Developing True Shepherds

Intro

The shock just begins when a young man desiring to be a pastor or minister of God looks up in the concordance or Bible search program for the word pastor. He is stunned by the absence of the word! So he might go back and figure he will put 'pastor' in the search box, but alas, he comes up with only one time the words 'pastors' is used. No 'pastor.' No 'pastoring.' No 'pastored.' I know this because what I always assumed from Ephesians 4:11 is that pastoring was a common concept in the Bible.

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, (Ephesians 4:11, NASB).

The solution is to get back to nature. Search for the literal word 'shepherd.' We need to get back to the original image of a shepherd watching over the sheep. In this case we see 102 references for the quick 'shepherd' search. Just as we have gone astray in using the Greek term for deacons instead of 'servant,' so the word 'pastor' has received a more professional touch that the real down to earth term 'shepherd' connotates. The word 'minister' in my mind is even more savaged by linguistic history. I think of someone wearing a black robe rather than someone mercifuly ministering to ones needs.

Ezekiel 34 gives us a shocking introduction to 'pastoral theology.' The rude awakening comes in the context of telling those caring for God's people that they are not doing a good job. The Bible search program listed six responsibilities of the shepherd.

The tasks of a Near Eastern shepherd were:
- to watch for enemies trying to attack the sheep
- to defend the sheep from attackers
- to heal the wounded and sick sheep
- to find and save lost or trapped sheep
- to love them, sharing their lives and so earning their trust. (1)

Who were the shepherds back in Israel?

This is an excellent question. They did not have a professional 'pastor' class as we do nowadays. They had priests and prophets. Probably both of them were indicted in this prophecy. Ezekiel, of course, was a prophet himself but there were many false prophets around in the years before the exile. Now, after the exile, the situation is less clear though from this chapter we see that the situation was absolutely despicable.

In terms of application then, let us consider pastors, teachers and others that care for the flock of God including elders and deacons (in certain denominations).

What did it mean that they were 'caring for themselves?'

The rebuke was strong from the beginning.

”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. “And 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, and My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth; and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’” (Ezekiel 34:2-6, NASB).

They evidently cared for themselves more than the sheep themselves. In plain language, the professionals, the clergy, saw to it that their salaries were coming in full while they cared little about the flock's own needs. Let's just think about this for a moment.

We have a group of sheep on a hillside needing caring. They would get into so many troubles without overseeing. The shepherd's duties was to care for these needs. But if the shepherd was instead so focused on his own needs that he couldn't or wouldn't care for the sheep, then the shepherd places the sheep in more danger than less just by being there. If he wasn't there, at least someone else would be appointed to care for them.

We can understand why some disgruntled sheep would grumble at the system. In fact in many cases, judgment has been brought against these so-called shepherds. We need only look at the pastor running off with the secretary, the clergy justifying sodomy, the one who has been caught red–handed embezzling church funds. The record goes on and on. This is just the public record! The Lord sees into the hearts at the private records.

We see here that they should hvae been feeding the sheep. They were to eat last making sure their sheep were well fed. This is of course an analogy. Jesus used the analogy. Without any well-defined role, Jesus said,

”I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:11, NASB).

The sheep were also abused and manipulated so that the shepherd would gain more from them. A simple application is one in which we see a pastor not disciplining someone because of fear that he might upset some of the major contributers to the church. Another one could be the way some churches charge money for certain fees such as divorce. They would annul a marriage rather than give them a real divorce. But it is done for a sum. Their methodology abuses the church member both in the lack of true instruction as well as approving greed as a means of propagating false teaching.

The judgement leaps out before us.

“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. “

I wonder how many pastors have left urban contexts merely to leave the ones that were hurting so bad? What is worse is that no one seems to really be able to heal them! They are left alone in their troubles of debt, sickness, apathy, pain, depression, addiction, etc. These are signs that they have not been fed well. The Word of God has not taken root into their lives. Can a pastor tolerate divorce? God can't! Can a pastor compliment the parent with a out of child wedlock? This is sad.

We know longer look for solutions. We just learn how to do the best we can. From this passage though, it seems God is calling, even demanding, that his pastors begin to cry out to Him for help. Instead of 'mature single' classes (for divorcees), we need a repentance class and begin to wake up and look at the scriptures what God says about those who divorce.

What about caring for those who have not been coming to church lately?

The scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost;

The care for a sheep reveals itself in how much a pastor cares for the sheep. When they get lost, they are to go out looking for them. They don't gather all the sheep in the pen and find two missing, and just say, "Oh well, they should have stayed with me." That would be rediculous. Sometimes a lot of expectation is put on the pastor to care for the sheep. The congregation can be rather large in the hundreds. And yet they need to figure a scheme and help to work on those who no longer come. We need to care for them.

Lastly in this section, we find that the sheep are wandering about. They are prone to be hurt.

God has not forgotten His flock. They are going here and there. They belong to God. God has appointed men to oversee them. These men play an integral part in caring for the flock of God. The men are being irresponsible, though. They didn't care for the sheep.

My mind goes back to failures in my own ministry. Part of the problem is discerning whether the lost are really lost or not at all. Do they really know the Lord? They are unwilling to talk. They don't like the new pastor's style or interpretation of the Bible. There are others, though, that think that they are beyond the pastor's advice. In changing churches, one comes upon different perspectives that are rather self-condemning. Or the typical modern problems of when a person gets upset, he just changes churches. No resolve of problems. But we have to do our best. More than this, we need to see if there are ones that we just didn't care about because of their habits, ways or lack of means.

Conclusion

God's sheep are always His sheep. We need to start looking for miracles to care for them in His love. Being a good pastor without God is impossible. We need to start putting the ministry aright by recognizing that Christ is the chief shepherd. We need to stand up to our congregation in boldness and yet in love and patience.