Thursday, December 16th, 2004
A Shepherd is Not a Wimp
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| A real shepherd |
Rural pastors today face an identity crisis. Feeling that God has called them to be shepherds, almost everything they read and hear tells them the concept of pastor as shepherd is old-fashioned at best and harmful at worst. What’s a shepherd to do when his calling is called into question?For example, I am reading a book by Paul Borden called “Hit the Bullseye.” In the book, Borden describes how he led the Western Association of American Baptist Churches to embrace a radical change in ministry from top to bottom that resulted in impressive gains in church attendance and giving.
In chapter one Borden argues, “Two major metaphors in denominational culture inform behavior that is ultimately destructive to effectiveness in ministry.”[1] In Borden’s view, the first destructive metaphor is shepherd. Borden would much prefer to think of pastors as leaders. Allowing that the metaphor of shepherd is common throughout Scripture, he feels that the metaphor fits the “agrarian lifestyle of Israel ” but that our current understanding of the term is “far more romantic than who shepherds were or what they did in biblical times.”[2] According to Borden, “In congregational life our declining institutions think that shepherds take care of the sheep for the sheep’s benefit, rather than to benefit the Chief Shepherd by accomplishing God’s mission.”[3] This focus on the needs of the sheep rather than on the mission of the church ultimately damages both the sheep and the church as a whole. Borden is not the first one to say that the idea of pastor as shepherd is outmoded. He is typical of the voices in the church today that clamor for leaders, C.E.O’s, or even “ranchers” but distain the lowly shepherd. The small or rural church pastor is made to feel guilty for feeling that his calling is to be a “shepherd” of the sheep. Often, the rural or small church pastor feels overwhelmed by his inability to develop mission, cast vision, and strategize the forward progress of the church. Could it be that the modern church no longer needs his calling to be a “shepherd?”
Borden’s book prompted me to do a word study on the term “shepherd” in the Bible. I would submit that we abandon pastor as shepherd with great peril for the pastor and for the church. I would agree with Borden, however, that we should not romanticize the shepherd’s role. A Biblical view of the role of the shepherd will serve rural and small church pastors well in the fulfillment of their calling.
In the Old Testament, God appears to be comfortable with His role as shepherd. We immediately think of Psalm 23—the Lord is my shepherd. The psalmist describes several aspects of God’s care for His people within the shepherd metaphor. God makes David lie down in green pastures and leads him beside quiet waters. He restores David’s soul and guides Him in the paths of righteousness. God’s rod and staff comfort David and he fears no evil because of the protective care of God, his shepherd. I personally still want God to be my shepherd.
Both the Old Testament and New Testament refer to Jesus Christ as a shepherd numerous times. Jacob predicted a coming shepherd (Gen. 49:24). The great passage in the fifth chapter of Micah predicts that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem and, “He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord” (Mic. 5:4) Zechariah foretells the striking of the Shepherd and the scattering of the sheep (Zech. 13:7).
). The great passage in the fifth chapter of Micah predicts that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem and, “He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord” () Zechariah foretells the striking of the Shepherd and the scattering of the sheep ().In deliberate fulfillment of these and other passages (Jer. 23:4-6; Ezek. 34:23-24) Jesus identifies Himself as the good shepherd in John 10. The good shepherd has an intimate relationship with His sheep. They know Him and He knows them. The good shepherd comes so that the sheep will have “life, and have it abundantly” (Jon. 10:10). Providing the ultimate service to the sheep, He lays down his life for the sheep, protecting them from the dangerous wolves. No wonder Scripture refers to Jesus as the “great Shepherd of the sheep” (Heb. 13:20). Jesus will not discover a new paradigm that causes Him to lose interest in being my Good Shepherd!
In the Old Testament and New Testament, human leaders were often referred to as shepherds. Moses was a shepherd to a congregation of over one million and then sought another shepherd, who turned out to be Joshua, to replace him (Num. 27:15-18). The God who was his shepherd appointed David to shepherd the people of Israel . In Psalm 78:70-72Psalm 78:70-72
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
70 He chose David also his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds:
71 From following the ewes that have their young he brought him, To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
we read:
He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds; From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.
These three men were powerful and effective leaders whose role was to be a shepherd over their charge.
God roundly condemned men who failed in their role as shepherd. I would not like the performance evaluation found in Jeremiah 23:1-2Jeremiah 23:1-2
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
23
1 Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith Jehovah.
2 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, against the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah.
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Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the LORD.
Nor would I care for the performance evaluation found in Ezekiel 34:1-6Ezekiel 34:1-6
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
34
1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, even to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill the fatlings; but ye feed not the sheep.
4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought back that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor have ye ruled over them.
5 And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and there was none that did search or seek [after them].
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Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel . Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.“
God condemns the shepherds of Israel for not doing the same things some church growth experts tell pastors not to do. Church growth proponents say that it is a waste of time and distracting from the mission of the church to minister to the sickly, diseased, broken, and scattered!
The New Testament makes clear that leaders of the church are shepherds. Jesus noticed that the people were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. In that context, he told His disciples to “beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Mat. 9:36-38). Jesus clearly implies that the workers in the harvest will be shepherds of the flock. He tells Peter just before He ascends into heaven to “Shepherd my sheep” (Jon. 21:16). Paul reminds the Ephesian elders of their sacred task “to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Jon. 21:16). The role of shepherd for a leader in the church is not optional but commanded by God.
No other passage makes clearer that pastors function as shepherds than 1 Peter 5:1-41 Peter 5:1-4
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
5
1 The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to [the will of] God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.
