Franklin Church of Christ

Set Free: Confessing to Our Shepherds

I almost hate to begin with the following passage. However, I believe it best describes the work of shepherds by rebuking Israel’s pathetic ones.

Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?...Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost... They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.

Ezekiel 34:2-5

The shepherd’s job is to strengthen the sick, heal the diseased, bind up the broken, seek the lost and bring back the scattered. No doubt, there are a many responsibilities for our pastors. However, James 5:14-15 demonstrates some responsibility for us.

Certainly, our bishops must be on the look out for our sicknesses. At the same time, when we know we are sick, we should go to them, confessing. In both contexts, I believe the sickness is spiritual and the healing is just as spiritual. For a more in depth treatment of why, go to our website and look up the sermon presented on February 13, 2005 entitled “Should We Anoint People With Oil.”

Allow me to ask you something. If you kept seeing a strange man outside your house, following you to work and to the store, would you call the police? Obviously. Why, when Satan is stalking us, do we not call the shepherds? Our elders are here not to make administrative decisions about the congregation but to shepherd. They are here to heal us when we are diseased, bind us up when we are broken and strengthen us when we are sickly.

Here is the great thing God promised in James 5:14-15. When we are humble enough to take this step, when we are willing to overcome our sins enough to turn to our brethren and especially our overseers, God will heal us. He will forgive us. If we try to hide our sins from our brethren and our shepherds, we are simply keeping ourselves in Satan’s trap and sin’s bondage. Submitting to sin in the battle against Satan is not hypocrisy. Coming to the assemblies and to our brethren and trying to wear a façade of sinlessness is (cf. I John 1:8-10).

Confessing to our bishops helps because our leaders learn where we need help. They know where we need strengthening. They know our pitfalls and know what to look out for in our lives to help us stay on Christ’s path.

Satan cannot win the victory when we are confessing to our God, our brethren and our shepherds. When we have this kind of relationship with God and one another, we will overcome. We will be set free. Praise God!