Gather the Scattered
Gather the Scattered
Would you do a little survey? Make a list of 25 Christian friends or acquaintances of yours. Now divide them into these three categories: True Members, Attenders, or Non-attenders.
Before you quickly put some of them into the first category, here’s what a True Member is: one who is being fed, nourished and watched over by shepherds who know them, who is an active part of a group or team, and one who is either being trained for or actively engaged in mission, or one who is in a process of healing toward future involvement in mission.
That, by the way, is the Biblical meaning of being members together in the Body of Christ. We incorrectly use the term member to describe a status with an organization. (“I am a member of such and such a church.”) But our body’s members (eyes, ear, feet and hands, for instance) are defined by their functions and by their relationship with the other members.
Attenders don’t fit the True Members category, but do occasionally attend worship events. Their posture is mostly that of an onlooker. And a Non-attender is a believer who has walked away from church activity, or who has never been involved.
I did my own survey. It came out 12% True Members, 52% Attenders and 36% Non-attenders. Obviously, your own friends will somewhat reflect your own situation. (Click here to let me know the results or your survey.)
But I would say that if in the larger Christian community, True Members make up less than 25%, the condition of the flock could be called scattered. When God’s people are scattered, they are unprotected, more vulnerable. They are less likely to be fruitful and to fulfill their God-ordained design.
Jesus faced this condition with those to whom he was sent.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Mt. 9:36).
Sheep don’t self-protect well.
He also said,
How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Mt. 23:37).
Ezekiel spoke for God about this same condition in the 6th century BC:
…because there was no shepherd… my sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them” (34:5-6).
The Torn Fabric of Fellowship
For us, Covid has had an additional scattering effect on God’s people. Some quit attending church, and decided not to get back into the habit.
In December 2020 (in the midst of Covid), my friend, David Cassidy, posted this:
“After Covid-19 is defeated, we will have to re-member the church.
Great work is ahead and it calls for courageous souls who will patiently love the scattered, gracefully stitch & repair the torn fabric of fellowship, invigorate worship, pour wine into new wineskins, and pioneer new paths of mission & service in the world's shifted landscape.
This is a disruption, causing permanent changes, not a mere interruption from which we simply return to what we were doing just as before. There will be both continuity and discontinuity - and blessed are the flexible, discerning, & innovative.”
“Patiently love the scattered, and gracefully stitch and repair the torn fabric of fellowship.” Sounds like marching orders to me!
I’m convinced that, in the long run, good will come out of Covid. Aggravated isolation will create a deep longing to belong again and to be gathered and protected from the dangers of scatteredness.
We Need Shepherds
Both Ezekiel and Jesus said that our scattered state resulted from the lack of shepherds who look after the sheep. So we should earnestly pray that God will send those who are devoted to the welfare of God’s flock.
In the 1980’s there was something called the Shepherding Movement. I was part of it. Tens of thousands attended conferences where we learned the importance of shepherding care. The emphasis took root in some circles but then seemed to wane. And, as is often the case, this pioneering effort overemphasized some truths at the expense of other important truths. The servant role of leadership was too often neglected.
Maybe, however, seeds were sown that are yet to come up. Jesus, when he observed that the crowds were like sheep without shepherds, commended us to pray for laborers (Mt. 9:36-38) to assist in the “plentiful harvest.” This is an important Scripture for us.
These two requests:
Don’t resist being gathered out of scatteredness [“How often I would have gathered you… but you were not willing” (Mt. 23:37)], and
Pray for God to raise up hundreds of shepherds to attend to our scatteredness. They don’t need to be seminary trained. They could be laymen. But they do need to know how to look after the flock.
Here’s some good news: in the Ezekiel passage referenced above, God says that, in light of the failure of the shepherds to properly look after the scattered flock, he himself will come and rescue:
As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness (Ezek. 34:12).
Come, Lord Jesus. Gather the scattered!
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