“And he gave some, Apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11).
TEXT — Ephesians 4:8-14
Message
The Telegraph, a British newspaper, reported that a flock of over 1,300 sheep “had to be rounded up by police in the Spanish city of Huesca after their shepherd fell asleep. According to city authorities, the police were alerted to the huge flock attempting to negotiate the streets in the centre of Huesca at around 4.30 a.m. on a Tuesday when a resident dialled Spain’s 112 emergency number. The police eventually found the herder, who was still peacefully slumbering. Together, the embarrassed shepherd and police officers finally extracted the sheep from the city and returned them to their pastures.”
The duties of church shepherds are fully outlined in the scriptures. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are responsible for maturing the flock of Christ. They are to guide them away from the danger of false teachers and their false doctrines, increase the congregation through evangelism and teach them the way of God.
The duties of church leaders require a lot of sacrifice. Shepherds do not give birth to sheep but provide the best pasture and nourishment, encouraging them to give birth, multiply and increase. Jesus’ command is ‘feed my sheep’, not ‘feed on my sheep’, as some ministers do today. The job of pastoring is not for the one with the best credentials but the one with the best character.
A lot must be done to keep the flock of Christ clean, pure and abiding till He returns. The world is becoming more and more hostile to the flock. Thus, those who are charged with this sacred duty of caring for the flock must wake up from their slumber to serve the Master with utmost zeal and commitment.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
