Caring More for the Fleece than the Flock

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28

Every pastor is called by God to look after His sheep. Unfortunately, a lot of church leaders nowadays seem to be more concerned with the fleece than the flock. The fleece, which represents profit, is the sheep’s wool, which can be shaved off and used to generate money. This reflects a spiritual state where the pastors start to prioritize their donations over meeting the needs of each and every member.

Caring more for the fleece than the flock means prioritizing monetary profitability over the health of the members of the church. However, in Conrad Vine’s case, the church wants to shave off both his wool and skin through an old-fashioned shakedown—forcing him to pay to be reinstated.

Pastor Conrad Vine recently shared the following:

• “On Friday afternoon, I received a call from the secretary of the Atlantic Union stating that until they made a vote, unless I paid financial restitution to the officers of the General Conference and apologized publicly, I was banned from all Adventist pulpits in the Atlantic Union. I asked them if that includes a private camp meeting. He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, does that include if I visit friends for Thanksgiving and give a Friday vespers in their home—is that an Adventist pulpit? He said, ‘We have counseled with the General Conference legal counsel, and they are saying any gathering of Adventists, formal or informal, is now an Adventist pulpit. I received a letter two months ago from the British Columbia President using the same language: ‘You are banned from meeting, from being in any formal or informal gathering of Seventh-day Adventists. So when we talk about formal pulpit, the General Conference legal counsel is defining it in my case; I cannot visit brother Bacchiocchi on Friday night and speak for 5 minutes. This is absurd beyond imagination.” [1]

Are the church’s lawyers, the Office of Legal Counsel, prepared to work with Dr. Vine to arrange a restitution payment plan? Are they holding him accountable for any monetary losses brought on by the church’s stance during the pandemic? In any case, the scripture repeatedly cautions against the love of money, so our leaders need to immediately reevaluate their priorities:

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:10.

The church’s primary mission is not the accumulation of wealth but the care of souls and the demonstration of Christ’s love. Ezekiel warned the leaders of Israel:

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” Ezekiel 34:2.

This indictment resounds today as churches neglect their duty to provide for the needy, comfort the hurting, and lead the spiritually lost. The church has requested that Pastor Conrad Vine make a financial restitution if he wants to get back in the pulpit, but I don’t think this will have the desired outcome. The exact opposite may result.

Let the church repent and return to its first love (Revelation 2:4-5). Let it heed the call to forsake worldly treasures and care for the people who are the heart of God’s kingdom. Only then can it truly be a light in a dark world, reflecting the compassion and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Sources

[1] https://youtu.be/LCmLK13m2XU?si=1wrhTvhPEEFaeww0