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Ego Deficiam
“I will fail them.” The early church fathers reflected on the relationships between pastors, the world, satan, and the church flock and developed a series of statements that described each relationship. The first of these statements was that of the pastor with regard to his people: Ego Deficiam (I will fail).
At first, our response might be to think that this is a rather pessimistic view of the relationship between shepherd and flock. How is it that a pastor could go into his role with the assumption that he will fail his people? As churches, do we want to hire a pastor who says up front, “Oh, by the way, I will fail you.” It is food for thought.
There are two aspects of this statement, that we must understand. The first is the “I.” I will fail you. I will fail as your pastor, as your counselor, and as your friend. I will fail as a husband and as a father. I will fail as an employee and as a representative of the church in the community. I will fail. Yet, this is not a pessimistic view, but a realistic view (as well as a Biblical one). For while I will fail you; Christ will not do so. Christ will gloriously succeed not because of my efforts, but in spite of my best efforts. And when I serve not in my own strength, but in the strength of Christ, then glorious things will happen—not for my praise, but for God’s.
This is the reason that a pastor (all Christians really) must be a man of prayer. And not just a prayer in the morning or evening, but a pastor must be a man of constant prayer through the day. One of the reasons that I like Nehemiah is because he exemplifies this. Not only are there formal and structured prayers recorded coming off of his lips, but also he lifts up short little “bullet prayers” throughout the day as he is making decisions. Those of you who know me or who have sat under me teaching on Nehemiah know that I am not overly fond of his model as a manager of people (even though lots of books present him that way); read Nehemiah 13:23-27 and ask yourself if you want a governor or office manager who leads in this fashion☺. I do believe, though, he provides us with a good example of perpetual prayer, seeking God’s wisdom and strength.
The second aspect that we must understand is that the fact that someone fails is not nearly as important as what someone does as a result of that failure. The true humility of a man will always present itself in failures, not in successes. If a person covers up their failures or seeks to shift blame to others, then the person’s character is such that you ought not have him as shepherd. If he is humble, repentant, and takes responsibility for his actions, then that is a man you want to lead you. The Gospel is the good news of God reconciling us poor and spiritually bankrupt sinners to himself; we are all in the same boat together within the church—wretches who have been redeemed by grace. Why should we expect our pastor of not being a sinner and thus a failure in God’s economy?
Sadly, we often create a standard that a pastor cannot hope to live up to and then make him feel like he has to hide his sin to keep up appearances. Yet, if the pastor is living hypocritically, why are we surprised when the members of our congregations live hypocritically? Our goal must be very different. We must endeavor to create a culture of honesty and transparency within our church community that is seasoned with abundant grace. Then, when one fails, the community comes together to work toward grace-filled reconciliation. It must be said, that there are some failures that must, by their very nature, remove a man from the office of shepherd, but not that ought to remove him from the church.
In discussions and counseling sessions with members of my congregation, one of the things that I have said over and over is: “We are going to make mistakes; we are going to mess things up.” The fact is, we are fallen and sinful and despite the grace we have been shown by Christ, we will not always show the grace we ought to show. At the same time, what I have told people is that when we mess up, if you let us know, we will fix it.
Indeed, I will fail you. But in Christ, I will repent and strive to make it right.
The Four Craftsmen: Zechariah 1:18-21
“Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.” -Zechariah 1: 20, ESV
It is useful to remind ourselves how the Lord always has things well in control. Here were the people, back in Jerusalem with the edict to rebuild the temple and the city walls, the people have floundered in their responsibility, and God reminds the people through Zechariah that help is on the way. The rebuilding of a city is a monumental task and required skill not only in the building but skill in the management of the builders. Looking back at this from modern eyes, we can only cry out to the people, “Hold fast brothers! Nehemiah is on the way!”
Yet, if we satisfy ourselves with Nehemiah and his group as being the ultimate fulfillment of this prophesy, we significantly underestimate God. Nehemiah will come, that is true, but the wall that is ultimately rebuilt hardly provides a permanent defense against their enemies. Soon the Greeks will come. Then the Romans will come. Later, the Romans will sack the city and destroy the temple with it never to be rebuilt again. Today there is an abomination built upon the old temple mount.
Of course this is not the final fulfillment, but it is a partial one. Nehemiah and his group are a reminder to the people that God is still with them and they point to the greater work that God will do in the giving of an eternal temple. The very word of God took on flesh; God the son walked with his people. And oh the craftsmen that God would send out from his son. A dozen apostles would be sent out (11 who were called during his ministry and Paul who was called after his resurrection), four gospels would be written, and the church would blossom, being built up with living stones by these craftsmen and spreading throughout the world. No longer would the horns of oppression scatter the people of God away from their promised land and from their temple, for the Spirit of God would dwell within them.
It is that same Holy Spirit that dwells in us today as the people of God. The God that saved us from our sins on the cross is the same God that pursued us and brought us to faith, and is the same God that pursued Zechariah, showing him such a series of visions. Brethren, this is the master craftsman at work. It is God himself who has ordered all things according to the perfect wisdom of his will that has written the very pages of history. This is the very God that we have come to worship. Oh, what a blessed redeemer! He is the God of ages past, of here and now, and for all the future. Let us rest in him.
Zechariah’s Night Visions: Introduction
To understand the prophet Zechariah, one must have an understanding of the historical context in which that prophet was writing. In 539 BC, King Cyrus of Persia overthrew the Babylonian Empire and a year later, sent a group of about 50,000 exiles home to Jerusalem with wealth, supplies, and a mandate. The mandate was that they rebuilt the temple of God so that they could worship.
These exiles returned to find Jerusalem in ruins and the land overrun by pagans. While they began work on the temple, they soon decided to put their own houses in order before putting the house of God in order. In about 515 BC, God sent two prophets to light a fire under these exiles to put them back to work. The first was Haggai, whose message was given to chastise the people and to get them back to work. The second was Zachariah, whose message looked toward a future kingdom and Messiah, reminding the people that God is faithful and that He is still at work, bringing about his promises.
In the beginning of Zechariah, then are a series of visions. These visions form the context of this series of devotions. The visions are highly messianic and apocalyptic at the same time. There is a good bit of the book of Revelation that draws upon these images that we are given here in Zechariah.
In the short term, they would finish the temple as a result of the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, though the temple would be a poor copy of Solomon’s, which had been destroyed. Later, God would send another servant, this time a leader of men and not a prophet, to lead the people in rebuilding the wall around the city of Jerusalem. This man would be named Nehemiah. You can read the historical accounts of these events in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
The Preacher's Study 