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The Lord, Our Shepherd

Introduction

A shepherd provides leadership to the flock, especially, sheep. This shepherd is a guide and a trusted individual to the flock. S/he is to identify the needs of the flock and support them accordingly. It is important for any country, community, or individuals to have a trusted leadership over them. In the Christian faith, the shepherds are supposed to provide spiritual oversight to the faithful believers. This is the intention of God to his church as presented below.

And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD (Jer 23:4). Jehovah is my Shepherd; I shall not want (Psa 23:1, MKJV).

It is literally understood that a shepherd is the one who takes care of sheep. In many instances, the people of God are called sheep (Num 27:17, 1Ki 22:17, 2Ch 18:16, Mat 9:36, Mar 6:34). Sheep are feeble animals that need daily instruction or guidance and protection from their shepherd. David sees Himself a helpless sheep who requires guidance and protection from a trusted shepherd or the Lord his God. Being a shepherd himself, he finds no best shepherd than Jesus.

David affirms that the Lord, being his shepherd, would provide him all he needs. He does not mean “wants” but “needs”. This is rightly put “Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing” (Psa 23:1, WEB) that I need. We shall always be in want since human wants are insatiable. We have a God who provides us with our daily needs; food and drink, security, clothing, and shelter, among others.

According to Jeremiah, like David, a shepherd should be able to feed the flock, protect them from threat and fear and seeks to provide for them.

In the Bible, the use of the word “shepherd” also refers to a pastor or spiritual overseer (Psa 80:1, Ecc 12:11, Isa 40:4, Isa 63:14. Jesus is spoken of as the:

  • The Shepherd and Bishop of your souls (1Pt 2:25).
  • Good Shepherd (Joh 10:14)
  • The One Shepherd (Eze 34:23, Eze 37: 24, Joh 10:16)
  •  Chief Shepherd (1Pe 5:4)
  • Great Shepherd (Heb 13:20)

As believers, the knowledge of the nature of the shepherd we have should remove all fears and uncertainties from us. Jesus, being our spiritual leader, feeds us with Himself and heals us of our wounds and comforts us in painful moments. Our great and chief Shepherd feeds us with green pasture (which is Himself). Jesus, our Senior Pastor, calls us to Himself, pardons us and heals our wounds and gives us comfort, hope, and assurance of a better future.

Conclusion

Jesus, the Bishop of our souls, is very dependable and caring. He provides all our daily needs. He sustains us and carries us on His shoulders when we are weak. He is that Shepherd who died for His sheep and is now alive for them.

Prayer: Lord God, our selfless and Good Shepherd, may you continually guard and guide us through this life, as you exchange your strength for our weaknesses. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen!

 

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Women and Men in Christ´s Church

 

Introduction

This edition of our Newsletter completes our series on gender equality in the teachings of the Bible. Here, two topical issues; “women to ask their husbands” and “if anyone shall purge himself” are discussed.

Women to ask their Husbands

“And the woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is pleased to dwell with her, do not let her leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; else your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbelieving one separates, let him be separated. A brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace. For what do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? Or what do you know, O man, whether you shall save your wife?” (1Co 7:13-16).

Paul who wrote that women should be silent in the church, and forbid them to teach or to have authority over the man, also wrote the above scripture. He strongly contends that Christians women should not leave their unbelieving husband if they would like to stay with them because the unbelieving husbands are sanctified by their wives. The anticipation of Paul here is that the believing wives may be able to save their husbands. In such a case, does Paul still expect the believing wives to go home and ask their husbands questions that they seek answers to, as proposed in 1Co 14:35? So if the women do not have husbands to whom would they ask their questions? If the believing wives, through godliness and submission, learn the word of God and mature and are able to save their husbands, do these husbands become mature automatically to teach their wives of the word of God? One would submit that in such instances, God or Paul would not condemn the godly Christian women who teach their husbands the ways of God.

Similarly, it was a slave girl who witnessed to Naaman through his wife for him to receive deliverance from his leprosy (1Kgs 5:1-27). In effect, a woman led a man to God. Should God punish a woman if she witnesses Christ to unbelieving men and disciples them when they believe in Christ? Bible does not contradict itself, so the contexts within which instructions were given should be well considered. The next section discusses an important scripture concerning people God uses in the church.

If Anyone Purges Himself

“But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. Therefore if anyone purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel to honor, sanctified and useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2Tim 2:20-21).

It is believed that Paul was not referring only to men but the church which included women. Despite the honor bestowed on a woman in a passage as in Proverbs 31, in actual practice outside of the home, she was a subservient person. The life of the Greek woman, as in most communities today, was restricted mostly to the home. She was supposed to live in her own quarters and did not come to the public sphere. She was hardly involved in community meetings or activities. What needs to be understood is that when a woman became a Christian, she was, for the very first time in her life, considered a complete human being.

In a background like this,  Paul would write that in a great house (understandably, the church) there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. These differences exist in the Christian fellowship, but if any shall live in purity and be committed to the things of God, God would choose him or her for His own use. Human beings may be contending with God for refusing to allow God to use women for the preaching of the Gospel, but the purposes of God are always established.

Conclusion

It is the divine purpose of God to include both men and men in His own plans. He places no limitations on anyone who desires to work with Him in any capacity. God does not discriminate on the basis of gender. Humility of simple men to learn from those women who are seasoned believers is recommended.

Prayer: Dear lord, teach our hearts to know your ways, in Jesus´ name. Amen!