Jesus’ Warning: Who are you Following

In the previous parable we examined from Luke 12:35-40, Jesus spoke about His return and how He would treat those faithful servants who were watching, ready and serving. He said that he would dress Himself to serve, have them recline at a table and wait on them. He also used the analogy of coming like a thief, language which implied He would snatch His beloved disciples away and take them to the wedding feast He had left to come and get them. 

Peter then asked Him, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?” What Jesus said next is very disturbing for many Christians for He then speaks, not of taking the faithful away, but of judgment. Let’s go through Luke 12:42-48 as Jesus answers Peter’s question.

42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. (Luke 12:42-44)

Peter’s original question is if this parable is for the disciples or everyone. Notice please that Jesus refers to a faithful and wise manager who is in charge of His servants. This person is not simply one of the servants, but the one in charge, a leader who has the responsibility to take care of the servants. One of his responsibilities is to ‘give them their food allowance at the proper time’. 

If you recall, in John 21:15-18, after His resurrection, Jesus reinstated Peter who had denied Him three times. Three times Jesus asked Peter if He loved Him, three times Peter replied that He does love Him, and three times Jesus commanded Peter to ‘feed my lambs’, ‘take care of my flock’, and ‘feed my sheep’.  Jesus then told Peter how He would die for Christ and commanded Him to ‘follow me’. Notice too that the first time Jesus asked Peter he said, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these’ meaning the other disciples.

Jesus’ words to Peter are very clear. He was chosen as a leader, a leader who must love Christ as Christ loved him and those He was responsible for. And just as Christ had laid down His life, so also Peter would have to lay down his life for the gospel. Peter would be the man to preach the first Christian message on the day of Pentecost. He would be the man to bring the first Gentiles into the faith when sent to the house of Cornelius, and the first to unite Christian Jews and Christian Samaritans. But of course, Peter was not the only one in a position of Christian leadership.

The warning in the parable was for all who are put in charge of the Lord’s servants, a warning to every person called into Christian leadership. Like Peter we are called to feed the lambs, to take care of the flock and feed the sheep. This is the command to ‘give them their food at the proper time’. What kind of food are we speaking about?

A reading of Peter’s two letters to the Church are a great example of the food Peter gave to the Church. It is spiritual food, pointing to the cross of Christ, confirming that we have received a living hope, the indwelling divine nature, encouragement in times of persecution and suffering, warnings to be certain we are in the faith, calling us to live godly lives which honor Christ, and warnings against false prophets and teachers.

This is the proper food at the proper time which every Christian leader is commanded to provide to those they are charged with caring for in the Lord’s flock. To the faithful leader the Lord states that He will put him in charge of all His possessions. This phrase is speaking of eternal rewards, of being a co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17), to be seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), and to reign with Him and receive a crown of glory. Consider Peter’s appeal to those he calls ‘fellow elders’.

1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples of the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

To be a shepherd of God’s flock is both a great honor and responsibility. The mandate is to be eager to serve as Christ served. But notice the warnings here regarding using this position for dishonest gain and lording it over those in your care, rather than serving. Those who preach prosperity theology and fleece gullible and desperate people out of their money, who live in mansions and brag about their wealth and power should take Jesus’ next words very seriously. How will the Lord deal with the leader who is not faithful and wise? The parable continues.

45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and woman, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. (Luke 12:45-46)

This warning is not Jesus’ giving a lesson on losing salvation, but rather knowing a true leader by the fruit they produce. Jesus gave many such warnings about false prophets being like wolves as in Matthew 7:15-20. They are disguised as wolves in sheep’s clothing, appearing to be genuine Christian leaders. The fruit of their lives exposes their true nature. In Acts 20:29-30 Paul warns of savage wolves who will come in among the Church and not spare the flock but distort the truth to draw disciples to follow them. In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 Paul warns of false apostles, deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ, but in the end will be judged according to their works.

In the parable, this leader has thrown off the mantle of servant, and assumed the mantle of master. He is no longer serving the flock but lording it over them, abusing them through abusing his position.  Why does this man say, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming’ and start abusing his position of authority? 

The key to answering that question is in the last sentence that he will be cut to pieces and assigned a place with the unbelievers, literally, the unfaithful. One could interpret this as a leader who did initially believe and then became an apostate, or a false prophet or apostle who was never a true disciple of Christ but used the position of leadership for wealth and ego, or even a person who forced himself into a position of leadership because he loved to have authority, and then threw away the pretension of servanthood and became a tyrant.

