There are leaders in the church - pastors, elders, deacons, teachers, etc. - whose goal is to care for the sheep.  To guard them from wild beasts, to steer them safely to pasture and back home again.  To live in tune with the Great Shepherd so that they can see and immediately follow his verbal and manual commands.  To watch over the flock without need, hope, or desire for anything more than basic rewards of food,  shelter, and some companionship with the Shepherd.  They take no ownership interest in the sheep, nor do they kill and eat them.  They are like sheepdogs, helping the Great Shepherd take care of the flock.  They help guide and protect the sheep.  Their work is their reward - it is the nature of sheepdogs to love herding-duties.

And then there are pastors, elders, deacons, teachers, and so on, who make the flock their own, and usurp the authority of the Great Shepherd.  These leaders, who should be sheepdogs, want to be shepherds and sheep-ranchers and livestock-owners in their own right.  And they surround themselves with lapdogs who pant after their every word.  Little dogs who live only to chase a bouncing ball, to eat mutton-flavored treats from their human master's hand, and to cuddle up with master and make him feel wanted, powerful, and important.  They are blindly obedient to the human who trained them.

Look out, folks - I have a feeling God is separating the sheepdogs from the lapdogs.