JEREMIAH XXIII. 1, 2, C. H. Cayce Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.—Jere. xxiii. 1, 2.
We hardly know how to even begin to write an article on the above text. The very language itself shows very clearly that there is such a thing as the pastors destroying and scattering the sheep of the Lord’s pasture. Because they do this the Lord pronounces a woe upon them. It is a serious and deplorable thing for the pastors thus to do.
It has often been said that the preachers are responsible for all, or nearly all, the trouble that arises in the church of God. No doubt this is partly true. Sometimes a preacher advances an idea which another preacher does not endorse, so he takes issue and tries to overthrow the other brother’s idea. Then the other brother tries to defend his position, and thus the war begins. Hence they are responsible for the war being begun. If the churches would stop them right then and there, and not let them preach any more until they agree to stop their warfare, then the destruction of the churches and the scattering of the Lord’s children would be prevented. Do not stop one and let the other one continue on, but stop them both, and thus show no partiality. Usually such wars begin over trifles, and differences, or seeming differences, are magnified, and they get farther apart instead of getting together. This is a deplorable thing and a bad state of affairs, and the Lord has pronounced a woe upon the pastors or preachers who thus do.
Sometimes a preacher may get jealous of his brother in the ministry. For instance, a preacher may come along, who is new in the vicinity. “A new broom sweeps clean,” you know. He may present the same truths which have been set forth and advocated there all the time, but he does so in a different way from that which the people have been accustomed to, and they enjoy the preaching. Perhaps they will (some of them) tell the brother how they enjoyed his preaching. This is all right for them to do that. But some of them may say something like this: “If we had such preaching as this our church would grow and prosper.” This may be wrong. Perhaps the pastor hears that statement and it may cause him to have a bad feeling toward his brother in the ministry. True, it should not cause him to have such a feeling, but it may do so. If he has a bad feel- ing toward anyone on account of such as this, it should be toward the one making such a statement, or saying such things. But he should not have a bad feeling toward even that one on account of a thing of this kind. True, it would make him feel discouraged, and that he was not appreciated—and he could not help such a feeling as that. But he should not have ill will toward his brother in the ministry on account of it. And the congregation of brethren and sisters may come up and tell the visiting preacher how much they enjoyed his preaching, and not think to speak to the pastor, and he may be made to feel that he is neg- lected, and this may arouse in him a dislike for the visiting preacher. It is wrong, however. He may even harbor a little feeling of spite toward his brother in the ministry, and may have a little feeling in his heart that “I wish they would praise me a little, too.” Unless he watches himself very closely, and overcomes it, there will be jealousy in his heart, and then matters are in a good condition for a disturbance to begin. Woe unto that man who lets jealousy rule in his heart.
Sometimes a preacher may decide that the best way to have room for his own gift is to get another preacher out of the way; and so he may begin to watch for an opportunity to destroy the brother he thinks is in his way. The truth of the matter is that when the Lord’s servants labor in the field the Lord assigns to them, and where they should labor, there is not another of the Lord’s ministers in his way. There is room for all the gifts from the Lord. “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.”—Prov. xviii. 16. We should all remember this, and not try to make room for ourselves by destroying our brother. When we try to make room for ourselves by destroying another, it brings destruction and scatters the Lord’s little ones, and the Lord has pronounced a woe upon us.
How careful the Lord’s ministers should be to set right examples before the people. He should never say, “Don’t do as I do, but do as I tell you to do.” Paul never left on record such a statement for our learning. He said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”—Cor. xi. 1. “For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you.”—2 Thess. iii. 7. The preacher who does not take heed to himself to set right examples before the brethren and before the world may, and doubtless will, cause coldness and distress among the Lord’s children. The sheep will be scattered. Then woe to that preacher. He loses his influence, and his preaching will not have the influence for right living that it will have if he sets the right examples.
Now, a word about the pastor treating a member with coldness. Sometimes a member may think that the pastor has done such a thing when he had no such idea or intention. We should not expect too much of the pastor. One might be feeling cast down and not go to the pastor, and the pastor might feel that the member has treated him with coldness. We should not be too ready to think thus about each other. Remember that “charity thinketh no evil.” Let us all try to excuse rather than accuse each other.
There are so many things which might be said along these lines that we may have left unsaid the very things which should have been said, but we must stop here. May the good Lord help us all to live in such a way that peace and sweet fellowship may abound among the Lord’s dear children. If we would all live as we should, the church would be made an inviting place for the Lord’s little ones, and we would see them coming home to the church and asking for a shelter from the world and a place with us in the sweet and delightful service of our heavenly Master. May the good Lord pity us and help us so to live, is our humble prayer. The Primitive Baptist, November 21, 1929.