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“Life is not easy for any of us. But it is a continual challenge, and it is up to us to be cheerful and to be strong, so that those who depend on us may draw strength from our example.”
~ Rose Kennedy (1890-1995), Kennedy family matriarch
To add to every spiritual leader’s problems, Jesus informs us that while we are sleeping, our Adversary is busy infiltrating our ranks with sleeper cells! These people lie low, look like they belong and play along with the plan … until they are ‘activated’ by their handler and are put into action to blow up some vital part of our infrastructure, causing the death and dismemberment of the body of Christ in our neighborhood.
How do we discern and separate the sincere from the insincere in our midst? In these days of global spiritual battle, Jesus tells us of a major mind shift: we are to be aware of the potential infiltration by our enemy. Listen as he explains …
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ‘ ” Matthew 13:24-30 (NKJV)
We become like Jesus when …
o We carefully identify the infiltrators and seek to minimize their damage to our ministry.
Note the wisdom of Jesus! I would have done this totally different. Like the servant, my natural inclination is to rip the imposter out of the situation. However, Jesus makes it clear that such a decision would be disastrous to the genuine leaders and followers within our ministry.
Since we can’t ‘take them out’ we must be proactive to mitigate their effectiveness to damage our work for the Kingdom. Jesus tells us that, in the end, they will get their proper punishment. Our task, as Eagle Leaders, is to minimize their network, influence and subversion. Developing a strategy to accomplish this will be different in each location, but making sure the destructiveness of the enemy is kept to its absolute minimum is what the ‘shepherding’ aspect of leadership is all about!
© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith
