April 10, 2025 The Good Shepherd or the Stranger
“I’m going to install… a shepherd in this land—a shepherd indifferent to victims, who ignores the lost, abandons the injured, and disdains decent citizens. He’ll only be in it for what he can get out of it, using and abusing all” (Zech.11:15-16, MSG).
The Good Shepherd or the Stranger
It was a moment in our history that stayed with me. January 20, 1977, the newly elected president of the United States, a peanut farmer from Plains, GA, Jimmy Carter, was delivering his inaugural address. As the nation and much of the world watched, wanting to know what he would do and what this new leader would expect of us, Carter recited a Scripture, advice so simple, yet so profound and clear! “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 NKJV). The new president of the United States was also a Sunday School teacher and was proclaiming divinely derived advice as the guiding principle for his leadership of our nation—I had been reading the Bible all my life and had never even heard that scripture before!
So many books have been written on leadership. There are individuals like John Maxwell and others who are considered leadership gurus. But isn’t it wonderful to have examples of good leaders like our founding pastor, Bishop Owens and our current lead pastor, Pastor Carter who lead with clarity, integrity, and honor? We must value and appreciate good leadership! God showed Israel what would happen when they failed to appreciate His leadership. When they stopped saying “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1), He told Zechariah to:
“Dress up like a stupid shepherd. I’m going to install just such a shepherd in this land—a shepherd indifferent to victims, who ignores the lost, abandons the injured and disdains decent citizens. He’ll only be in it for what he can get out of it, using and abusing all” (Zech.11:15-16, MSG)
And now, could it be that God is also showing America what happens when we fail to value good leadership like we had with Presidents Carter and Barak Obama? The nation rejected their kind of decent, honorable, and caring leadership.
As we approach Holy Week, the days from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday, may we all pray that America will repent and turn to the One who said, “I am the good shepherd. The shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11)
Focus Quote: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls [them] by name and leads them out… A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” –John 10:3-4 (ESV)