10 WAYS TO AVOID HAVING UNNECESSARY PROBLEMS WITH YOUR SHEEP AS A SHEPHERD – Bishop Irabor Wisdom.

There Is How To Avoid unnecessary Problems That Exist Between SHEPHERD And Their SHEEP.

There Are Too Many Anointed Ministries That Lack The Wisdom To Manage Relationship Between The Sheepherd And The Sheep:

Hence We Have Too Many Regrets And Frustration Among Pastors That Are Victims Of The People They Are To Manage With Wisdom.

Remember APOSTLE PAUL Said In The Book Of Romans 11:13

I MAGNIFY MY OFFICE:

The Office You Don’t Magnify, Cannot Dignify Your Life.

I Have Been On The Field As A Full-Time Pastor For Over 25 Years Now.

October 14th 1997 To Date.

We Have Seen A Few Things:

THESE TEN THINGS ARE NOT THEORY, BUT PRACTICAL:

Argue Them At Your Own Peril.

1. NEVER YOU HAVE ANY MEMBER THAT KNOWS YOU AFTER THE FLESH, UNLESS YOU ARE LUCKY TO HAVE GOD ANOINT ONE AND GIVE TO YOU AS A GIFT:

Even The Ones That God Gave You As A Gift, You Must Be Careful With The Things You Do With Them.

A FAITHFUL SON TODAY, Can Become A PAINFUL SORE TOMMORROW.

Some Members Are Not Matured To Know Your Struggles, Please Censor Access.

2. NEVER YOU STAND AS A SURETY FOR ANY MEMBER, YOU ARE CALLED TO FEED THEM WITH KNOWLEDGE AND NOT TO STAND AS THEIR SURETY:

Some Pastors Are In The Prison For This Very Reason.

That You Have Done It Before And It Worked; Does Not Make It Right.

The Day It Will Go Wrong, You Will Forget All The Ones That Ended Well.

You Can Stand As Referee, If You Know The Member Very Well; Not A Surety.

They Are 2 Different Things.

As A Branch Pastor, I Paid A Huge Amount Of Money For Standing As Surety For A Member Who Absconded.

Part Of The Oath Of Office I Took As A Pastor, Was Never To Stand As A Surety For Anyone.

It Is A Sackable Offence.

3. NEVER YOU LEND MONEY TO YOUR MEMBERS:

This Is Even The Height
Of Familiarity And Disrespect.

The People Who Come To You To Loan Them Money Will Never Do It In Their Former Church.

If You Borrow And It Doesn’t End Well, You Are Still Going To Be The One To Lose.

Can You Arrest A Member Under Your care?

If The Need Is Genuine, You Can Support With Whatever You Have.

Never Lend Them, It Will Kill Their Faith In You; It Will Kill Their Respect For You; And It May Lead To Problems That Will Also Lead To Exit.

As At The Last Count, I Have Lost At Least 4 Members, Who I Thought By lending Them Money; They Will Remain With Me.

What A Pity, I Was Completely Wrong.

4. NEVER YOU BORROW MONEY FROM YOUR MEMBERS:

This Is The Mother Of All Forms Of DISRESPECT.

You Will Just Give Yourself And Ministry A Very Bad Image.

Are You Telling Us That The Gospel You Preach To Them Is Not Working?

I Rather Die In Silence, Than To Survive By Begging Or Borrowing From My Members.

If It Is A Matter Of Life And Death, It Is Better To Go Outside And Cry For Help Than To Run To Your Members To lend You Money.

Some Members Can’t Stand It, Knowing That Your God Can’t Provide For You.

To Them How Will God Use You To Provide For Them?

Biblically, It Is Not Wrong Going To Them For Help.

But Practically, It Is Wrong.

Because It Will Lead To Negative Outcomes.

5. NEVER YOU DISCUSS ANYTHING ABOUT ONE MEMBER TO ANOTHER MEMBER UNLESS YOU ARE LUCKY, TO HAVE A MEMBER WHO IS ANOINTED TO KEEP SECRET FOR YOU:

In The Early Years Of Our Ministry, I Suffered So Much In The Hands Of Pastors Who Are My Confidants, That Also Have Someone In Church That Is Their own Confidant.

So It Became A Case Of Me Talking To My Confidants And My Confidants Talking To their Own Confidants.

And The End Result Is Always Conflict Resolution Within The House.

