FAKE PASTORS AND PROPHETS EVERYWHERE!

4TH Sunday of Easter, Year C (Good Shepherd Sunday): Acts 13:14,43-52, Psalm 99(100):1-3,5, Apocalypse 7:9,14-17, John 10:27-30

“Father, that Pastor I told you about some years back, that told me I had spiritual problems stemming from my family roots, and you advised me not to listen to him, has been exposed as a fake pastor. He was caught recently with 50 wraps of cannabis by the Drug Law Enforcement Agency”, was a call I received sometime ago from a victim of false prophecy and fake pastors.

This reality is common from the part of the world I come from, due to high rate of illiteracy, poverty, and suffering menaced by bad governance and religious corruption. In this precarious condition the ruling class make it appear as if the problem of poor is due to their inability to work hard, while the poor, in quest for solutions to their problems, are preyed upon by fake Pastors and Prophets parading as religious leaders! This cause us to ask: Did Jesus take for granted that he would entrust the work of pastoring or shepherding to men and women when he said: “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice…they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me.”? Did he take for granted that men could be dubious and prey on his innocent and unsuspecting sheep? If you wish to know, continue reading slowly…

John 10:27-30

Jesus said: ‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone,and no one can steal from the Father. The Father and I are one.’

POINTS FOR REFLECTION

1. Jesus certainly did not take for granted that the mission of shepherding the flock (on earth) to pasture (in heaven) would be entrusted to men and women. It was a deliberate act hence he says elsewhere to his Apostles:
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (Jn 20:21-24).
Another scripture supports the need of preachers, and ministers of the gospel saying:
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Rom 10:17).
Ministers are therefore needed in the world because faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Cf. Rom 10:17)
2. Also, Jesus did not take for granted that men could be dubious, and thus prey on the innocent and unsuspecting sheep, there by scandalizing them when again he says elsewhere to his disciples:
“Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” (Lk 17:1-2)
 
3. Right from the outset, even in Ancient Israel there have been the problems of corrupt religious leaders: priests and Prophets who preach and prophesy for gain. And to these, God’s wrath have been declared. God use always the good ones among them to challenge the bad ones. To false prophets and Priests, God declares through the prophet Jeremiah:
Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord: “Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,” declares the LORD. “Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall. I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declares the LORD. (Jer. 23: 1&11-12)
 
4. That there are fake pastors and prophets everywhere is not an excuse to be slothful, gullible or indifferent about your faith. Make efforts to know the Christian teaching on every subject. Jesus says to us, His sheep:
“Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as wise as serpent and as innocent as doves” (Matt 10:16).
Before you entrust yourself to any spiritual direction or mentorship, St. John admonishes us, saying:
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

TASK:

Make daily efforts to identify false teachings, doctrines or practices, and stay clear from it, even if it is enticing. The easiest way to identify a false prophet or pastor is through their deviation from the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are not familiar with the voice of Jesus, you’re their next victim, for Jesus says: “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice”. How can you be familiar with the voice of Jesus, when you’re not familiar with the WORD of God containing his Words?

I pray for you: 

May God open your eyes of your mind to understand his Word;
May the Lord inspire your instincts to perceive the Truth and shun falsehood;
And may the Good Shepherd- Jesus- pastor you to true pasture, that you may be equipped to identify and expose fake pastors and Prophets, in Jesus name. Amen.
Happy Good Shepherd Sunday!

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