“Behold, I am against the shepherds. . .” Ezekiel 34:10
I’ll begin by saying that readers of Fulcrum 7 are already keenly aware of the unfolding crisis at the Village SDA Church vis a vis the firing of senior pastor Ron Kelly. Michigan Conference actions have come under deep scrutiny as a result.
A significant abuse of power has occurred. It is symptomatic of a more extensive problem that has taken root in Seventh-day Adventist church leadership. I don’t mean to implicate all of our conferences or conference officers in this statement. There are still many good and godly men in leadership. But there is also this other element. How should we respond? The following is an excerpt from a sermon given at my local church December 7, 2024 to help church members understand and respond to the situation. The original sermon was over 3700 words. This edited version (necessary to meet the 2100 word limit) contains the essential points of the message.
First, I will demonstrate from the Scriptures and sacred history that abuse of power by shepherds is not a new problem. Second, I will show how God responds to such abuse.
EXPOSITION
Now, as I mentioned, first I want to demonstrate that abuse of power by spiritual leaders is not a new thing. Things like this have been happening since there was a church organization on earth. Let’s take a moment to review a little sacred history. One of the first stories of corruption and abuse of power by church leaders is found in 1 Samuel 2:12-16. I won’t take the time to read it but I give the reference so that you can look it up. These were the infamous Hophni and Phineas - who were irreverent, immoral, and coercive. Yet they were priests. Their father, a good man in many respects, was rebuked by the prophetic voice for tolerating them in office. Eventually, God dealt with both of them by the hand of the Philistines, but they did much harm.
Go forward a few centuries to Jeremiah’s time and listen to how things progressed from the days of Hophni and Phineas. Despite the prophecy against those two criminals, others rose up in later times and followed their same course of corruption. Jeremiah was forced to utter these words: Jer. 5:31 “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?”
It is hard to imagine a deeper state of corruption than is pictured here. False teaching was being heard, leaders were making the rules as they went along, to their own advantage. But rather than rebuke their leaders and hold them accountable, the professed people of God are rebuked for doing nothing about all this. They seem content with the situation, probably because under these circumstances they could do pretty much whatever they wanted, since the leading men of the nation were doing the same thing. But then these people are brought face to face with reality again by this pregnant question - “But what will you do in the end?” By asking this, God was calling the people to consider the fact that the church of that generation was in an unsustainable situation. God was about to clean house, and He asked His people to consider what condition they would want to be found in when judgment came. We should also consider that same question, shouldn’t we?
But, turning now to the New Testament, look at the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry. The gospels reek with the stench of the corruption of the leaders of the Hebrew church. We are taken inside the secret meetings, inside the betrayal plot against Jesus. These things went all the way to the very top - to the Sanhedrin and to the high priest himself. It all ended with the shouts “Crucify Him!”
Look also at the book of Acts. Who were the great enemies of the apostles and their work? Again, it was the leaders of the institutional church, wasn’t it? They now recognized that the Spirit of God was using others to awaken the people of God and to bring souls to the Messiah, and instead of repenting they did all in their power to stop it. When Stephen called them to account for the murder of the prophets and of the Messiah Himself, they immediately stoned him to death.
Now I will not stay with this point longer, but we could see the same trends happening in the third and fourth centuries in the Christian church, right on through the Dark Ages. One of the things that makes Rome so antichristian is its system of church governance. The Protestant Reformation was not to be only theological, but it was to restore liberty of conscience to individual believers and institute a system of church governance that respects believers rights.
So in view of this history, is it even logical to think that such things could never happen among us? Is the dragon wroth with the woman or not? Has he gone out to make war against the remnant, or has he decided to take a long vacation until Jesus comes? Of course not! He has come down with great wrath because he knows that his time is short. So let me suggest that what we have just witnessed in Michigan is an abuse of spiritual authority, and that we are likely to see more of it. We are reliving the book of Acts, friends, so it is time to stow your tray table, power off your electronics (!), and buckle your lap belt. We are coming in for a landing, but we will encounter some serious turbulence during our descent. Get ready!
Now I want to close our exposition of the Word of God by addressing the second point I set out at the beginning and that is this - How does God respond when the leaders of His church abuse their power?
