Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. – Jeremiah 12:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 16, 2014): Jeremiah 12

Ken Blanchard, the author of “The One Minute Manager” has said that “too many leaders act as if the sheep … their people … are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep.” In other words, too many leaders are too interested in the ways that they can be served, when they should be concentrating on how they can serve. It is a trap that too many leaders fall into. Actually, it is probably better to call these people bosses rather than leaders – a boss is more concerned about simply being at the top, but a leader is going somewhere.

Jeremiah’s words would seem to be contain a double meaning. The truth was that the nation had already experienced its share of bosses that only wanted to take from the nation. Kings like Manasseh and Amon had only wanted to take from the nation throughout their reigns – although Manasseh did have a change of heart late in his reign. And it had experienced too few actual leaders that wanted to give back (Josiah and Hezekiah would have been two of the few.) And now the nation was going to go into exile. And so the second meaning of Jeremiah’s words was not a reminder of the past, but a warning for the future. For the next few generations there would be a series of kingdoms that would want to do nothing but take. These shepherds would not care about the pasture – they would simply take what it was that they needed from it – and God’s vineyard, this place that had once flowed with milk and honey would be turned into a desolate wasteland. And none of this was what God wanted. But it had to happen because the people refused to follow God – they refused the leadership of the good shepherd.

Care for our world is part of what it means to be a good shepherd and a good leader. It means that sometimes we will have to make hard choices, but those choices are always for the benefit of the sheep. And a Christian Shepherd – or leader – will also serve. Like a good shepherd, it is not what we can take from the sheep that is important. It is what we can give. We recognize that we have a responsibility for this world in which we live – and the sheep that surround us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 26