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"Are you under a shepherd or a hireling"
"Are you under a shepherd or a hireling"
The Bible lays out the definitions of both an overseer (under shepherd) and a hireling.
John 10:11-13 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 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. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. (KJV)
1 Tim. 3:1-3 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. (NIV)
Titus 1:7-13 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith. (NIV)
A hireling does not really care about being a watchman, but is more concerned with protecting his reputation, position and income. A true watchman will guard the flock against wolves from within (Acts 20:30) and without (Acts 20:29) no matter the cost to his reputation, position or income.
Following is a little quiz you can take to see if you are a true Biblical under shepherd as a leader in your church, are becoming a hireling, or are one now.
(1) Situation:
A person in your congregation begins to hand out books and materials to others in your church from a known false apostle, false teacher or false prophet. What do you do in response?
Your response:
(a) You assume that this is just an isolated incident that will not have any real effect on your congregation and will soon fade away. Part of the reason you do this is that you do not want to alienate and lose this person from your congregation.
(b) You address the false teachings in general through exegetical Bible teaching. You say nothing specific about the false teacher whose materials have been circulated.
(c) You confront the person who has been handing out the materials personally, asking them to stop proselytizing in your church, carefully explaining the false nature of the teachings of those he or she are promoting by name. You also publicly address the the false teachings and false teachers by name to your congregation.
Answers:
(a) False teaching doesn't just fade away but it becomes leaven and will only grow in your church (1 Cor.5:6, Gal. 5:9). Concern for leaven should outweigh the possibility that person will be offended and leave.
(b) It is not enough to simply address false teachings in general. This is because many Christians have not been trained in discernment to the point where they can make the connection between false teachings and the false teachers who teach them. The apostles and prophets warned about false prophets and teachers by name: (Leviticus 10:1-2, Numbers Chapter 16, 1 Kings 22:11, 24-25, Jeremiah 28:15-17, Jeremiah 29:31-32, Ezekiel 8:8-11, Ezekiel 11:1-13, 1 Timothy 1:19-20, 2 Timothy 4:14, 3 John 9-10, Revelation 2:20, 1 Corinthians 4:18 and all of chapter 5, Revelation 2:14-15, etc.).
(c) The...
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By AtwellBros Radio"Are you under a shepherd or a hireling"
The Bible lays out the definitions of both an overseer (under shepherd) and a hireling.
John 10:11-13 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 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. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. (KJV)
1 Tim. 3:1-3 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. (NIV)
Titus 1:7-13 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith. (NIV)
A hireling does not really care about being a watchman, but is more concerned with protecting his reputation, position and income. A true watchman will guard the flock against wolves from within (Acts 20:30) and without (Acts 20:29) no matter the cost to his reputation, position or income.
Following is a little quiz you can take to see if you are a true Biblical under shepherd as a leader in your church, are becoming a hireling, or are one now.
(1) Situation:
A person in your congregation begins to hand out books and materials to others in your church from a known false apostle, false teacher or false prophet. What do you do in response?
Your response:
(a) You assume that this is just an isolated incident that will not have any real effect on your congregation and will soon fade away. Part of the reason you do this is that you do not want to alienate and lose this person from your congregation.
(b) You address the false teachings in general through exegetical Bible teaching. You say nothing specific about the false teacher whose materials have been circulated.
(c) You confront the person who has been handing out the materials personally, asking them to stop proselytizing in your church, carefully explaining the false nature of the teachings of those he or she are promoting by name. You also publicly address the the false teachings and false teachers by name to your congregation.
Answers:
(a) False teaching doesn't just fade away but it becomes leaven and will only grow in your church (1 Cor.5:6, Gal. 5:9). Concern for leaven should outweigh the possibility that person will be offended and leave.
(b) It is not enough to simply address false teachings in general. This is because many Christians have not been trained in discernment to the point where they can make the connection between false teachings and the false teachers who teach them. The apostles and prophets warned about false prophets and teachers by name: (Leviticus 10:1-2, Numbers Chapter 16, 1 Kings 22:11, 24-25, Jeremiah 28:15-17, Jeremiah 29:31-32, Ezekiel 8:8-11, Ezekiel 11:1-13, 1 Timothy 1:19-20, 2 Timothy 4:14, 3 John 9-10, Revelation 2:20, 1 Corinthians 4:18 and all of chapter 5, Revelation 2:14-15, etc.).
(c) The...