Out in Left Field!

Plate Lunch Anyone?

Imaging a baseball field with seven home plates equally spread around the outside of the field. Now let’s say that at one home plate is a pastor. As he is preaching he starts to talk about those Christians that are out in left field, but to the home plate that is in right field, he is in left field.

Baseball

Now at each home plate is probably a very good Pastor that has a specific gifting. If the pastor has the gift of mercy and is kind and gentle to everyone then those who are stern and judgmental are out in left field. The pastor that is in his left field that is stern and very exacting may just have a prophetic gifting. Now in his left field is this guy that really doesn’t see the exacting principles of God. He uses Scripture to convict and comfort people yes but his insight may not be all that deep. To the prophetic gift pastor the evangelistic pastor may just a little grey, out there in left field. Now the servant pastor is thinking that they have all missed it, they all should be serving the poor. The evangelist pastor saying they are all called to evangelize. The prophetic pastor can see all the faults in all them for they are not all standing on all the principles of God. The exhorter tries to spur everyone on and they all take it as he’s trying to condemn them. The giver sees them all trying to save money to get their visions accomplished and sighs.

Now these are just the pastors, now let’s look at what happens to the congregations. The other eight men that are one each team then get confused. The ball is hit from the evangelistic pastor and they run after it and run into the players from the prophetic pastor. While the servant pastor’s congregation is going after any ball as to help anyone and then they all run into each other and hurt themselves. Then there are arguments and fights about who was right and who was wrong; possibly each team condemning the other team. So, here comes the counseling pastor’s team and all play stops while everyone heals.

Then God inspires a person on one of the teams to seek out what is the actuality of prophecy. He can’t find it in his team so he turns and starts watching the prophetic team. So, the mercy pastor hits the ball out to the mercy person and that person is no longer there, well he is but, he’s not paying attention.

Then the prophetic revivalist pastor offends half of his congregation because his gifting is to spur people past what the sheep are doing and so they all run away. When they scatter they find themselves in the teaching or mercy pastor’s team. Then they get bored because there is no outflow so they run over to the servant or evangelist’s pastor team. Those are dangerous areas, dealing with the world and they get wounded and hide for a period of time and then find themselves in the counselor pastor’s team. Then all the pastors get discouraged because the sheep are so migratory.

We are sheep and so need lots of different gifts to keep us healthy. We need washing, then we need counseling on how to keep out of flea, tick and wolf infested areas. Then we need shepherd type pastors to lead us to higher areas. Then we get this call to sacrifice on the altar so we then need priestly pastors to comfort and walk us through proper ways of sacrificing. Then our ashes fly up in the air and some of us turn into eagles so then we need prophetic type pastors.

Then we need spiritual warrior pastors so we don’t see demons behind every cloud (we still got that skittish sheep mentality). Then we need evangelistic pastors to train us in the ways of calling to any willing wolves, without getting eaten, and then we need a counseling pastor because we did got wounded in the battle. Then we need a shepherd again because we get grounded for a while, while we get more training as prescribed by the Great Physician. Then we need pastors to take over the wolf/potential sheep flock, because not all sheep are good spiritual metamorphist’s of others.
Then there is the loyal sheep that no matter what they need just sit and under one leader all their life and finally get fat and lazy while sitting in the pew after a year or so.

The whole time the sheep get really confused because they are waiting for something to happen, while one pastor condemns them for not being an evangelist, while the other condemns them for not being a home cell leader/teacher already. While another teaches on hearing God’s voice and them condemns them when God calls them to do something radical like sell all their possessions. Then they hear another sermon on giving money and condemnation of other sheep for leaving the flock /transplant growth of churches. Yet, the all these pastors have not learned to come together and work out their differences amongst each other. So, they keep the body separated and their congregations fail because the liver of cleaning is not attached to their part of the body. Then another pastor’s congregation fails because it falls off a cliff because that body has no prophetic eyes. Then another pastor’s church fails because they have no foundational pastors in their group and so the sheep wander around and get into all kinds of trouble because their house was built on sand.

Now then the pastors complain from the pulpit about divisions in the church, yet they are divided from all the other pastors in the region. So, the pastor’s condemn the sheep, yet they don’t realize that they are doing the same things.

Ro 2:1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

So when you, who are pastors, condemn the congregation for divisions in your church, you condemn yourselves, for very few of you work together, and are divided amongst yourselves. Then you destroy your fellow pastor who is caught in a sin, where you are commanded to restore such a one in the spirit of humility and judgment, well that is if you are spiritual. So, you condemn your congregation for being disobedient to the commands of God which you yourself don't even keep. For, if your brother sins you are to go to him. Yet most of you won’t even talk to that pastor across the street because you listen to the slander of other pastors and are fearful to have any contact with then least you are looked down upon.

So, you who are the head of the churches are letting in to your congregations the spirits of fear, slander, division, and hatred for your brothers because you as the pastor are opening the gate by your own actions. Then you wonder and moan to God about all the travail that is going on in the Church, yet you fail to realize you are the ones who are causing it.

In the baseball analogy, the body of Christ in your Christian established community has all the gifts needed to take care of any need in that community, but we run to teachers, prophets, and revivalist in far away cities looking for guidance. Scripture says better is a friend nearby, that a brother far away. How do you think the wolves get such access to so much power and authority in the church? They wander and are called in from a long way of promising wonderful bounty and banquets; they prove it by eating off your flock. Mmmm… lamb chops for dinner anyone? For if the pastors would come together in righteousness, then all the home plates would be consolidated together in one place and the sheep would no longer be eaten by the wolves for their would only be one plate to protect. Since you pastors can’t get long and are playing in the same field as all the other pastors in your community, no wonder the wolves are dressed in finery and are so rich. Each wolf sets a trap and yells out to the sheep, “Is anyone hungry there is a bounty here to eat.… Plate lunch anyone?”

Little do the sheep know that they are the ones on the menu. All because the shepherds don’t know how to get along and are so burnt out from taking care of all the problems of the sheep that they themselves are creating.

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