In the next words of the parable Jesus also gives several options. He says:

47 The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or who does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:47-48) 

The warning here is not about literal physical blows but rather degrees of punishment or lack of reward.  The first servant knows the master’s will, but he neither gets himself ready to meet the Lord nor does the master’s will. This is a false prophet as described in Matthew 7:21-23. Those verses read;

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord’ did we not prophecy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)  

Firstly, the condition for entering the kingdom of heaven is in doing the will of the Father, not calling Jesus ‘Lord’. Like the servant in the parable, this person does not do God’s will, even though they know God’s will. These same people try to defend themselves by pointing to the acts they performed in Jesus’ name. In his rebuke of such people in 2 Corinthians 11, Paul refers to such people as so-called ‘super-apostles’. They were fleecing people out of money, promoting themselves and deceiving the gullible. Paul states; 

13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising then, that his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

Yes, such false apostles and prophets were around in the early years of the Church, but these days there is an epidemic of such deceivers. They claim to perform miracles in Jesus’ name, healings, casting out demons, etc, and promise wealth and prosperity to those who give them seed-money. The only people who end up wealthy are these fraudsters. In America many end up as millionaires, bragging of their wealth, and in African countries they line their pockets whilst the villagers they deceived live in abstract poverty. Paul states that they are servants of Satan, masquerading as servants of righteousness and they will receive God’s judgment for their actions.

In Matthew 7 Jesus tells such people, ‘I never knew you, away from me you evildoers’. In the original language this is a double negative as in, I never, no not ever knew you, away from me you who practice rebellion against God’. In the parable, these are the ones to whom Jesus uses the metaphor of being cut to pieces and assigned a place with the unbelievers. Their destiny is Gehenna, the Lake of Fire.

But what of the servant in the parable who does not know the master’s will but also does things deserving punishment? This verse is not speaking specifically of those in leadership but servants in general. The leader had received specific instructions from the master on caring for the flock and he willfully, not only neglected his duties, but abused his position. He is judged in relation to his knowledge of the master’s will, and performance of that will. He was responsible to pass on the master’s will to those in his charge, and lead by example. As James stated regarding those in leadership as teachers;

Not many of you should become teachers… because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1)

However, the servant who is not called specifically to leadership, still has a responsibility and cannot simply use the excuse that they were deceived, for all who claim to be servants of Christ have a fundamental knowledge of the Lord’s will. Jesus message is clear and summarized in the final sentence of the parable, ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.’

This principle is explained in Jesus’ parable of the talents from Matthew 25:14-30. Each person received according to their ability and each had a responsibility to use what was given for the master. Every servant of Christ will be judged with perfect justice based on what we have done with the revelation and talents we have received. For those who were counterfeit christians and lived in willful rebellion against God, there will be no eternal life, for they never truly belonged to Christ. But there are also those who do know Christ but do not make every effort to use their gifts and talents for the kingdom of God. Their heavenly reward will be reflected by their earthly life. 

Those who live faithful and dedicated lives, acting in self-denial and serving the Lord with their gifts and talents will receive a crown of glory and hear the words, ‘well done, good and faithful servant’. 

And finally, a few words about the relationship between the deceived and deceiver. There are genuinely desperate and vulnerable people who are easy prey for false teachers, especially people with severe health issues, poverty, or dealing with sin and told they need deliverance from demons. The false prophets and false apostles who exploit such people will be severely dealt with by the Lord, and sadly there are many such deceivers in the world today.

But there are also those who have no excuse for being deceived. In 2 John 1:7-11, the apostle mentions deceivers who are teaching false doctrines and warns Christians that ‘anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work’. Paul also writes a severe warning regarding the times we are living in:

3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Those who desire wealth, welcome prosperity teachers; those who desire spiritual power and egoism welcome the New Apostolic Reformation deceivers who promise them they will be able to perform every miracle Jesus performed; those who hate spiritual discipline or self denial welcome those who never mention sin and promote your ‘best life now’, and others choose mega churches who give motivational speeches and entertainment presented as worship. 

Every person who claims to be a Christian should examine both the leaders they are following, and their motivation for following them. There are always obvious signs that someone is a false teacher or wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

For example: Do they imply that they have greater ‘anointing’ and spiritual power and are therefore beyond question? Do they welcome genuine biblical criticism of their teaching? Do they allow themselves to be treated as a celebrity? Do they put on displays of humility such as getting on their knees on stage rather than obeying Jesus’ words to go into a secret place and pray? Do they dress to impress? Are they building up wealth on earth whilst those who follow them are poor in comparison? Christ said we cannot serve both God and money, and these people are obviously not servants of God. Read your Bible and ask yourself, was Peter rich, was Paul rich, indeed Paul had a secular part-time job making tents. 

Do they teach about spiritual discipline, do they teach about sin, servanthood, about self denial or about having your ‘best life now’? I can confidently affirm that those who preach that Christianity is about having your best life now, will get exactly what they preach, this will be the best life they will ever have. And if you follow such people in this life, you will be following them to their destruction in the next.

In summary. 

Every one of us who claim to be Christian will give an account before the Lord. Those who teach and are in leadership will be judged more strictly for they were given a position of authority, to care for the Lord’s flock and disciple them. However, if you choose to follow a false leader who just tells you what you want to hear, then understand that you are as John said, ‘sharing in their wicked work’ and will be judged for your decision.

I appeal to you. Take a long honest look at your own desires and ask yourself if you are a genuine disciple of Christ or not. Open your Bible and ask the Lord to open your eyes and then be prepared to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow the Lord, no matter what it costs you. And then warn others who are being willfully deceived to their own destruction.

God bless