Elder Emmanuel Calls on Christians to Discern True Spiritual Leadership in Nigeria

Elder Emmanuel Calls on Christians to Discern True Spiritual Leadership in Nigeria

In a stirring exposition of John 10:11–17, Elder Emmanuel Kemuel of Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) Badirisa has called on Christians to distinguish between true shepherds and hirelings who serve only for personal gain.

Preaching before a packed congregation, Elder Kemuel delivered a sermon titled “The Hireling and the Shepherd,” x-raying Christ’s teaching on spiritual leadership and issuing a sober warning against serving God for selfish reward.

Section of congregation, lccn Badirisa

Elder Kemuel painted a vivid picture of the hireling—one “whose own the sheep are not” (John 10:12). He identified three defining characteristics: entering ministry for selfish gain, fleeing when danger appears, and leaving the flock scattered and vulnerable.

“A hireling may preach beautifully when the church is full and offerings flow,” Elder Kemuel declared. “But let a crisis come—sickness in the congregation, division, or outside threat—he disappears. He serves his stomach, not the Shepherd’s will.”

The elder urged Christians to test their leaders, asking: “Does he stay when it costs him? Does he pray when no one is watching?”

Contrasting the hireling with Christ, Elder Kemuel proclaimed Jesus as the model of true shepherding: “The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

He outlined the Shepherd’s marks—ownership of the sheep through blood purchase, intimate knowledge of each flock member, self-sacrifice in the face of danger, and a commitment to gathering the scattered.

“In LCCN Badirisa, we have seen shepherds who wake at midnight to pray for a sick member,” he said. “They give their last naira to help a struggling family. That is the mark of Christ—not perfection, but sacrifice.”

Elder Kemuel emphasized that the hireling works for salary while the shepherd works for love. The hireling leaves at danger; the shepherd stays. The hireling scatters; the shepherd protects.

“Do not mistake a busy man for a shepherd,” he warned. “A hireling is busy building his name, his bank account, his empire. A shepherd is busy too—but at the cross, in the Word, on his knees for you.”

The sermon concluded with practical lessons for the Badirisa Christian community: test leaders by their faithfulness in crisis, cultivate shepherding hearts even in lay capacities, find ultimate security in the Chief Shepherd who never flees, and reject hireling mentality in personal service.

“The Shepherd became a lamb to save the sheep,” Elder Kemuel charged. “That is no hireling—that is our God.”

The message was ends with a prayer for discernment and sacrificial love, committing to follow only the voice of the True Shepherd.