Shepherds – how is your flock doing?

The failure of the New Zealand church through the pandemic ought to be clear to all except the most blinded by now. I suspect that when we eventually get back to normal, the church won’t look like it did in 2020. Many individual churches have been weighed and found wanting. The rot that was already in some of the timber but painted over with nice glossy paint so that the average Christian didn’t notice it has been exposed for just about all to see. It turns out paint over dry rot counts for nothing when someone comes along and squeezes that timber hard. So what has happened to the flock?

Firstly, the spiritual health and vitality of the flock has been counted as secondary to their physical health. We have had pastors perhaps forgivably at first, follow the government’s rules on not meeting during lockdowns, but as this dragged out, how have the sheep been cared for? For months at a time, the sheep have not been allowed to gather, and in this time, how have they been pastored? How many pastors have regularly contacted their flock to encourage and pray with them? Jesus knows his sheep by name, but how many elders and pastors have demonstrated that kind of relationship to those in their care? How many have spoken out against the injustice perpetrated against those who lost their businesses due to the government’s response, or those who lost their livelihoods because of the vaccine mandates? How many have heard the sad stories of those impacted adversely by the covid vaccine? How many have wept with those who suffered from the authoritarian approach of our government? How many have encouraged the church to rally around those who have lost their jobs and financially support them? For many leaders, ‘shepherding’ is now done remotely via zoom Sunday services where the pastor’s message can be broadcast, but there is no time to hear from the sheep.

Secondly, by refusing to speak throughout this pandemic many pastors have allowed division in the flock to fester. Many have tried to sit on the fence and allow for different points of view on the government reaction to the pandemic hoping against hope to hold on to the whole congregation. But we have had two years of almost nothing. Two years of this, and many leaders have refused to make public statements in support of those who have been unjustly treated. As a result, we have seen (in general) wealthier, less affected ‘elite’ Christians pile on against ordinary sheep who have borne the brunt of these policies and who dare to raise their voices against the covid narrative. What we have needed is clear leadership condemning the government response where it has been evil. The sheep who haven’t understood this needed strong leaders to help them develop a biblical understanding of justice and the biblical role of government. They needed pastors to come out swinging against vaccine passports and church segregation. They needed pastors to…well pastor. On the whole, we just haven’t seen this apart from a minority of bright lights whose lampstands have not been removed. We have seen it from a few such as the Free to be Church group, and some individual pastors, like the group who despite having a different theological understanding of Scripture to Brian Tamaki, nonetheless spoke out against the injustice in his imprisonment. The church as a whole should be hammering the government over its wickedness, but we’ve heard barely a squeak. Why? Much of the church wavers between two opinions. It cannot decide whether Caesar or Christ is Lord. And our leaders almost to a man have a truncated understanding of the gospel and won’t talk about anything that isn’t a ‘gospel issue.’

Thirdly, church leaders have become overawed by ‘experts’ in health. These ‘experts’ have been deciding what is best for the flock. But shepherds are experts on sheep. Doctors aren’t. So in deciding what sheep need best, it is a foolish shepherd who defers to the local GP or ‘health professional’. In too many cases, pastors have abandoned their posts and holy calling to “Pay careful attention to….all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,” (Acts 20:28). Many have ignored the apostle Peter’s command to “Shepherd the flock of God” eagerly by being examples (I Peter 5:2-3). Instead, too many have delegated that authority to so-called health professionals in their congregations whom God has not given the responsibility to. And of course, those health professionals who still have their jobs tend to be those who have ultimately delegated their authority to the government-sanctioned response to the pandemic as expressed by the ubiquitous government Covid propaganda peddled in our prostituted media and spouted daily from the ‘podium of truth.’ So you have the ridiculous situation where a nurse or a GP in a congregation (with no reference to their spiritual maturity) is determining or having undue influence on how shepherding occurs.

Shepherds, even now as the tide turns, it is not too late. Take care of your sheep – speak out against the injustice being done, don’t segregate and allow division to fester. Instead, lead your congregations without kowtowing to the health professionals. The Chief Shepherd is watching, and we know he has removed lampstands in the past (Revelation 2:5).