. In this passage, Peter extends his call to be a shepherd to other elders of the church :
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Peter commands all pastors, not just rural pastors, to shepherd the flock and tells them how to do so. They are to do so voluntarily, following the will of God in their leadership. They are not to seek gain for themselves (one wonders about pastors whose strong desire is to move up the ladder of success) but eagerly (and by implication sacrificially) seek to serve. They are to lead primarily by example. Shepherds who serve well and faithfully, although perhaps not even appreciated by the Christian world, look forward to an unfading crown of glory.
The passage in Peter naturally moves us into a consideration of how the shepherd shepherds his flock. In fairness to Borden, he reacts more to the Christian cultural concept of the role of a shepherd rather than the Biblical role. Rural and small church pastors must learn how to be a shepherd from the Bible and not from culture. The Bible identifies three major aspects of the role of the shepherd.
First and primary, a shepherd must feed the flock. Shepherds after God’s own heart will feed the flock “on knowledge and understanding” (Jer. 3:15). God, through the prophet Ezekiel, roundly condemns those shepherds who feed themselves and not their flock. “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock” (Ezek. 34:1-3). Of course, shepherds feed their flock through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word (1 Pet. 2:2). Pastors ignore this solemn responsibility at their peril.
Perhaps the role of shepherd has fallen on hard times simply because pastors today do not realize all that feeding involves. A pastor who feels his role is simply to put out Biblical information is just as harmful as a pastor who “dumbs down” his messages to attract a crowd. In either situation, the sheep become skinny and malnourished. A rural pastor has a unique opportunity through his close relational ties with his flock to observe how well his sheep are growing under his feeding! Poor shepherds keep feeding food that sheep cannot eat! Many pastors fail to do whatever they can to make sure they feed their sheep to the point of growing. Pastors do well always to keep the result of their feeding in mind. The sheep in his flock should be growing toward maturity in Christ. Anything less is unacceptable.
As the church grows, it is still the responsibility of the shepherd to make sure that the sheep are well fed. The quality of the sermon in the small and the large church always needs to be as good as it possibly can be. The difference in the larger church is that the shepherd must delegate more of the hands-on teaching work to others. The small church pastor, although not as necessary, should also delegate teaching responsibility in that such leaders will grow more quickly and he will fulfill his responsibility for feeding if the church grows. My pastor gave me numerous opportunities to preach when I attended a small church served by Village Missions in Idaho . God used these opportunities to encourage my call into ministry.
Second, a shepherd is responsible for nurturing the flock. A Biblical responsibility exists to take care of the wounded, hurting sheep. God accuses the poor shepherds of Israel with major neglect in this area. Ezekiel writes, “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them” (Ezek. 34:4). Many other passages reflect God’s concern for the neediest of His flock and the responsibility of the shepherd to minister to them.
The rural pastor neglects the ministry of nurturing the flock at his peril. I found in my ministry that extensive hospital visitation brought me the credibility I needed to lead the congregation in change. People will follow someone they know cares for them and is willing to sacrifice for them. Further, I often had the privilege of seeing first-hand the work God was doing in changing lives as I involved myself with hurting people. A pastor often needs a reminder that God is at work to encourage himself in the work.
We find balance in realizing that the sickly need to be strengthened and the diseased need to be healed. God does not intend shepherds to be enablers of people who like their disease and sickness. Some pastors fall into a perverse co-dependency in which they find value in being needed by perpetually sick people. Always, the pastor must be pointing the hurting to the sufficiency of Christ. He should always be challenging them to avail themselves of His sufficiency. Sometimes a perpetually sick sheep needs tough love!
Just as the small church pastor should train others to feed the flock, he should train others to minister to the hurting. Again, those who embark upon such ministry will grow more rapidly than others who do not. When the church reaches the point where the pastor can no longer minister to the individual needs, these folks will already be ministering to those needs. The shepherd, however, never relinquishes his responsibility to make sure that the sickly, diseased, and broken receive care.
Finally, the third major responsibility of the shepherd is to seek the lost sheep. This willingness to seek lost sheep is what makes the shepherd so remarkable! “Lostness” is such a devastating condition and each sheep is so infinitely valuable that any good shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to look for the one.
Sometimes the ninety-nine sheep complain and whimper about the absence of the shepherd. We find this to be true when a Village Missionary first starts serving a church. Initially the congregation is happy just to have a pastor. Yet, when they notice that their Village Missionary pastor does not give them his undivided attention but is also building relationships with the lost of the community, some in the church start to complain. However, it is just what a shepherd does. His heart and life always go out to the lost sheep! A poor shepherd fails to seek the lost sheep in his community. He answers to the Chief Shepherd Who laid down His life for the sheep (Jon. 10:11)
As with feeding and nourishing, the wise rural pastor trains others to help him seek the lost seek of the community. Training in Evangelism Explosion was also a powerful motivator for me to become more involved in ministry and ultimately my call to pastoral ministry. The true shepherd has such a burden for lost sheep that he desires to multiply his efforts by involving others. He not only goes out into the community in various ways but also makes sure that any lost sheep will find a ready welcome in his flock. An unattractive church building or an unfriendly reception grieves him because he is so concerned about lost sheep. Slowly his flock realizes that he is extremely serious about finding the lost sheep of the area and they join with him in this grand endeavor.
Shepherds are not wimps nor are they romantics! They know that being a shepherd is hard and dirty work! They do not let the sheep dictate their role for they answer to the Chief Shepherd. Dependent upon the Holy Spirit and with the utmost of their strength and ability, they feed, nourish, and seek in fulfillment of their calling. They are never content until every hungry sheep is well fed, every sick sheep is well, and every lost sheep is found. The church today does not need pastors who are C.E.O’s. The church today desperately needs pastors who are shepherds.
[1] Paul D. Borden, Hit the Bullseye: How Denominations Can Aim Congregations at the Mission Field ( Nashville : Abingdon Press, 2003), 20.[2] Ibid., 21.
