Who Needs A
Leader?
Steve W. Reeves
stevesermons.blogspopt.com
INTRODUCTION
A. One
of the great paradoxes of life is that we often resist things we really need.
If you doubt this try to get a man to stop and ask for directions. On one occasion my wife
and I were traveling in northeast Oklahoma where I was scheduled to speak on a
Friday evening. Before the days of “GPS” I made a wrong turn without realizing my
mistake. The further we traveled the more she urged me to stop and ask for
directions. The more she asked the more I resisted. Finally, I stopped and was told
that I was twenty miles off course. In fact, I had been on the outskirts of our
destination when I made the wrong turn.
B. Such is the case with leadership. We need direction and guidance in life. Our
tendency, however, is to do our own way.
1. Whether it is a child playing a game, a teenager planning their future or an older
person struggling with mobility we often respond, “Leave me alone. I can do it
myself.”
2. As followers of Jesus there is a constant tension between submitting to His will as
opposed to forsaking our will. Within the church (the body of Christ – Eph. 1:22-23)
there is the tension between pursuing our agenda and being submissive to those
who are our spiritual leaders.
C. Leadership is a God-ordained principle.
1. In the Patriarchal age of the Old Testament the leaders were men like Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob.
2. Under the law of Moses leadership was given to prophets, priests, judges and
kings.
3. In the New Testament Jesus referred to Himself as the “Good Shepherd” in John
10. Shepherds were mentioned over 500 times in the Bible. God is depicted as a
shepherd to His people approximately 200 times in scripture.
4. Within the church God ordained spiritual leaders.
a. Acts 2:42 – “continued steadfastly in the Apostle’s teaching.”
b. The appointment of seven “servants” or “deacons” in Acts 6.
c. Some were given the grace of leadership and urged to exercise it diligently in
Romans 12:8.
d. Paul wrote “He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as
evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints
for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”
D. Why do we need spiritual leaders?
1. The answer to this question is provided in a text from the Old Testament book of
Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a prophet who lived during the time of Israel’s exile. The book
has a lot of figurative language with which the people were reminded of their
disobedience and unfaithfulness to God and His promise to renew His covenant
with them.
2. In chapter 34 there is an indictment of the leaders of Israel and a promise that
God, Himself, will become their shepherd.
3. This chapter specifies four reasons why we need spiritual leadership.
I. WE NEED INSTRUCTION
A. In the first ten verses of this chapter God specifies the indictment against these
spiritual leaders. Notice that He refers to them a “shepherds” of Israel. This would
have included the prophets, priests and kings.
B. The first indictment is found in verse 2. “Thus, says the Lord God, ‘Woe, shepherds
of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the
flock?’”
1. As far back as 1 Samuel there is a story about the selfishness of the priests.
These two priests were the sons of Eli. Whenever the meat from the sacrifices
was being prepared they made sure they got the choicest portions.
2. They were taking care of themselves while neglecting the needs of others.
3. Notice how the indictment continues in verse 3. “You eat the fat and clothe
yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.”
C. A shepherd’s job is to feed the sheep.
1. Beginning in verse 12 God went on to say, “I will care for My sheep and will
deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and
gloomy day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the
countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the
mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the
mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and
feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock.”
2. Sheep need the spiritual nourishment shepherds are to provide.
3. Peter says that elders are to “shepherd the flock” (1 Peter 5:1). Surely this
means that we need leaders to instruct us.
4. Timothy 3:2 says that an elder must be “able to teach.”
D. Whether we are young or old, single, married, male or female we need instruction
from leaders.
1. One of the most dangerous conditions you or I could ever face is to think that we
know it all and have nothing new to learn. And yet, this is exactly the way many
Christians act because we neglect so many opportunities to learn.
2. A Christian should be like a sponge soaking up the waters of spiritual
instruction. Instead, many of us have become like a stone with an attitude that
says, “I dare you to teach me something I don’t know.”
3. We all need the instruction spiritual leaders can provide.
II. WE NEED DIRECTION
A. Leadership is influence, not title. A spiritual leader is not made by putting his
name on the bulletin masthead. Instead, his leadership is earned as his influence
provides direction for Godly living.
B. The shepherds of Israel were not providing the leadership, guidance and direction
needed by the sheep.
1. In Ezekiel 34:4-5 God’s indictment said, “The broken you have not bound up, the
scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with
force and with severity you have dominated them. 5 They were scattered for lack
of a shepherd.”
2. Throughout the entire text God says, “My flock has strayed.” They had no
direction. The shepherds were too busy satisfying their own lustful appetites to
provide direction for the sheep.
3. In verse 11 God said, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them
out. 12 As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his
scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep.”
4. In verse 15, “ I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord
God.” Isn’t this reminiscent of Psalm 23:2, “He leads me beside still waters.”
C. All of us need the direction and leadership that comes from the good influence of a
Godly spiritual leader.
1. The writer of Hebrews urged, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the
word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their
faith.”
2. Godly spiritual leaders are greatly needed in today’s world where so many have
lost a sense of moral and spiritual direction. We need men of moral and spiritual
integrity whose walk is the same as their talk.
3. Peter McCullough, former CEO of Xerox corporation said that a man’s personal
values play a key role in his ability to lead others. Just like the Marines, we
need, “a few good men.”
III. WE NEED PROTECTION
A. As you read through Ezekiel 34 one of God’s major charges against the shepherds
of Israel was that they had allowed the sheep to become scattered and thus made
them vulnerable to attack from wild beasts.
1. At the end of verse 5 God said, “and they became food for every beast of the
field and were scattered.”
B. We need leaders to provide spiritual protection.
1. Peter, writing as an elder, said, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your
adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.”
2. When Paul departed from Ephesus he instructed the elders to, “ Be on guard for
yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own
blood. 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you,
not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise,
speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-
30).
C. I believe the church needs protection from its elders now more than any time in my
life.
1. There are threats coming from without as we face the hostility that comes from
an increasingly secular society.
2. The greatest threat, as Paul spoke of, is from within as people embrace the
world more and more to the neglect of Biblical teaching.
3. Each of us needs the protection that strong, Godly elders must provide.
IV. WE NEED CORRECTION
A. Notice verse 16, “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken
and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them
with judgment.”
1. God’s love for His people is too great for Him to turn His back. He seeks to
reclaim the ones who have wandered, to heal the broken and to chastise those
who have become complacent.
2. David mentioned how God’s rod and staff were a comfort to him. He knew that
God was watching his paths and providing discipline and correction when
needed.
B. Do not resent the tender rebuke and exhortation from an elder. Their concern for
you is the same as God’s. They care about those who have been scattered and
seek to heal those who are broken. Sometimes they must discipline and admonish
us for our own well-being.
CONCLUSION:
A. There are two important applications of this passage.
1. The first concerns those who serve as shepherds. Being a shepherd is not about a
man’s finances, business acumen, family relationships or popularity. It is about
having the spiritual wisdom, maturity, knowledge and desire to properly guide the
people of God.
2. The second application concerns all of us and our need to be led, fed, protected
and directed. We must not travel this journey by ourselves without the guidance,
leadership and protection of spiritual
shepherds.
B. Do you know the “Good Shepherd?” He is
the door for the sheep to come in and
out and find pasture. He has come to
give us abundant life (John 10:10). Why not
come to Him today in obedient faith.
YOUR PERSONAL NOTES:
