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Watching and Warning

Richard L. Mayhue

Guarding Christ’s flock of believers from spiritual danger is one of the most neglected pastoral duties in today’s church. In addition to commissioning spiritual sentinels to watch over His flock by directing them into truth and righteousness, God has charged these sentinels to protect the flock from doctrinal error and personal sin. Ezekiel 3, 33, and Acts 20 provide clear instruction on the why’s and how’s of being a pastoral watchman. Undershepherds of the flock will be good servants and obedient imitators of the Chief Shepherd when they regularly watch for and warn of encroaching spiritual dangers.

“Reengineering the Church” was the theme of a recent pastoral leadership conference on how to prepare the church for the twenty-first century. As I read the conference brochure, my initial response was, “Why reengineer the church when God designed it perfectly in the beginning? Shouldn’t we inspect the church first and demolish only the defective portions, so we can rebuild the demolished part according to the Builder’s original plan? Who can improve on God’s engineering?” The solution is not reengineering, but restoration to the perfect original specifications of the divine Designer. The goal of any changes should be a return to the church’s biblical roots if she will ever regain her former glory.

An inspection of the existing church should include such questions as: Have we consulted the Owner (1 Cor. 3:9)? Are we dealing with the original Builder (Matt. 16:18)? Does the church still rest on the beginning foundation (1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20)? Is the first Cornerstone still in place (Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:4–8)? Are we using approved building materials (1 Pet. 2:5)? Do we employ the right laborers (1 Cor. 3:9)? Have we utilized the appropriate supervisors (Eph. 4:11–13)? Are the initial standards of quality control still in place (Eph. 4:13–16)? Are we continuing to work from the original blueprint (2 Tim. 3:16–17)?

The biblical approach to keeping the church on track during the twenty-first century requires that the role of the construction supervisors (that is, God’s appointed shepherds who keep watch over His flock) be one of the first areas for review. According to one biblical metaphor, the supervisors in the picture of the church as a building are none other than the shepherds of the flock according to another figure. The remainder of this discussion will use the latter terminology.1

Paul laid out the basic task of a shepherd with these words:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Eph. 4:11–16, emphasis added).

THE TRUE SHEPHERD

Scripture continually alerts its readers to watch for spiritual counterfeits.2 Jesus warned of “false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Elsewhere He characterized the false shepherd as “a thief and a robber” (John 10:1, see also v. 8).

Nowhere in Scripture is this more apparent than in the Old Testament prophets who incessantly warned Israel about false prophets, even rebuking the nation when they strayed by following a false leader rather than a true one.3 Though not as historically dramatic as the Old, frequently the New Testament also warns against deceiving, misleading spiritual leaders.4 Every succeeding generation of history has proven the need for this caution. It remains a preeminent concern of God that the church be led by true shepherds.

In the 1891 Lyman Beecher lectures on preaching at Yale, James Stalker insightfully cautioned, “The higher the honour attaching to the ministerial profession, when it is worthily filled, the deeper is the abuse of which it is capable in comparison with other callings.”5 Unfortunately, the genuine attracts the uninvited clever imitation. Realistically, the true shepherd must protect the flock from the spurious. Shepherds have explicit instructions from Scripture to warn the flock that not everyone who claims to be a true shepherd is speaking the truth.

Charles Jefferson, in his classic work, The Minister As Shepherd, listed seven basic functions of the genuine shepherd:6

  1. to love the sheep
  2. to feed the sheep
  3. to rescue the sheep
  4. to attend and comfort the sheep
  5. to guide the sheep
  6. to guard and protect the sheep
  7. to watch over the sheep

This chapter treats Jefferson’s last two categories in particular: guarding and watching over the sheep. No other aspect of contemporary pastoral ministry has fallen into disuse more than the lifesaving role of a watchman. It is vital for effective ministry to recover the aspect of shepherdly vigilance that guards and protects the flock from preventable spiritual carnage. The true pastor will make the safety of Christ’s flock a top priority. In so doing, he will also help rid the pastoral ranks of pollution brought by unauthorized look-alikes.

OVERSEEING THE FLOCK

Each of the terms pastor, elder, and overseer describes facets of the shepherd’s role. All three appear together in Acts 20:17, 28 and 1 Peter 5:1–2. Elder and overseer link up in Titus 1:5, 7 while overseer and shepherd both describe Christ in 1 Peter 2:25. Because of its relevance to the present subject, overseer will be the focus of attention in the following treatment.

Thomas Oden in a brief word captured the particular characteristic of watchfulness inherent in the term overseer: “Bishop translates episkopos, which is derived from the family of Greek words referring to guardianship, oversight, inspection—accountably looking after a complex process in a comprehensive sense. Episkopos implies vigilance far more than hierarchy.”7

A shepherd’s oversight of the flock expresses itself broadly in two ways.8 First, shepherds provide truthful, positive direction and leadership to the flock. Second, they warn of spiritual dangers such as sin, false teaching, and false teachers, including Satan’s assaults against the saints.

On one hand, the shepherd teaches truth, and on the other, he warns of sin and refutes doctrinal error. In leading the flock down the path of righteousness, the shepherd also watches for, warns, and even rescues the stray who has been enticed by false teaching and alluring sin. When shepherds exercise their oversight responsibly, they will have both a preventative and a confrontive side to their ministry. One cannot shepherd the flock with credibility unless he provides a corrective oversight of watching and warning.

PASTORAL VIGILANCE

American patriot Thomas Jefferson observed that “eternal vigilance is the price of victory.”9 He spoke of political victory, but it is even more true for the church if she is to win out over false teaching and sin. W. Phillip Keller warned of Predators in Our Pulpits through his recent call to restore true, biblical preaching to churches around the world.10 Predator might sound harsh, but it nonetheless follows the example of Christ, who rightfully called the Pharisees blind guides, serpents, and whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23). God’s spiritual sentry must be forthright in his challenges and strongly confront those who would maliciously usurp the true shepherd’s tasks, thereby leading Christ’s flock astray.

The Shepherd of Psalm 23 comforted the sheep with His rod and staff.11 These implements not only symbolize vigilance, but in the Shepherd’s hand they are also instruments of protection and direction, which are the fruit of vigilance. The rod protected the flock against immediate, encroaching danger. The staff served to assemble the sheep, to guide them, and even to rescue them should they wander away. Likewise the shepherd of Christ’s flock, the church, must be vigilant. The spiritual health and integrity of the flock depend on his devotion to this phase of his responsibility.

In his day, Charles Jefferson memorably captured the protective aspect of an ancient Near Eastern shepherd’s duty. The parallels to modern-day shepherding for pastors are obvious but, unfortunately, all too often ignored.

The Eastern shepherd was, first of all, a watchman. He had a watch tower. It was his business to keep a wide-open eye, constantly searching the horizon for the possible approach of foes. He was bound to be circumspect and attentive. Vigilance was a cardinal virtue. An alert wakefulness was for him a necessity. He could not indulge in fits of drowsiness, for the foe was always near. Only by his alertness could the enemy be circumvented. There were many kinds of enemies, all of them terrible, each in a different way. At certain seasons of the year there were floods. Streams became quickly swollen and overflowed their banks. Swift action was necessary in order to escape destruction. There were enemies of a more subtle kind—animals, rapacious and treacherous: lions, bears, hyenas, jackals, wolves. There were enemies in the air; huge birds of prey were always soaring aloft ready to swoop down upon a lamb or kid. And then, most dangerous of all, were the human birds and beasts of prey—robbers, bandits, men who made a business of robbing sheepfolds and murdering shepherds. That Eastern world was full of perils. It teemed with forces hostile to the shepherd and his flock. When Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Habakkuk talk about shepherds, they call them watchmen set to warn and save.12

Vigilance, without question, starts in the pulpit, but it goes far beyond. Watching over the flock as a body does not preclude watching over the congregation as individuals. Strong pulpit ministry has always been the backbone of shepherding, but it does not exhaust the shepherd’s responsibilities. Consider the persuasion of Charles Bridges:

Let us not think that all our work is done in the study and in the pulpit. Preaching—the grand lever of the Ministry—derives much of its power from connexion with the Pastoral work; and its too frequent disjunction from it is a main cause of our inefficiency. The Pastor and Preacher combine to form the completeness of the sacred office, as expounded in our Ordination services and Scriptural illustrations. How little can a stated appearance in public answer to the lowest sense of such terms as Shepherd, Watchman, Overseer, Steward!—terms, which import not a mere general superintendence over the flock, charge, or household, but an acquaintance with their individual wants, and a distribution suitable to the occasion; without which, instead of “taking heed to the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made us overseers,” we can scarcely be said to “take the oversight of it” at all.13

Pastoral oversight includes a strong emphasis on watching carefully for lurking spiritual danger according to the follow sampling of New Testament exhortations:

The early church took these biblical instructions seriously. For example, observe both the apostle John and his disciple Polycarp in action:

The same Polycarp, coming to Rome under the episcopate of Anicetus, turned many from the aforesaid heretics to the church of God, proclaiming the one and only true faith, that he had received from the apostles, that, viz., which was delivered by the church. And there are those still living who heard him relate, that John the disciple of the Lord went into a bath at Ephesus, and seeing Cerinthus within, ran out without bathing, and exclaimed, “Let us flee lest the bath should fall in, as long as Cerinthus, that enemy of truth, is within.” And the same Polycarp, once coming and meeting Marcion, who said, “acknowledge us,” he replied, “I acknowledge the first born of Satan.” Such caution did the apostles and their disciples use, so as not even to have any communion, even in word with any of those that thus mutilated the truth, according to the declaration of Paul: “An heretical man after the first and second admonition avoid, knowing that such an one is perverse, and that he sins, bringing condemnation upon himself.”14

The pattern continued to the fourth generation (Christ, John, and Polycarp being the first three) in the ministry of Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp:

Inasmuch as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says, “minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith,” and by means of their craftily constructed plausibilities draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take them captive. [I have felt constrained, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in order to expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also overthrow the faith of many, by drawing them away, under a pretence of [superior] knowledge, from Him who founded and adorned the universe; as if, forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than that God who created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein. By means of specious and plausible words, they cunningly allure the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless clumsily destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous and impious opinions respecting the Demiurge; and these simple ones are unable, even in such a matter, to distinguish falsehood from truth.15

More recently, in the mid-1960s, Harry Blamires has written a significant volume warning the British church of its rapid departure from truth. He has since been associated with the concept of “thinking Christianly” because of his clear call for the restoration of a Christian mind-set based on Scripture:

Our culture is bedeviled by the it’s-all-a-matter-of-opinion code. In the sphere of religious and moral thinking we are rapidly heading for a state of intellectual anarchy in which the difference between truth and falsehood will no longer be recognized. Indeed it would seem possible that the words true and false will eventually (and logically) be replaced by the words likeable and dislikeable. . . .

Christian truth is objective, four-square, unshakable. It is not built of men’s opinions. It is not something fabricated either by scholars or by men in the street, still less something assembled from a million answers, Yes, No, and Don’t know, obtained from a cross-section of the human race. Christian truth is something given, revealed, laid open to the eye of the patient, self-forgetful inquirer. You do not make the truth. You reside in the truth. A suitable image for truth would be that of a lighthouse lashed by the elemental fury of undisciplined error. Those who have come to reside in the truth must stay there. It is not their business to go back into error for the purpose of joining their drowning fellows with the pretence that, inside or outside, the conditions are pretty much the same. It is their duty to draw others within the shelter of the truth. For truth is most certainly a shelter. And it is inviolable. If we start to dismantle it and give it away in bits to those outside, there will be nothing left to protect our own heads—and no refuge in which to receive the others, should they at length grow weary of error.16

What Blamires wrote to the British church of the ’60s, David Wells wrote to the American church in the ’90s:

The stream of historic orthodoxy that once watered the evangelical soul is now damned by a worldliness that many fail to recognize as worldliness because of the cultural innocence with which it presents itself. To be sure, this orthodoxy never was infallible, nor was it without its blemishes and foibles, but I am far from persuaded that the emancipation from its theological core that much of evangelicalism is effecting has resulted in greater biblical fidelity. In fact, the result is just the opposite. We now have less biblical fidelity, less interest in truth, less seriousness, less depth, and less capacity to speak the Word of God to our own generation in a way that offers an alternative to what it already thinks. The older orthodoxy was driven by a passion for truth, and that was why it could express itself only in theological terms. The newer evangelicalism is not driven by the same passion for truth, and that is why it is often empty of theological interest.17

Both Blamires and Wells stand in the long, unbroken chain of gallant men who have taken seriously the biblical injunctions to watch and warn. They serve as exemplars of shepherdly vigilance in the best tradition of the New Testament overseer.18

Paul wrote Titus that an overseer should hold “fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). To exhort only and not to refute amounts to spiritual insubordination, even gross disobedience. Certainly, it is nothing less than dereliction of duty.

John Stott exposed and confronted the growing negligence of late twentieth-century shepherds in their failure to watch for and confront doctrinal error:

This emphasis is unpopular today. It is frequently said that pastors must always be positive in their teaching, never negative. But those who say this have either not read the New Testament or, having read it, they disagree with it. For the Lord Jesus and His apostles gave the example and even set forth the obligation to be negative in refuting error. Is it possible that the neglect of this ministry is one of the major causes of theological confusion in the church today? To be sure, theological controversy is distasteful to sensitive spirits and has its spiritual dangers. Woe to those who enjoy it! But it cannot conscientiously be avoided. If, when false teaching arises, Christian leaders sit idly by and do nothing or turn tail and flee, they will earn the terrible epithet “hirelings” who care nothing for Christ’s flock. Is it right to abandon His sheep and leave them defenseless against the wolves to be like “sheep without a shepherd”? Is it right to be content to see the flock scattered and individual sheep torn to pieces? Is it to be said of believers today, as it was of Israel, that “they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field” (Ezek. 34:5)? Today even some of the fundamental doctrines of historic Christianity are being denied by some church leaders, including the infinite personality of the living God, the eternal deity, virgin birth, atoning death, bodily resurrection of Jesus, the Trinity, and the gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone without any meritorious works. Pastors are to protect God’s flock from error and seek to establish them in the truth.19

SPIRITUAL SENTINELS

Any godly shepherd at the end of his ministry would like to be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). Who would not want to hear the Lord’s commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21 NIV).

Paul told the Ephesian elders, “I am innocent of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26). Using the imagery of Ezekiel 3:18, 20, “his blood I will require at your hand,” the apostle testified that he had delivered God’s Word to both the lost and the saints. When unbelievers died in their sins, Paul had no pastoral blame since he fully discharged his duty of preaching the gospel (Acts 20:21). If believers strayed and engaged in prolonged patterns of sin, it was not because Paul did not communicate the whole purpose of God (v. 27).

If today’s shepherds want to finish their ministry like Paul, then they must not only be approved workmen (2 Tim. 2:15), but also unashamed watchmen. The theme of pastoral watchman is striking in Ezekiel 3:16–21; 33:1–9. Later, Paul appropriately employed the same language to describe his ministry (Acts 20:17–31).

Watchman

God spoke to Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me” (Ezek. 3:17; see 2:7). The prophet then spoke to both the wicked (3:18–19) and the righteous (vv. 20–21).

Ezekiel 33:1–6 relates the duties of a military watchman to that of a shepherd. Watchmen attentively manned their post in order to warn the city of approaching danger and deliver the citizens from harm. If watchmen diligently discharged their duty, regardless of the outcome, they would be blameless (vv. 2–5). However, if a watchman failed to alert the city to danger, blame for the resultant destruction fell on him, as if he were the enemy and had personally attacked the city (v. 6).

Twenty-first-century pastoring provides appropriate parallels. The shepherd is to stand watch over the flock as the watchman did over the city. God’s warnings apply to both unbelieving sheep outside the flock and believing sheep within the flock. To the degree that pastors faithfully deliver God’s Word, regardless of the results, they will receive divine commendation. However, when the shepherd neglects the duties of his post, God will hold him accountable for failing to signal coming danger and judgment.

In a life-and-death situation, he must alertly tend the flock like a vigilant watchman protects his city. Thomas Oden captured the pastoral analogy:

The image of pastor as watchman, or protective, vigilant all-night guard, was already well developed by the Hebrew prophets. Radical accountability to God was the central feature of this analogy, as dramatically stated by Ezekiel: “The word of the Lord came to me: . . . I have made you a watchman for the Israelites. . . . It may be that a righteous man turns away and does wrong. . . . I will hold you answerable for his death” (Ezek. 3:16–21). Such injunctions for prophetic accountability have often been transferred by analogy to the Christian office of elder.

Listen to the analogy: The watchman over a city is responsible for the whole city, not just one street of it. If the watchman sleeps through an attack, the whole resultant damage is his responsibility. This was the covenantal analogy later applied repeatedly to the pastor, who was charged with nothing less than caring for the souls of an analogous small city, the ekklēsia. If the congregation falls prey to seductive teaching or forgetfulness, whose responsibility can it be but that of the presbuteros, the guiding elder?20

Workmen

Paul’s address to the elders of the Ephesian church comprises the most explicit and complete instruction on spiritual leadership given to a New Testament church. He relied heavily on the imagery and ideas of Ezekiel 3 and 33.21 The watchman theme extended itself far beyond Ezekiel’s personal ministry. Not only did Paul serve as a vigilant sentinel, but he commanded the elders of Ephesus to do likewise.

At least five features attest to the close parallel between Ezekiel 3, 33, and Acts 20. First, both Ezekiel and the Ephesian elders were appointed by God. “I have appointed you a watchman” (Ezek. 3:17). “The Holy Spirit has made you overseers” (Acts 20:28). The commission in both instances resulted from God’s direct call to ministry.

Second, the task assigned to both essentially involved vigilant oversight. The Hebrew images/nec-295-1.jpg (ṣôpeh), translated “watchman” in Ezekiel 3:16, is rendered images/b1.jpg (skopos) in the Greek LXX version.22 Compare this to images/b2.jpg (episkopos), translated “overseer,” in Acts 20:28.23 Both prophet and shepherd are accountable to God as a spiritual sentry responsible to warn of impending danger. Paul warned the Ephesian elders,

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears (Acts 20:28–31).

Third, in both passages the watchman is assigned to deliver God’s Word as His warning. What proved true of Ezekiel (2:7; 3:17; 33:7) also marked Paul’s ministry (Acts 20:20–21, 27). They both delivered the Word of God without compromise. That is why the apostle commended the elders to the Word of God’s grace, which would be their message likewise (v. 32).

Fourth, the watchman had a word for both the unrighteous (Ezek. 3:18–19; 33:8–9) and the righteous (3:20–21). Paul preached repentance to both Jew and Gentile (Acts 20:21) and the whole purpose of God to the church (vv. 20, 27). This twofold responsibility to reach the lost with the gospel and to watch over the saints continues to the present.

Fifth, both Ezekiel and Paul considered their watchman/oversight duties to be issues of highest importance, a matter of life and death. When Ezekiel carried out his task, regardless of the outcome, he had delivered himself from any spiritual liability (Ezek. 3:19–21). On the other hand, if he failed to sound the warning, God promised, “His blood I will require at your hand” (vv. 18, 20; 33:8). Paul reported, “I am innocent of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26).

The concept of blood being on your head or hands originated in Genesis 9:5, 6, which articulates the judicial principle of capital punishment. This idea finds application in three categories of life.

  1. Actual death, whether intentional (Josh. 2:19; 1 Kin. 2:33; Matt. 27:25; Acts 5:28) or accidental (Ex. 22:2; Deut. 22:8).
  2. Heinous crimes not involving death but deserving of death as punishment (Lev. 20:9, 11–13, 16, 27).
  3. Spiritual matters of life and death proportion (Ezek. 3:18, 20; 33:4, 6, 8; Acts 18:6; 20:26).

When the shepherd’s responsibility as taught in Ezekiel 3, 33, and Acts 20 gets our attention, we will understand increasingly why Paul exclaimed, “For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). The apostle fully understood the serious responsibility given to him by God as a preacher of the gospel. He would incur the displeasure of God should he do anything less. Watching and warning are duties in preaching the gospel that are required, not optional or left to a specialist.

Ezekiel and Paul also shed light on Hebrews 13:17. The biblical writer succinctly cited the implication of being a faithful overseer, one who watches over the flock and will one day give an account for his labors: “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” Pastors will give an account to God for watching and warning the flock in spiritual matters. Vigilance plays a vital part in the ministry entrusted by God to His pastoral servants.

A GOOD SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST

“In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following” (1 Tim. 4:6). For the spiritual good of the Ephesian church, Paul insisted that Timothy point out “these things,” referring back to the false doctrine exposed in verses 1–3 and truth taught in verses 4–5. “A good servant of Jesus Christ” points them out to the flock by way of warning and instruction.24 Failure to warn invites a spiritual Chernobyl, because real danger still exists even though the sheep are unaware. Ultimately, they will suffer harm through the negligence of a shepherd to sound a timely warning.

As a former naval officer, I have stood many four-hour watches on the bridge of a destroyer at sea. During the watch I had responsibility for the operation and safety of the ship. If a dangerous situation appeared, I had to warn both the captain and the crew. They depended on my alertness in carrying out my assigned task. Failure to function would have amounted to gross negligence on my part, possible damage to the ship or loss of life, and the dishonorable end of my naval career. Just as a good naval officer warns when danger lurks nearby, so must a good servant of Jesus Christ.

Be assured that it is good to protect the flock from false teachers, untrue doctrine, and personal sin.25 They will find comfort in your diligent protection (Ps. 23:4). If you begin by preaching the whole of Scripture, then the process of watching and warning will take place in the normal course of ministry, because His saints receive warnings through the truth of God’s Word (19:11).

Paul, the courageous shepherd, had only a few fears. This was one of them: “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).

As good servants of Jesus Christ we will share this fear with Paul, not as a sign of weakness or cowardice, but as a significant demonstration of spiritual strength coupled with a clear sense of spiritual reality. To do less would result in hollow ministry, invite Christ’s displeasure with our service, and endanger the spiritual health of the flock. Their blood would be on our hands. Because the flock is so susceptible to deception, shepherds must be ever vigilant.

Jesus Christ stands as the ultimate Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (1 Pet. 2:25). Today’s undershepherds could do no better than to follow His example of watching and warning. To do less would be biblically unthinkable and spiritually unconscionable.