Be Led by the True Shepard…

To the sheep who know something is not right….

You love Jesus. You love His church. You are loyal, humble, and pure in heart. You seek to worship the Lord in spirit and truth. But lately…something doesn’t feel right. You see the control, manipulation, and the issues but you hope things will get better. You pray that God will intervene. You may even be questioning if what you are seeing, experiencing and feeling is actually even real. You are fearful of making the wrong decision, you want to please God and do the right thing. Deep down you feel unsettled.

The sermons you hear are vague. You may even suspect that some of them are about situations that you are aware of or about people that you know. The atmosphere is intense. Anyone who tells the truth or confronts leadership in love is blacklisted, labeled as rebellious, offended, bitter, or demonic.

You are not crazy. You are discerning. The Holy Spirit will never control, confuse or manipulate. A threatened leader who is controlling will use fear, condemnation and their authority and power to discredit others. A controlling leader will seek to silence truth in efforts to control the narrative and to protect their self image. Leaders who fear exposure will often attack the messenger by creating fear and by using the Bible as a weapon. Labels such as “Jezebel”, “Absalom”, bitter, and rebellious are often assigned to discredit anyone who speaks out and to intimidate others so they stay silent.

Questions to consider:

1. Am I only honoring leadership because I am afraid of being shamed, cursed, or out of the will of God?

2. Is correction always from the pulpit down?

3. Are people who leave and share truth slandered, judged, cursed, and labeled as rebellious and demonic?

4. Do I feel spiritually fed in this environment?

5. Do I see the fruit of Jesus in leadership or am I seeing something else?

6. Is everyone who leaves painted in a negative light?

7. Do I feel like I can never give enough of my time, talent and treasure?

If you have felt spiritually threatened or condemned for asking questions or speaking truth, know that Jesus never silences the wounded. He listens, He heals and He defends them. Jesus never asks sheep to stay in a place that devours them. We are called to follow Jesus not men and our loyalty is to Jesus alone. Choosing to leave a toxic, unhealthy or abusive church environment is not leaving Jesus. If you’re seeing things and experiencing things that you know are off…you’re not weak, you’re not rebellious, and you’re not demonic. You’re being led by the true Shepard, Jesus Christ.