Companions

COMPANIONS

“Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth. Where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?” the Shulamite entreats King Solomon in verse 7 of Chapter 1 of the Song of Songs. In this verse, we find the bride as the one who strays beside the flocks of the Bridegroom’s companions. There is a vast difference between the flock of the Bridegroom and the flocks of His many companions. Dear bride of Christ, you should be one amongst His flock and not one amongst the flocks of His many companions. The Bridegroom has His many friends and they are not supposed to take the place of the Bridegroom, but to hide themselves in the wilderness and show forth the Bridegroom as John the Baptist did (Jn.3: 29-30). The friend of the Bridegroom, that is the best man, has a limited role to play and he is not supposed to keep the flock for himself or to shepherd the flock himself These days, the companions of the Bridegroom, that is the evangelists, take the honour and glory due to His Name rather than withdraw themselves into the wilderness just to covet their offerings, probably in lieu of the blessings of God channeled through their evangelistic ministries by way of fervent appeals for funds. Today we find great multitudes following the companions of the Bridegroom. These multitudes are like the “carnal” Corinthians who said, “I am of Paul: I am of Apollo’s”. Let no man glory in men. You are Christ’s (I Cor.3: 4, 21, 23).The evangelist must commit the flock to the care of the shepherds in the local churches who represent the great Shepherd. In fact, the flocks don’t belong to the shepherds in the local churches too, such shepherds being mere stewards of the divine Shepherd. But, they belong to the divine Shepherd alone and are in His one flock. The shepherds are also not supposed to keep the flock of the Lord for themselves. They do so, with selfish motives, just to build their own churches by demanding and extracting tithes and offerings from the flock that belongs to the Lord alone. These days we clearly see everywhere the flocks of the companions, but rarely see the one flock of the Lord. Here, we find the bride staggering beside the companions’ flocks, in place of the flock of the Lord.

The local shepherds must care and feed the flock of the Lord according to His guidance in the Word, and not according to the guidelines issued by the administrators/heads of their denominational churches. Neither are they supposed to be led by the over-emphasized doctrines upon which their churches were long founded by the founding fathers of their churches.

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