Shepherds Who Feed Themselves

I’ve heard more than a few sermons which left me feeling the message was more for the benefit of the pastor than instruction and edification for the congregation. Jude warns us about selfishness and greed among believers, “These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 12-13 NIV).