Day 26 "Guard yourselves" talks about shepherds with the potential to become hirelings, to susceptible to the temptation to give less than 100% effort, especially when there is risk to themselves. Dr. Laniak also talks about the shepherds who take the best for themselves, leaving the leftovers for the community. on the one hand, shepherds don't feel like the pay they agreed to is worth more than a minimal effort, even though what they are paid to do is protect the flock. the job comes with risk. on the other hand, shepherds can feel entitled to more than they pay they received, and believe they are entitled to more.
Pastors are at risk of the same failures to do our duty. If we are only in it for a paycheck, we will fail people when they need us because the cost will seem too big. If we are only in it for the perks, we will spend so much time playing we will not. be accountable for our time. it's hard to know how we are doing in this regard, too. balancing self care and family needs, stewarding our pay to care for ourselves in the way our flock has provided for us doesn't look on the outside a whole lot different than making excuses for our unavailability, and wasting money on toys. I constantly engage in self-talk about whether I'm leading people or taking advantage of people...being a missionary (which I am now) is a lot different than being a chaplain. the government gave me a paycheck. people now give me of their tithe. even though the responsibility is the same, I feel the urge to justify my time and my spending in a different way than I did as a chaplain. I don't want to be the lazy shepherd taking the best for himself.
I also don't want to be the guy leading people astray. it seems harder than ever to separate the good new ideas from the bad new ideas...there is so much talking and writing going on about how to lead a church, how to interpret theology. some oil it has to be good, right? but new ideas can be dangerous too, and it's a lot of work to study, examine, and test these new ideas. and if you try them out, how many people can be hurt before you realize its A BAD IDEA?!
And a lot of people like to follow the new guy with the big new idea. how do we convince people to be careful about ho they decide to follow? little ideas they learned along the way that were 75% true make it easy for folks to choose the 95% bad idea later.
People often don't want to do the work of learning theology and doctrines so they "know what the believe". if I know what I believe, but no one will listen because they'd rather have feel-good church and a music show, as Dr. Laniak points out, I can become easier to stop fighting the good fight, give folks a sermon-lite, and go enjoy my time off. not that I want to do that, or would do it, but I can certainly see the attraction for people who make that choice.
I don't think most choose to become wolves, but many do. it makes me really want to keep vigilant for my inner wolf.
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