Shepherds who feed themselves
Ezekiel against the false shepherds
Ezekiel turns and thunders against the shepherds of Israel — its kings, priests, and leaders. Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves, he cries. Should not shepherds feed the flock? They had drunk the milk, worn the wool, slaughtered the fattened sheep — but the flock itself they had not fed. The weak they had not strengthened, the sick they had not healed, the lost they had not sought.
It is the exact inversion of leadership. The flock had become a resource to be consumed for the shepherds' comfort, instead of a charge to be served at the shepherds' cost. The line between leading people and using them is crossed quietly, a little at a time — a benefit taken here, a need ignored there — until one day the people exist for the leader rather than the leader for the people. God names this not as a small failure but as the thing that makes him an enemy of those shepherds.
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!”
— The LORD, through Jeremiah — Jeremiah 23:1 (WEB)
The perversion of leadership is when those entrusted with people consume them for their own benefit. The flock is a charge to be served at cost, not a resource to be used.
“Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the sheep?”
Ezekiel exposes shepherds who fed on the flock instead of feeding it. A leader formed here watches for the slow drift from serving people to using them. The inner work is keeping the flock a charge to serve, never a resource to consume.
Audit honestly whether your people are being fed or fed upon — strengthened and sought, or drained for your comfort. Refuse the small benefits taken at the flock’s expense. Serve the people at cost, rather than letting them serve you.
Leaders cross the line from serving to using a little at a time, never noticing the inversion. The blind spot is not seeing that the flock has quietly come to exist for the shepherd.
Examine one way the people you lead serve your comfort. This week, reverse it — serve them at some cost to yourself instead.
The line between leading people and using them is crossed quietly — a benefit taken here, a need ignored there — until the flock exists to serve the shepherd rather than the reverse.
Are the people you lead being fed by you, or are you, in subtle ways, feeding on them?