13 June, 2008

The Pastor As Shepherd

One of the reasons that congregations fail is lack of biblical leadership. Seminary will often produce good preachers, good teachers, good theologians, but few seminaries focus on the aspect of leadership that the Bible calls 'shepherding'. Biblical leadership, or shepherding includes:
  • The shepherd as a congregational participant, and not just the teacher or preacher.
  • The shepherd as the chief organizer of the people that God has entrusted to him.
  • The shepherd as a planner of the changes and reformations that he desires in his congregation. Disorganization can be the death of a ministry.
  • The shepherd as the proistemi, (I Tim. 3.4-5) which can be translated as 'the one who presides over, the ruler, or the manager'. In the business world, this would be the CEO, the one who has the grand vision, the one who directs and manages.
Leadership, in a biblically faithful church, will then include, planning, organization, and authoritative instruction.

Jay Adams comments on the failure to be a biblical leader:

Without leadership, the sheep become confused, each turns to his own way and wanders off. That is why Zechariah was able to portray the disorder among the disciples that accompanied the death of Christ so vividly by use of this shepherdly figure when he prophesied: ‘Smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter (13:7)’. Indeed, the biblical phrase, ‘like sheep without a shepherd’ has become proverbial. Yet like most familiar sayings, we take it for granted and we seldom think of what it means. Consider for a moment, something of its import. Sheep are helpless and are prone to scatter; ie., to break up into separate single units, to become disorganized and to disintegrate as a flock. Unlike ‘birds of a feather’ that ‘flock together’, sheep do not of themselves tend to do so. It is a principal activity of a shepherd. By faithful, personal leadership that involves responsible participation on his part such congregational organization is accomplished. Shepherdly leadership, then, has as one of its chief ends to bring about cohesion and order.

Adapted from Adam's book, Shepherding God's Flock, pp.324-329

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Yet like most familiar sayings, we take it for granted and we seldom think of what it means."

"Smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter (13:7)’."

It isn't my impression that many people could expound too much on that idea.

"The shepherd as the proistemi, (I Tim. 3.4-5) which can be translated as 'the one who presides over, the ruler, or the manager'. In the business world, this would be the CEO, the one who has the grand vision, the one who directs and manages."
So then are we advocating here a hierarchical structure to church government?