This past Monday morning (June 8, 2026), I was led to write a post about the annual Southern Baptist Church conference which is taking place this week. At the time of writing, it’s been viewed on my page by over 43,000 people. (You may read it on my Facebook profile page if you wish, https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CvpsTTr4R/) Some saw my heart for the church, the importance of establishing our identity in Christ instead of denominations, and hopefully were inspired to go to Holy Spirit for a self-assessment of their motives and desires for belonging to their particular church fellowship. Others came against me, unable to see Jesus through the filters of emotion in their minds, corrupted by legalism, religiosity, church hurt, relational traumas, pride, and rebelliousness.
This morning, rather than look for updates about the SBC conference committee votes, Holy Spirit led me to prayer and then time in the Gospels. My spirit was encouraged as I was led to skim across verses I have highlighted throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke and John… the testimony and teachings of Jesus Christ. I was reminded of the opposition that Jesus had on earth as he unselfishly and gracefully obeyed the will of his Father, and how so many had turned themselves over to the Enemy’s hardened heart to shut Jesus down with their threats. The religious leaders took offense to his message because it threatened the foundation of their organized pact of religion, structure of status and power, and their “earned” respect among the people as leaders and teachers.
The religious leaders’ expertise in shepherding and knowledge of God’s Word was not as powerful as the love and grace that was embodied in this new Shepherd, who appeared as God in human form, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. But rather than allow themselves to be corrected and humbled, they held fiercely to their need to be right. They thought they had God all figured out, and they thought that they loved and followed him better than most. But somewhere along the way, they had turned away from their first love and the reason they wanted to become priests, pastors, rabbis, and leaders in the first place. Somewhere in all the meetings, the discussions about laws and regulations, and their studying to gain knowledge of Scripture… they went off the rails.
Jesus was in the flesh, standing right before them and revealing God amongst them, and all they could see was their own desire for power, their expectations of what the Messiah would do for them, and their self-built kingdom being threatened by Jesus and his followers. What they could not see nor imagine was that the Kingdom of God was amongst them, but they missed it because they were firmly planted in the world rather than looking to the heavens to God for guidance and direction.
Jesus’s words in John 17, verse 9, reveal his heart. “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you.” Jesus knew that those who believed in him were treasured by God, not for who they were on their own, but for who they were as his sheep who were willing and able to learn the importance of following Jesus’s voice to walk in whatever direction he called them to go. Because they believed in Jesus, they would be considered RIGHTEOUS in the eyes of God, and that came against everything that the religious leaders in Jesus’s day stood proudly on… their “righteousness” which had been earned by works, following the law, and setting themselves apart from “normal people.”
The religious leaders, in their own attempts to be righteous, had hardened their hearts against the love of the Heavenly Father, and in striving to follow every law in obedience, had sinned mightily, turning their backs on the flocks which they were responsible for as they met in closed door meetings. Rather than caring for the “normal people,” they were drawn to the other leaders who could promote them, applaud them, and validate their demands for formalities and regulations to maintain the order and discipline “of God” in their fellowships… or so they thought.
In their desire to demand obedience in the world around them, they were disobedient to God themselves. In John 16:9, Jesus said, “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.” The religious leaders had fallen into the traps set by the power of darkness who reigns over the world, and they refused to believe in the only One who has the power to destroy every trap and set the captives free.
In the present day, the same evil forces are tempting humans to follow the voice that speaks hatred, offense, legalism, and division. The voice of evil tells people that other humans are a threat to their position of authority, and that speaking what they believe to be right is more important than speaking with grace and love to ensure that they aren’t pushing people farther away from Jesus.
Discernment and wisdom are rare and treasured gifts from Holy Spirit in these days, and the myriad of comments on Monday’s post clearly reveals that. For those who will humble themselves, though, and choose to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they will learn how to be the best sheep they can be, and hopefully others in the flock will treat them kindly as they grow rather than pushing them out of the flock and turning them into lost loners which makes them easy targets for the wolves.
Jesus prayed for the sheep who trusted him to be their Shepherd before he was crucified. In John 17:11, he told his Heavenly Father, “Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.” Jesus’s heart’s desire was that his flock would remain UNITED and PROTECTED by the power of God’s name.
Jesus knew that if those who believed in him would stick together, they would encourage and inspire one another to grow up well together until his return. He also knew that the world would be watching them to evaluate whether Jesus was really worth following when the world would tempt them to chase power, money, control, comfort, numbing out, and all the things that trap humans in their flesh rather than allowing their spirits to be free in Christ for all of eternity.
“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” – John 17:21-23 NLT
BELIEVERS… THE WORLD IS WATCHING.
The world is watching the churches. The world is watching those who identify as Christians. Through denominational divides, religious rigidity, flippant allowance of sin, adoration of idolatrous representations of faith, vocal condemnation, double-minded life choices of church goers, and the idolizing of leaders and ministries, we are sending the world the wrong message. We need to stop showcasing a secular world culture and slapping a Christian label on it. We need to stop celebrating a mixture of cultural norms and a tainted worldview and calling it good. We need to encourage one another toward establishing a solid Biblical Worldview that permeates every area of our lives.
THE WORLD IS WATCHING THOSE WHO CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIANS, and as soon as we reflect the perfect unity prayed for by Jesus Christ, the world WILL KNOW that God sent him and that our Heavenly Father loves us as much as he loves Jesus.
Unity in the body of believers who are being sanctified in the Word will lead others to believe in Jesus! Believers, we will only become the best sheep that we can be if we spend time in the Bible. Our Shepherd is calling the flock to move, and the world is watching.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” – John 17:17 NASB
(Originally posted on Stephanie K Ford’s Facebook page on June 11, 2026.)