One Of The Things I Hate With Passion Is Daddy Said, Papa Said, Bishop Said, It Kills Your Name, Faster Than Anything.

So What I Do Is -Anything That Cannot Be Heard By A Third Party, I Don’t Discuss It With Anyone Of Them.

Because I Know You Also Have Your Confidants.

(Be careful with your protocol team)

6. ANY REPORT AGAINST A MEMBER MUST BE DISCUSSED IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ACCUSED:

Every SHEPHERD Must Know That Some Sheep Are Very Interested In Becoming The Most Trusted, The Most Loved and The Most Accepted.

In Achieving it, They Can Destroy Anyone To Get It.

It Is Wickedness To Have A Son Whose Report Against Innocent Sons You Believe Without You Having Your Own Way Of Finding Out.

According To Scriptures, In The Book Of PROVERBS 19:6 Every Person Wants The Favour Of The King.

In Trying To Get That Favour, The Wicked Ones Among Your Sons Can Come To You To Destroy Others.

7. USE STRATEGIC ABSENCE TO AVOID UNNECESSARY CONTACTS THAT WILL LEAD TO DISRESPECT AND OVER FAMILIARITY:

I Have Discovered That It Is The Pastor That Is Easily Accessed that is Easily Quoted, Disrespected And Eventually Destroyed.

Always Be On The Move! Always Be on The Go!

When You Have Nowhere To Move To, See People Only By Appointment.

That You Are In The Office Does Not Mean You Have To Talk With Every Member who comes Into The Church.

If You Can’t Gain Privacy From The Office, Please Work From Your House.

What You Need Is Result And Not Relationships That Will Hinder The Same Results You Want.

This Number 7 Is The Approach Of All Founders That Must Last In The Same Location.

Hope You Know, We Have No One To Transfer Us?

So To Last You Must Be Wise.

8. NEVER USE MEMBERS, TO CARRY OUT A JOB THAT REQUIRES PENALTY, WHEN THERE IS A DEFAULT SOMEWHERE:

Always Separate Yourself From Church Projects, If A Muslim Has A Track Record Of Faithfulness More Than A Church Member; Please Use The Muslim To Do The Job.

Result Is Superior To Religion.

Most Members Get Carried Away With Their Membership And Closeness With You, And In The Process Either Delay Or Abandon Church Work.

If You Get Angry, It Will Be Used Against You.

If You Arrest, It Will Still Be Used Against You.

So What Is The Way Out?

Whoever You Cannot Deal With, You Must Not Give Church Work To.

9. AVOID DOING ALL FORMS OF BUSINESS WITH CHURCH MEMBERS:

If You Are Lucky To Have Sons And Daughters Who Can Do Business On Your Behalf, The Better For You.

But If It Fails, You Must Let Go.

You Can’t Arrest Your Member.

Don’t Also Use Your Office To Introduce Them To Business, If It Fails; This People Will Not See You The Way You See Them.

Some Of Them Are Very Heartless.

A Pastor Stopped Going To Church After A Business Deal He Introduced Members To Failed.

One Of The Members Carried A Lawyer And Sued this Pastor.

Pastor, I Am Not Saying That It Is wrong to do business; I Am Only Saying It Is Not Safe Doing It With your Members. Because of the rules of engagement if it fails.

10. WHEN PREACHING ON THE ALTAR AVOID EVERYTHING THAT WILL MAKE MEMBERS FEEL YOU ARE USING THEIR PROBLEMS TO PREACH ON THE ALTAR:

This Is Why I Hate Counselling Session, You Come To Me To Tell Me Your Problem; So I Must Not In This Life Get Close To That Aspect Of Preaching, Because I Had A Discussion With You?

Are You The Only One In Church?

It Doesn’t Work That Way.

As Long As Your Name Wasn’t Mentioned, Allow Your Man Of God To Flow.

But As Pastors, Since We Know Most Of These People Are Not Matured Let Us Avoid Saying Things That Will Make Them Feel You Are Using Them To Preach.

Some People Have Walked Out Of Church Because Of This Very Reason.

Where It Is Established That You Are Using Them To Preach; it Will Always Lead To Disrespect For Your Person.

When Preaching You Can Share People’s Testimonies And Not Their Problems They Discussed With You Privately.

Thanks for reading.

Remain blessed in Jesus name.

Irabor Wisdom

Presiding Bishop Answers Assembly Warri Delta State Nigeria.