In Hebrews 13:7-17 we saw that we’re to “imitate” our leaders who spoke to us the word of life, and we’re to “obey” our leaders and “submit” to them. But what if the leaders are not actually trustworthy?
What if, as in Pastor Victor’s humorous story about the gas company employees, we’re following leaders who are simply engaged in childish competition? Or, even more sinister in outlook, what if we encounter leaders such as those condemned in Ezekiel 34: “Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts.” Or suppose the leaders aren’t cruel and selfish but rather subtle and self-righteous: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!” (Matthew 23:15). How will we know the difference between a leader to follow and a leader from whom to flee?!! The clues are within the passage itself.
First, we’re remembering and imitating leaders “who spoke to you the word of life”. Do you smell the word of life on these leaders? How will you know? You’ll only be able to tell a deceiver from a life-giving leader by being well acquainted with the word of God yourself. Consider the example of the Bereans held up in Acts 17: “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
Second, the leaders to whom we should submit are “keeping watch over your souls.” Do they have that sobriety about them? Do they seem like those who carry the weight of knowing they must give an account to God for how they shouldered that burden? A leader who treats shepherding as a light and inconsequential thing is not to be trusted.
Third, they are not engaged in “strange and diverse teachings”. There are so many wacky teachings that sell books and gather crowds: end times schemes with definite timelines, essential oils hawked specifically to heal “wounds of the soul”, diets or exercise routines or lifestyle choices that are guaranteed to bring you closer to God or somehow protect your family from the world or the devil. A true leader will guide you away from unique practices that are only for the crowd that’s “in the know.” They will keep the sheep focused on the pool and the pasture where the pure food and drink of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone can be enjoyed.
No leader, except for Jesus Christ Himself, is constant and unchanging. We will have to follow leaders who are still growing themselves, and who will let us down from time to time. But what is the general tenor of their leadership? If it’s full of God’s life-giving words, sober in its sense of responsibility for your soul, and free from focus on innovative and twisty paths of thought, then you can and should entrust yourself to those leaders…even as they have radically entrusted themselves to the one Leader who is called “Faithful and True” (Rev. 19:11).