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Isaiah 56:10-11, "His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant,
they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to
slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are
shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for
his gain, from his quarter."
This morning, there are things in life that we do not consider pleasant, and yet
they are necessary. All parents that seek to bring their children up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord do not look at spanking their children as
pleasant, yet they understand that it is necessary as God's word commands it.
(Proverbs 22:15) Other examples can be shown, but one of the chief examples of
this in God's house is the warning that sometimes needs to be sounded from the
pulpits. Both meekness and boldness should be coupled together in this effort.
One without the other tends to weak command (when boldness is lacking) or
uncharitable behavior (when meekness is lacking). Truly, any minister worth his
salt does not take pleasure in preaching warnings and reproofs, but they are
needful for us here as our shortcomings are constant and dangers ever looming.
We need to be instructed about the wiles of the old devil who seeks to devour
who he may. We need to be instructed in the right way to go, so that if error
comes knocking on our door, we are prepared unto the battle. One of the greatest
blessings to a church is faithful, consistent, and complete instruction being
sounded from the pulpit for the well-being of the congregation in every area of
Scriptural principle. (II Timothy 3:16-17)
Again, while this subject is not pleasant to deal with, notice what the Lord
calls unfaithful ministers and servants to His people. The description of them
is in the vein of a canine, and while we understand that the Bible does not
generally speak of dogs in a positive way (Philippians 3:2), his ministers are
very much like dogs in the sense of the warning that the people need. The Lord's
ministers are also compared to a watchman for a city (Ezekiel 33), and in both
instances, the comparison tends to the same application. The comparison to a dog
or watchman is for the purpose of warning and instructing the people. In the
verses above, the servants were failing in their obligation due to either
laziness or greed. They were too lazy to bark, or too interested in their own
desires to be of good use to the house of Israel.
While there are many plain points and several inferences to be made from these
verses, we will dwell upon just a few. The first thing to understand about the
warnings of a dog in his barking is that it is not pleasant to the ear. When my
dog constantly barks for minutes on end, it begins to run down my nerves and
patience. Many times, her bark is about nothing in particular, but something she
thinks is happening. However, there have been times when her bark was merited as
she saw something that truly might have been a danger to us. Growing up, we had
two dogs that would literally bark at anything. The family joke was, "They would
bark if a leaf blew through the yard." Due to this reputation, we many times
never gave their barking a second thought. The only time we really bothered with
their bark was when it became annoying, and we brought them inside. One day, we
did this after they had been barking for several straight minutes. While they
were in the house, a coyote stole one of the chickens from the pen. On that day,
their barking had merit, but we did not notice the danger due to the dogs'
reputation.
A minister of the gospel needs to warn the house about impending dangers, but
his reputation needs to be something other than "the boy who cries wolf." If he
has a reputation as a "pot stirrer," then many will not be inclined to heed the
warning, even should it have merit. Our bark needs to be sounded only when there
is evidence to corroborate the sound. If we are barking to hear ourselves bark,
eventually it will fall on deaf ears. If we are barking with a reputation of
being level-headed and clear thinking, folks are more willing to perk up. I was
told by an old deacon that has gone on to be with the Lord that he for years had
two dogs at his house. One enjoyed barking constantly at whatever it could find
to bark at. The other one calmly walked around the yard, sat on the porch, etc
without generally making a sound all day. The family knew the difference between
the two dogs' bark, and an entire day could be found, he said, of the first dog
barking to the point of hoarseness. Yet, one yip from the second dog sent an
immediate call to somberness by his entire house. The difference was the
reputation of the two dogs.
Another point that can be drawn from this is that there are those that will not
ever bark, even when necessary. Sometimes this is done due to their own laziness
in fulfilling their functions and duties. I have seen dogs, lying down, that
never moved from their spot until it was time to eat. All day was spent lying
around, doing nothing, and basically breathing air and eating food. A minister
that does not fulfill his functions of prayer, meditation, and faithful watch
care of the flock is no less slothful. Sometimes, these ministers fail to warn
as it might endanger their "standing" in some way. Perhaps preaching on a
certain topic will bring down consternation in the community or country. Perhaps
other brethren's company (not fellowship) is more important than the principles
of truth. Errors can be made in both ditches, and these two areas seem to be
found quite often.
Brethren, our observations of errors past and present do not give excuse to make
equally damaging but opposite errors going forward in the future. I have seen
areas of country that are unwilling to warn and instruct in impending danger as
"years ago there was an unnecessary war that ravaged this area." On the other
hand, I have seen other areas of the country that seemed willing "to fight about
anything, just name us a topic." Both constant, unnecessary barking and complete
dumbness to warning are equally damaging to the sheep even though complete
opposites in application.
One of the duties of a minister is much like a sheepdog to the flock for the
shepherd. One of his functions is to watch for wolves and keep the flock away
from "shady areas" where predators may be stalking. (Acts 20:28) Another
function is to nip at the sheep (not bite and devour) to goad into action in a
certain direction (Ecclesiastes 12:11), and in so doing, keep the flock in the
safe, green pastures of goodness. Consider if we put this service to the true
test. Are we willing to warn should it cost us the benefits of society? How
about the benefits of some of our family? What about the full fellowship of
churches to which we are disagreed on essential points? The cause of truth
supersedes and trumps any of these factors, for anything less falls into the
condemnation the dogs did in our verses above. Anything more falls into the
condemnation of the Great Shepherd for dividing His flock with the wrong spirit.
May He grant us the wisdom to know how and in what manner to proceed in these
matters.
In Hope,
Bro Philip
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