“The Shepherd and the Sheep Suffer Together”

Greetings Christian Church families, Nation of Israel, House of Judah, and the devout Muslim unto Jehovah God Almighty!

While tidying up my son’s room, the thought of “offense” from the “saints of God” came to mind when they express their feelings that “pastor is telling their business over the pulpit”.  Though this seems like a small matter to blog about, it is sometimes festered into a big matter amongst the saints with church membership. Especially the people that feel it has happened to them.  In all honesty, I do not know if your leader has wronged you, or if they ever will.  But if you are willing to be healed from your past disappointment on the subject, and are willing to be vigilant against anything that would fracture your relationship with the church, your pastor, and overall, your relationship with God, you will gladly take the words of Paul and use them where you need them most.

Here is a SMALL, but IMPORTANT matter that could be  just one of the causes of this issue. For example, one might say:  “When I spoke to Pastor, he/she told me one thing.  I felt as if they understood my point of view of the problem.” But you feel that your minister stood up in the pulpit and said something else, or made mention at all relating your problem. And you feel as if they should have spoken to you about it beforehand.

(Now read Paul’s response (2 Corinthians chapter 1) in his letter to the church of Achaia, Greece about his failed claim (but not intentional), to visit them in order to encourage them even the more after he had already been there once. Just because he was passing back by their way, verse 15 says he wanted to visit Achaia again so that they might have double favor and token of grace to encourage them to do good in Christ Jesus.)

The scriptures will become clearer after you read my thoughts at the end of them. I, myself do read backwards if I can’t wait for the good part.

Let’s read into some lines of the Pauline letter written to Greece of 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 from the Amplified Bible version which explains the scriptures itself in parentheses. They are not my own explanations of scripture. You will find mine in quotations at the bottom.

2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement),

2 Corinthians 1:4 Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God.

2 Corinthians 1:5 For just as Christ's [own] sufferings fall to our lot [as they overflow upon His disciples, and we share and experience them] abundantly, so through Christ comfort (consolation and encouragement) is also [shared and experienced] abundantly by us.

2 Corinthians 1:6 But if we are troubled (afflicted and distressed), it is for your comfort (consolation and encouragement) and [for your] salvation; and if we are comforted (consoled and encouraged), it is for your comfort (consolation and encouragement), which works [in you] when you patiently endure the same evils (misfortunes and calamities) that we also suffer and undergo.

2 Corinthians 1:7 And our hope for you [our joyful and confident expectation of good for you] is ever unwavering (assured and unshaken); for we know that just as you share and are partners in [our] sufferings and calamities, you also share and are partners in [our] comfort (consolation and encouragement).

2 Corinthians 1:11 While you also cooperate by your prayers for us [helping and laboring together with us]. Thus [the lips of] many persons [turned toward God will eventually] give thanks on our behalf for the grace (the blessing of deliverance) granted us at the request of the many who have prayed.

2 Corinthians 1:17 Now because I changed my original plan, was I being unstable and capricious? Or what I plan, do I plan according to the flesh [like a worldly man], ready to say Yes, yes, [when it may mean] No, no?

2 Corinthians 1:18 As surely as God is trustworthy and faithful and means what He says, our speech and message to you have not been Yes [that might mean] No.

2 Corinthians 1:19 For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not Yes and No; but in Him it is [always the divine] Yes.

2 Corinthians 1:20 For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 1:21 But it is God Who confirms and makes us steadfast and establishes us [in joint fellowship] with you in Christ, and has consecrated and anointed us [enduing us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit];

2 Corinthians 1:22 [He has also appropriated and acknowledged us as His by] putting His seal upon us and giving us His [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarantee [of the fulfillment of His promise].

2 Corinthians 1:23 But I call upon God as my soul's witness: it was to avoid hurting you that I refrained from coming to Corinth–

2 Corinthians 1:24 Not that we have dominion [over you] and lord it over your faith, but [rather that we work with you as] fellow laborers [to promote] your joy, for in [your] faith (in your strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through Whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God) you stand firm.

”My special message to you derived from these scriptures, though oddly used, is that in between your moment of confidentiality with your leaders as they encourage you, and delivering a message to the flock, remember they also bear the burden along with you.  Meaning, they probably don’t forget your issue. Though they may or may not forget who told them, they have to be cognizant of the issues that the sheep of the fold are dealing with. So you may feel naked when your leader is seemingly talking about you or the issue in your household that I’m sure other congregants are probably going through similar situations themselves.  As a connected sheep of the fold, ask God to use them in their anointed seat of authority if you feel it is being abused.  It is God the Father whom we all aught to hasten to first in prayer when a problem arrives. Then, our leaders if we feel led by the Holy Ghost when trouble seems impossible to bear.”

“Command God’s blessings! But you can only do such a powerful thing if you are in right standing with Him. Pray for your leader as you pray for your own behavior. Pray that they might obey God in all things. Especially, concerning you!  In this way, you may become comforted. And if you suffer as the Apostles suffered, then your leader suffers for you when you share your burdens verbally or spiritually. But Christ promises to console them (the Apostles/the Leader) by way of the Holy Spirit, therefore you will be comforted.”

“So, try not to be angry in such an instant as this. Our leaders are anointed to mean well, and must be undergirded with prayer for their tedious journey.”

Lakatia Harley, WOG