Rod and Staff Love

Where are my shepherds?

During EMI listening to God prayer recently, I sensed the Lord saying, "My people need my rod & my staff."

Implicit in that statement is two things:
1. we, being like sheep, need the touch of God's rod & staff
2. we, his holy priesthood, are called to carry God's rod & staff.

My sense is, again, that we are vulnerable.
In previous blogs I've talked about the realization that people are struggling through many difficulties and are vulnerable -- hearing God's voice is essential to spiritual well being.

One of the ways He has chosen to be heard is through those who seek his voice, walk in obedience and come along side to encourage others in their faith journey.

Bearing His rod & staff means...
to listen
to show love & compassion
to guide & protect
to confront in love.

In American culture, we don't see shepherds and herds of sheep, so a rod & staff is not a familiar daily tool. Scripture uses a lot of shepherding imagery:
Psalm 23 - "Thy rod & thy staff comfort me."
Isaiah 53:6 - "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way..."
John 10:11 - "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep."

A shepherd's rod & staff are an extension of his hands and help him to care for his sheep.
We are an extension of God's hands in this world, are we not?

A rod is like a walking stick with weight to it. Its uses are multiple:
to redirect wayward movement
to protect against predators
to examine health & well being
to comfort.

A staff includes a hook and is a longer extension of the shepherd's arm, making rescue from cliffs and brambles possible. *


I see more and more people hungry for loving proximity.
For someone who cares.
A "with me" person.
A heart invested in their well being.

If God is saying we need to bear His rod & staff, from Him and for others, it seems to me to mean deeper involvement. To invest time & heart in people.


IS CHURCH A CARING COMMUNITY?
I remember reading a book on community 20 years or so ago by Dr. M. Scott Peck, The Different Drum: Community Making & Peace (1987) -- he made a statement that shocked me, yet resonated as so very true in my own experience. It landed in my memory like this...

Christians (churches) are stuck in false community. We miss growth into real, vibrant community because we avoid the necessary path of conflict & disagreement. We hide. Realness and honesty can produce conflict, so we choose to pretend everything is alright.
We pursue peace undercover of nice. God showed me "nice" is often a lie.

False peace is not peace.


REAL IS MESSY
So often the pressure of hidden reality eventually surfaces...sometimes explosively. Exploding churches, ministry teams, friendships and families produce the damaged fruit. A lot of sheep are walking wounded evidence of explosion damage.

Even if explosions don't happen--everything is kept calm and quiet--too often neither does much of anything else. Superficial gets boring. Life and growth eventually are stunted.

A cry I hear over and over again from Christians is that they are tired of superficial Christianity. Yet we demand it at the same time. It feels safer. Truth is, it's easier. But it's deadly. Is it better to have loved deeply and lost than never to have loved deeply?

If we choose to play it safe in superficial relationships how can we ever move into ministering to the deep heart places where we all really do life. How can we grow? heal? transform into the image of Christ? Know God and each other intimately?

Is it possible to know God intimately and hide from each other?
I don't think so. God dwells in our inmost being. Our heart is His temple. If we hide our inmost from each other, how can we touch God together?

Then again. . . what if we don't hide our deepest selves. Do we know how to bring grace and truth to someone's struggle? embarrassment? pain? shame? Damage has also been done to people who chose openness....only to be judged, rejected, lectured, denied, oversimplified.

It takes skill to be a safe person...
to wield a rod & staff with wisdom and grace and compassion.

We've been given the privilege of venturing with each other into our holy of holies, our deep heart where God dwells. Where our true thoughts and feelings live and rule. Healing needs to happen there. We need each other to journey the path into transformation. We need a corrective rod and a rescuing staff now and then.

Who's carrying them for you?
Those of us who take on the tender authority of God's rod & staff must remember to take off our shoes. . .we are tending to holy ground.



* Phillip Keller's book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23