Protecting Shepherd

[pastorsbru]

I knew there were wolves when I started as a young pastor. I called them sharks at the time. However, in my naivete I thought I could simply ignore the wolves and they would go away. I was afraid of conflict, and was mostly interested in preserving my own status in the congregation against the wolves. I succeeded in getting the wolves to leave me alone. However, I found over the years that the wolves only let me alone, in order to find weaker prey. As persons confided in their exit from the congregation that they had been attacked by the same culprits, I realized that my fear or unwillingness to confront the wolves had left weaker members more vulnerable. As Laniak says at the end of this chapter, "When we sense the approach of cunning wolves, we can't simply roll over and pretend they will go away." Neither can we assume that if we are safe as shepherds, that our flocks are safe. If our aim as Pastors or shepherds is only for ourselves to survive against predators, we are likely to fail our people.[/i]
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Sean