The Minister As Shepherd Musings

A pastor recently recommended I read The Minister As Shepherd by Charles Jefferson.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book, a collection of lectures delivered in 1912.  Jefferson lamented the fact that pastors were falling short of their calling as shepherds.  He defines the shepherd's work in chapter 2 as consisting of seven parts:  acting as a watchman, guard, guide, physician, rescuer, feeding and loving the sheep.  Instead of a distant, unapproachable master, the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ was a humble, gracious, loving leader.  As a pastor, I am glad to be reminded that in all things, even the pursuit of my calling, I am to emulate Jesus Christ.

Although many things have changed since 1912, much remains the same.  What people perceive as pastoral work has been reduced to teaching Bible studies and supplying leadership of a body of believers.  Charles Jefferson rightly deduces that many pastors and the laity alike see pastoral visitation and direct involvement with each member of the family as an antiquated practice held by those who had nothing better to do.  There is a grave deception that people do not need a pastor but only need to be taught.  Again, we see this belief perpetuated throughout the world today.  The laity is uncomfortable with giving a pastor access to their struggles, and there are so many struggles the pastor feels his calling is best pursued among only the willing leaders of his fellowship.  I am of Jefferson's mind.  I am of Richard Baxter's mind, who visited every family in his parish every year (many hundreds).  I am of Ichabod Spencer's heart, who intimately involved himself with people continually.  I heartily recommend his book A Pastor's Sketches (two volumes).  I believe these men emulated Christ with the way they served as under-shepherds in the flock of God.  Call me outdated and impractical, but Christ's example will never be outdated.  Impractical though it may seem, given the dynamics of a westernised modern-culture, the needs of people remain the same.

There is a difference between teaching and leading.  People are fine with being taught:  they resist being led.  They are content to sit under teaching on a Sunday, but are generally disinterested with giving up or sharing their independent lives.  This is not to say that a pastor has all the answers.  Hopefully a pastor is someone who absolutely believes God has all the answers and reveals them through His Word and the Holy Spirit.  Feeding sheep is fine and good, but there is more to tending the flock than feeding.  Our day is marked by abundance and lack.  Those who have abundance eat too much, and others are wasting away from spiritual starvation.  The same can be true spiritually.  Some churches make the preaching and teaching of God's Word the ultimate end, while other churches have substituted experience and emotion for substance.  The end result is sedentary Christians who know much but do little, or a life devoid of the foundational doctrines of Christianity that barely survives from one emotional high to another.

After reading the book I had to ask myself:  am I willing to be shepherded by Christ?  Do I also see my need to be tended by under-shepherds called by God to watch, guard, guide, aid in healing, rescue, feed, and love me?  I say yes!  To think that mere teaching alone is enough to sustain and guide me in everyday life is foolish.  Every person needs the closeness of a relationship with Jesus Christ and people they can shake hands with or hug, laugh or cry with, support one another through the storms of this life, and share their hearts without fear of negative reprisal.  As a Christian I am called to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn.  As a Christian I am called to love one another as Jesus loves me.  As a pastor, the scope grows in depth and intimacy.  Even as Jesus opened up His arms to Jerusalem with love for all, so I am to open my arms and heart in offering love and acceptance to all people.  And like in the case of Jesus we can open our arms, reaching out with fervent desire, and people will run away.  Only Jesus Christ is sufficient for these things.

How about you?  Is Jesus Christ your Good Shepherd?  Have you personally realised the benefit of pastoral ministry?  I know I have.  Being a pastor is not a job or a career, but a calling.  It is a calling God wants me to embrace fully and grow in.  It is a life devoted to God and His people:  loving God, loving people, and making disciples of Jesus Christ.  It is a hard life, but not without great reward on both sides of heaven.  I thank God for the people who God has used to pastor, encourage, and strengthen me in faith.  May you too have a testimony of the people God has brought into your life to aid you as you follow Jesus faithfully.  To God be the glory, both now and forever!