A shepherd is willing to give his life for His sheep He gives them his all. A hireling gives them his time when its convenient.
A hireling treats the sheep like they aren't his. They aren't Hes just tending them, waiting for a better opportunity. He's there for a paycheck. Or a title. His concern is for the prestige, the recognition of being a "shepherd" and the sheep are his means of achieving it.
A hireling flees. Doesn't stand up for the sheep, lets them be taken with no fight at all. His attitude is, "Better them than me".
As far as feeding the sheep- hes content in giving them some stale grain, and his attitude is "They'll eat it if they get hungry enough".
If they "stray for greener pastures", will the hireling search for that one lost sheep? Why should he... its not his sheep. Wasn't nothing but a trouble maker anyway.
Quote:
Jhn 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Jhn 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Jhn 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
This thread, like many good threads, started out well enough. But something went sour somewhere along the way. Not taking sides and not really caring whose at fault, I was thinking about the above verses. First the shepherd (and we know the pastor is a shepherd to the local flock) gives his life for the sheep. The sheep, in a very real sense, becomes his life. Why? Because unlike the hireling, the pastor cares for the sheep. He gives his life for the sheep. What this says to me is this: he is, by the very nature of his office, an example for the sheep. The hireling is not so. He merely tends for someones else's sheep. He's there for the paycheck. He's there for what he can get out of the deal, whether it is a paycheck, a nice home, or the highly desirable title of Pastor. To be sure, if he is hieling, he doesn't care for the sheep. He doesn't risk his lives for them, and, when trouble comes, where it be a literal wolf or a church conflict, what does the hireling do. "He fleeth..." . And thats the point I'm trying to get at. Pastors try to stem church conflicts before they can grow into full blown church wars. What I see here is some brethren who aren't giving their lives for the sheep. They aren't allowing their lives to be an example of what Christians are suppose to be. They have fled their very first pastoral responsibility: they aren't serving as examples to the flock. But, rather they have become the very thing they teach their sheep not to be: arguing, fussing and fighting Christians. They are showing us how God does not want us to be. So, does this make them pastors? or hirelings? They may have the title of Pastor. They may be excellent Bible teachers. But, at least for now, they are reduced to mere hirelings who are allowing the big bad wolf of contention and strife to roam freely among God's Sheep.
|
Threaded Mode
