So elders must never forget that the flock is not their own, and they should never be indifferent toward a single one of His sheep. Cranfield draws out the implications of this truth when he writes, “A church that could be ours would be only a false church. So the sheep are not ours for us to use or misuse as we like. If we lose one, we lose another’s property, not our own; and He is not indifferent to what becomes of His flock.”4
