We Need More "Sheeple"
Using the term properly
“Sheep” is an insult in our day, but when it comes to the church, it shouldn’t be.
In fact, most of us need to be far more sheep-like.
As those who will give account for people’s souls (Hebrews 13:17) and incur stricter judgment (James 3:1), those who lead and teach will bear a far greater burden of the blame in times of decline. However, that does not absolve members of all responsibility.
While I’ve had plenty to say about the church’s broken leadership model, the other side of it is found in the expectations of the followers.
We like democracy. We want to vote on who will lead us, and how they will do it. God did not put the shepherding of His fold up to a vote, though.
He has given these authorities specific qualifications and job requirements to ensure they help the church be what it should (Ephesians 4:11-16). In other words, they have a mandate from God to make certain decisions and proclamations.
Yet the minute they start doing so, they typically get pushback from those who do not want to submit to such decisive leadership. And, with the threat of losing members and/or contribution checks, there’s great pressure for the leadership to give in.
Here’s the problem with this dynamic: the sheep don’t give an account for the flock.
They can demand whatever they want, and if it goes wrong they can wash their hands of the matter and leave. These malcontented members want authority without the responsibility that comes with it. Both the sheep and the leaders must remember, the leaders answer to God and not to the sheep, so the leaders had better be the ones calling the shots. That’s why they were put in the position in the first place.
If they’re not ready to do that, they shouldn’t take the position. And, if we’re not ready to follow them, we shouldn’t appoint them to the position. They aren’t the rubber stamp for the majority or for the squeakiest wheels.
Paul warned Timothy of those who would not endure sound doctrine but would instead find teachers who tell them what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Any time toes get stepped on when the teaching gets applied to our pet sins and the fleshly ways we don’t want to let go of, it’s tempting to get mad at the preacher and throw off the yoke of the elders.
Many Christians are more than happy to run to the next church when Biblical teaching hits too close to home. They can always find a lowest-common-denominator, consumer-serving church who won’t challenge them in such ways. This is flat out wrong.
Can you imagine the response if a preacher or elder pulled aside a wealthy member and counseled them about their money as 1 Timothy 6 commands? Or if he called a woman out for her gossip? Or if he led some form of church discipline for a man who was not working hard enough to provide for his family?
In many cases, if push truly came to shove, plenty of these people would look to move to a new church. Some of them would be sure to cause a scene and let their displeasure be heard on the way out.
So, we end up with managerial, hands-off, business-over-spiritual, and often timid leaders because that’s all we’ll put up with.
This should absolutely terrify us.
Who do we think we are?
Consider the example of David. Constantly on the run with King Saul threatening his life, David had two point-blank chances to kill Saul and end it all. Both times he refused because it was not his place to stretch out his hand against God’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:6, 26:9).
If David knew it was not left to him to strike back against a disobedient king who had been marked for removal, how much more should we be slow to rebuke God’s appointed leaders?
The man after God’s own heart makes it clear: God is very, very serious about the way we are to treat leadership.
But what about abusive leadership?
Some of you may be asking, “Do they just get a pass since we aren’t allowed to speak out against leaders?” No, of course not. Paul gave us guidelines for that in 1 Timothy 5:19-20. Essentially, be sure there are multiple witnesses to verify any accusation, and then make a clear, stern rebuke against them so everyone knows such will not be tolerated of leaders.
This sets the stakes pretty high, which is the point. Yes, there’s a time for confrontation and even rebuke and removal, but it’s pretty rare. In every other case, casual undermining will not be tolerated. “I don’t like them” or “I disagree with them on such and such secondary point” is not grounds for accusation. Ignoring their authority when you don’t feel like it or starting a clique that does nothing but complain is not a proper Christian response.
What about when I think they’re wrong?
As with every authority structure, the time to disobey is when they demand you disobey God or violate your conscience. The rest of the time, you obey even if you don’t like it. Submission only when we agree isn’t submission. If that doesn’t make sense, ask yourself if God gives your kids a pass to disobey because they didn’t like your “no ice cream for breakfast” decision.
The church at Corinth and the 7 churches of Asia show us there will be times when the church is totally in shambles, but in neither of those cases was the apostolic advice “Leave and start your own church.” That should be a lesson to us.
As with wicked Israel and their wicked kings, it really ends up as a “chicken or the egg” conundrum:
Are churches in decline because they have had spiritually indecisive leadership, or do they have spiritually indecisive leadership because they are in decline?
Both, really. So, to solve this problem, we need stronger leadership across the board. But will we have the stomach for stronger leadership if we are blessed to get it?
We can’t produce such leadership overnight, but one thing we can do is determine right now to be the best, most supportive, most encouraging, most biblically submissive sheep possible. We will refuse to view the church as a democracy. We will refuse to passively undermine our shepherds.
If we want better leaders, we will aim to be the kinds of people who deserve better leaders.
Notes
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Thank you for this insightful article. I have experienced the church from several different perspectives. First, as a new Christian converted out of the denominational and sinners' prayer movement. Great leadership helped me grow and mature into a gospel sharing man using talents I did not even know I had. Elders, preachers, and many mature men and women took me under their wing and taught me, corrected me, and even rebuked me when I needed it.
Eventually, I served at three different congregations as a personal evangelist, prison and jail minister, serving along with men responsible for preaching from the pulpit. Serving as supported staff helps one understand what Godly leadership is and how important it is. Also, how frustrating it is at times when opinions differ.
In addition to being blessed to serve as a personal evangelist, I served as an elder at two of the congregations. How humbling. To take on the responsibility for my brothers' and sisters' souls in a manner that gains their trust and respect is very intimidating. To rule not by position but through Godly and biblical persuasion can only be accomplished by all of us submitting to the principles you described here. Members should pray for our teachers, evangelists, and elders, who, like everyone else, are fallible people.
We need to get to know our elders, and elders have a huge responsibility to know the members. This is not accomplished in meetings of elders in offices. It happens face to face, in both the homes of members and the homes of elders. If the sheep know the shepherds and trust them, they will be more likely to follow them and even understand when they make mistakes. When the shepherds spend a lot of time with the sheep, they will be able to lead with their moral persuasion more than with positional authority. That is more peaceful than when elders must use their God given authority to discipline when the members need it.
Shepherds need to have enough love for the members that they will confront and discipline them for the sake of their souls and the sake of the church.
Whatever position we serve in, we must behave as sheep to the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ.
We had to leave a church when the eldership made the decision to appoint women elders. We believe scripture is plain in its outline of elder qualifications and we couldn't go along with that decision. The women appointed were current elders wives primarily, so they serve together. Anyway, my dad was a preacher for many years and also served as an elder. It was a duty he took quite seriously and he made decisions based upon his understanding of scripture, even when they weren't popular. I suppose ultimately the problem is that we do not like to be under authority and that leads to rebellion, both in church and in society.