuals to take care of themselves.

Do you know anybody who is a mature adult, but still lives with their mother. it's sad isn't it? They never know the joy of building a relationship and a family... never experience the wonder of raising a child of their own. These stunted adults are rarely happy or fulfilled, and they are certainly not reaching their full potential. So it is with Christians who have stopped growing shortly after conversion. They're taking in the food of the faith, but never putting it into practice. Eventually they get to be like the 700 pound guy who can't get out of the house without a forklift... unwilling to move and unable to care for themselves or contribute to the good of the church.

Shepherding IS a noble calling... but when it becomes enabling instead of teaching... passive instead of leading... it damages the shepherd, the sheep and the sheepfold.

We'll always need people with gifts of mercy to come alongside hurting people, at whatever stage of maturity they're experiencing, and bear part of the burden for a season. But in a church where there are mature Christ-followers that doesn't need to be the main focus of ministry. Armies have doctors and chaplains, cooks and janitors... but the main focus is not the camp, it's THE MISSION. The community that built while we're "On the way" will take care of much of that aspect of shepherding.

People will give time, and talent... dollars and passion... to seeing another lost person come to Christ. But the longer the time-span between those "blessed events" the more the sheep grow restless and begin to bicker. They were made to make disciples and to feed others... not to be force-fed and entertained.

Let's feed the little ones.. and motivate the adults with a mission... namely seeing one more "lost guy" find His Savior.

Christ said "my sheep hear my voice..." and when I read the gospels I keep hearing Him say "Fish... seek... disciple... rescue those in darkness... bear much fruit..." I think I'm hearing him clearly.

I recently heard a pastor put it this way... "Our mission is to bring them in.. train them up... and send them out to do the same." I resonate with that... it keeps me focused and energized... I need brothers to keep me accountable and to "get my back" in tough spiritual struggles... I even need a hint on where to find bread quite often...

But I can feed myself, thanks.

What do you think? Let's hear opposing viewpoints or stories of your struggle... I'd love to spur some thought, evaluation and dialogue.



Here's what I'm reading today...