The Calling of a Shepherd
“Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” – John 21:16Any call to shepherding must begin with a personal call from Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the Sheep-Gate, and the Chief Shepherd over many shepherds, who is ultimately responsible for the well-being of the sheep. He is the one to whom all under-shepherds must give account. Without a commissioning from Him, therefore, into the role of shepherding, all efforts to shepherd God’s people will prove to be vain—a monumental waste of time and energy. The cornerstone of pastoring is a personal call from Jesus Christ to take care of His sheep—feeding them, providing for their needs, protecting them, disciplining them, tending to their wounds, and ensuring that they grow healthy and strong as Christians.
A call to shepherding is a call to disciple people. Scripture records that Jesus was moved with compassion on one occasion as he observed a large crowd that had gathered to hear Him speak. Matthew 9:36 says that Jesus saw that they were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Mark 6:34 says the same thing, and then continues, “So He began teaching them many things.” Shepherding involves having a deep well of compassion for people who do not know about God—whether they are believers or not. When we see the multitudes ignorant of the promises of God and the true nature of reality, we should—we must—be moved with great compassion. That compassion should translate into action as we share the Good News and expound the promises and the life-changing message of Scripture to those who have ears to hear.
So these are the basics of how we know that we are called to shepherd God’s flock: We are given a personal call from Christ, which translates into a deep compassion for people, which in turn moves us to teach them truth so that they can change how they live. John 10:12 also tells us that a shepherd is someone who is loyal, laying his life across the opening of the sheep-pen so the wolf cannot gain entrance. If someone thinks that they are called to shepherding, they must exhibit a compassion for people, a desire to instruct them in the ways of the Lord (and an ability to do so), and a loyalty to people that would take the shepherd to the point of risking his own life so that the world, the flesh, and the devil do not overtake people and entice them back into sin.
If shepherding involves loyalty, the source of that loyalty must be a deep-seated desire to see Christ’s church grow up into the full stature of what she was created and called to be. Any would-be shepherd who does not exhibit a passion for Christ’s church—local as well as universal—is unfit to serve. We can learn from the example of the Apostle Paul, who wrote of his passion to see the Ephesians “grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Later on in the same epistle, he writes of his vision of a “radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” In a particularly moving passage written to the Corinthians, Paul writes, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him” (2 Cor. 11:2). This is the heart of a shepherd singing out pure and true. Our hearts must be like Paul’s—seeing the end from the beginning, hearing echoes of the Wedding Supper even though the Bride has a long way to go before she is prepared to marry.
If we are to have the shepherds’ hearts that God has called us to have, we must be constantly aware that all our labors are for the Great Shepherd. We must have a firm understanding that we are merely stewards of what He has given us to oversee. All of our labors are like that of a best friend preparing his friend’s bride for marriage. We are overseers of God’s flock. If any man feels a call to shepherding, he must exhibit a clear understanding of his relationship to Christ’s authority and the parameters of his own authority as a leader. When a man can clearly demonstrate that he understands the principles of spiritual authority—and can adequately show that he is not prone to falling into its many abuses—then, and only then, is he fit to walk in his calling.
How does a shepherd know whether he is truly called to a life of ministry? He must have been called personally by Jesus Christ to the ministry of feeding his sheep; he must have a deep wellspring of compassion for people that prompts him to study the Scriptures and to expound them to people with the purpose of creating abundant life; he must have a vision for people that transcends the present, putting all his labor into seeing the great marriage supper of the Lamb made a reality; and he must demonstrate that he grasps his submission to Christ and to other spiritual authority, as well as the limits of his own spiritual authority. Having done these things, the pastor is called to walk freely in his anointing, shepherding and nurturing the flock for which God gave His own life.
posted by John Adams @ 7:31 PM
2 Comments:
Who is John Adam's audience? I'd have expected at least some "me too" comments by now from fellow students of the Bible...
Charlie, I got you, babe. That's all that really matters. ;)
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