Jeremiah 23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.
I heard someone ranting with amplified vehemence about the abuse of monies being ripped off by some pastors and embezzlement taking place on some church boards. My heart could feel this man’s frustration as he declared these terrible events to be nothing more than “A Satan-sucking scam.” I agreed with him on who was promoting this type of behaviour. Satan, the chief scammer, the father of lies, and a dream thief of those who once vowed to bend their knees to no other than Jesus Christ, the Lord, had influenced some terrible choices among the shepherds of the faith. What happened to these once-honest church leaders? As often happens, time and the burdens of life bled into the wanting souls of these leaders; their moral compass was left in the outer courts of God’s temple, and compromising became a choice for cupidity and graft. 1John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone should love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
A leader who wants nothing cannot be bought. If the heart of a shepherd is to serve the Lord, his focus will be on the will of God, while knowing within his heart that God will provide the sufficiency of his life. God’s reward for a faithful man is infinitely more fulfilling than living in worldliness, accomplishing little worth or value. What I am saying are not pithy sayings nor platitudes that ring religious bells; they are honest truths to the pastor who has vowed to serve the Lord at any cost. The fact is that God will give His servants what He deems important for living a fulfilled life in this time and the one to come.
I have served on a church board and have been a pastor in the church in two countries, and it is always heartbreaking when a moral failure causes a scandal. No matter where or what denomination it takes place in, the infamy (evil fame) that the committed sins bring to the body of Christ will always end up hurting many people. Prov. 25:10 Lest he that hears it put you to shame, and your infamy turn not away. The difficulty for those who have fallen in these disastrous ways is that they will always have their evil fame stuck to whatever they do. It’s not that they can’t be forgiven; it is the fact that no one falls alone; there are always casualties, and these hurt people become a reminder of a lost blessing. This will cause many to scream, “This is nothing more than a Satan-sucking scam!”
Many years ago, when I had been ordained through prayer and ceremony, I received my pastor’s papers. One of the scriptures that was apodictic and terrifying to me was Jer. 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. I do not know why this verse became a warning of paramount importance that burned and disrupted my heart, but it was always there, hovering in my consciousness. I felt God was saying to me directly, not to be that kind of shepherd. This verse hung over my head throughout the years that I was pastoring. This scripture verse was in itself a shepherd’s staff that tapped the peripheral vision and borders of my life while directing my path forward. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
After many years, when I did not renew any of my pastor’s credentials because my direction in ministry changed, I became a teacher of the faith. I recall saying to the Lord, “I’m breathing easier now since I have come out from under the dominance of that scripture verse.” Of course, I was being cheeky. Then the Lord quickly shared another scripture with me. James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. Yup, out of the fire into the frying pan. There is no tricking God. As God’s Word says, Prov. 21:30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.
Satan’s scams are readily available to anyone at any time, and the reward for falling for them is always destruction, shame, and regret. These scams are designed to bring shame into the lives of those who love the Lord. When we feel guilt, it means we have done something wrong, and we need to repent. When we feel shame, Satan’s demonic strategy is designed to make us say, “There is something wrong with me.” The Holy Spirit always convicts us of sin, and we always know what to do. The devil always accuses us of sin and brings condemnation, resulting in shame and ignominy. As we continue to head towards the end days, there will be those who fall for the tricks and traps of the devil. Their choices of sin and resulting failures do not have to be our lot in our walk with Christ. The Word says that we are more than conquerors and that we fight from a position of strength and not a position of trying to attain strength. We have the grace of God that teaches us to abstain from Satan’s scams. Let us not become a statistic of immoral loss. May God bless us richly.
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