Turn with me to Ezekiel 34,
Ezek. 34:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek. 34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
Ezek. 34:3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.
Ezek. 34:4 The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.
Ezek. 34:5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.
Ezek. 34:6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.”
Ezek. 34:7 ¶ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
Ezek. 34:8 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”—
Ezek. 34:9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!
Ezek. 34:10 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”
These shepherds - that is, the leaders of the church, were self-serving men who prioritized their own interests and benefits over and against the needs of the people. They fed themselves, but they did not feed the flock. They had decent salaries, a solid retirement plan, good health insurance, tax breaks, and yet they did not feel grateful to God for these things. Instead they acted as though they deserved them, yes, and more also. As well fed and well clothed as they were, they did not go out searching for the lost sheep. You want to know why the Jews were carried away captive to Babylon? It is because of men like these - men who ruled by force and cruelty as it says in verse 4. Under this kind of leadership souls are lost, friends - verse 8 portrays the situation as the poor sheep being devoured in the wilderness, confused, disoriented, and vulnerable. It is no marvel, then, that we have the judgment pronounced in verse 10. To these shepherds who prioritized institutional continuity, who sought to press back accountability, who wished they could silence all dissenting voices, there was, finally, nothing that God could do to reform their hard hearts. The only step left for God was judgment upon the shepherds and deliverance for the sheep. I hope we are all deeply engaged in this message right now. Do we recognize the implications for our present generation?
Let me spell it out for you. When those entrusted with church leadership decide its time to rule as kings rather than lead as shepherds they are inviting God’s judgment. When those entrusted with church leadership set up the governing structure to minimize the input from the membership, I say God is displeased. When courageous men call for accountability, and the only response is to seek to silence them, I say it is an invitation for God to speak in His wrath - “Woe to the shepherds of Israel. . .” Verse 2.
APPLICATION AND APPEAL
Now I don’t want to be misunderstood today in what I have said, so let me make a few clarifications:
I am not saying that the Seventh-day Adventist church is Babylon, in apostasy, or any other such nonsense.
But I am saying that God is not pleased with the dictatorial spirit that has been manifested in recent times, especially since COVID. He is not pleased with this.
I am not saying that there are no good, godly men in leadership in this church. There are many of these, and I thank God for them.
But I am saying that there seems to be a trend at the moment among some leaders to prioritize institutional power and continuity over faithfulness to the message and mission God has committed to us. This is a dangerous trend and it should be resisted, even if that means holding some constituency meetings and electing some new people.
I am not saying that some new church organization should be formed to replace the one we have.
But I am saying that I believe that God is about to do something that will purify His church, and while the church is not going to be fragmented into tiny atoms, neither is its current institutional structure likely remain. Organizational functionality is not necessarily linked to bureaucracy. The fact is that in almost every case the more bureaucracy an organization has, the less likely it is to fulfill its mission. Actions like those of the Michigan Conference will only hasten this transition.
I’ll conclude by saying this - in the great second advent movement we see the hand of God moving and we hear the voice of the True Shepherd speaking. The truth has not changed! We have been told that God will shake His remnant church, then sift it, and that the sinners in Zion will be shaken out of it. So the counsel I will give today is this:
PRAY for those in leadership, that they will submit to the control of the Holy Spirit.
PRAY for all God’s people, that we may do our duty in holding our brethren accountable, not in some unChristlike, critical manner, but firmly and lovingly - with their eternal destiny in mind.
And finally, GLUE your bottom to the pew! God is not calling people to leave the remnant church and enter into some new organization. Be patient, but be watchful. Very soon the embattled church will be transformed into the church triumphant - the Holy Spirit will be poured out, the message will go everywhere, the work on earth will be finished. But be faithful now during the time of testing, so that you may have the opportunity to participate in that final work, and so that you will not be found fighting against it.
This is my prayer for us all, in Jesus name, Amen.
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Skip Dodson embraced the Advent message as a 25 year old aerospace engineering graduate student. Over the past three decades he has served as a Bible worker, a district pastor, an administrator, and as a college dean and religion chair. He is currently serving as a self-supporting missionary based in Colorado. Skip has been united in ministry for 25+ years with his wife Renee. The couple have two young adult children, both of whom are partners with them in mission.