Under-Shepherds Of The Good Shepherd

In my previous posting I wrote about some of the idols worshipped by Christian pastors. You may feel I am overly judgmental or that I create caricatures. That's OK. At least you are struggling with the point I am trying to make: shepherds called to care for Christ's flock are easily tempted to worship themselves, to be proud and over-bearing, to be so zealous for causes that they become blind to what their very zeal is doing to the sheep they are called to tend. All this is idolatry, what Jeremiah calls the worship of scarecrows in a cucumber patch (Jeremiah 10:5).

For these reasons I want to return to John 10, the Biblical passage that got me going on this topic. Remember that this chapter is a continuation of  Jesus confronting the hypocricy of the Pharisees, those pietistic Jews who condemned him for giving sight to a man who in all his life had never seen or known anything but darkness. Those same Pharisees absolutely refused to acknowledge the wonder of what had happened. Instead they threw the man out and condemned Jesus as a sinner who scorned God's will by working on the Sabbath. So we return to what Jesus said in John 10.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." - Jhn 10:1-5 ESV

I take it that Jesus is talking about how spiritual leaders—pastors or shepherds—gain control of flocks. In the immediate context Jesus addresses the Pharisees who had condemned him for healing that blind man on the Sabbath. They were so zealous to obey every tiny point of the Jewish legal system that they missed the very heart of what God's Word teaches. In other words, they were so wrapped up in proving themselves to the LORD that they forgot his command to "love your neighbor as yourself." And these same Pharisees had great influence among the Jewish population. They were admired, respected and believed to be true shepherds and teachers of the flock of God.

Now along comes Jesus, with his in your face acts of working on the Sabbath when the Law (as they understood it) demanded they rest, pray and do no work whatsoever (cf. Deut. 5:12-15). There are many similar New Testament stories about Jesus "breaking" the Sabbath. Samples:

• Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here." And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. - Mark 3:1-6 ESV

• At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." - Mat 12:1-8 ESV

So back to the shepherds or pastors. How do they rightfully enter the sheepfold? Jesus says, "he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." Jesus goes on to interpret his mashal, his parable. He makes several points.

1. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. - John 10:9 ESV
2. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. - John 10:11 ESV
3. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. - John 10:14-15 ESV
4. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. - John 10:16 ESV

Apply what Jesus teaches about under-shepherds called by him to tend God's flock in a particular place and time.

1. The pastor is first and always himself a sheep who may enter God's flock only and ever by the sacrifice of Jesus. The pastor also lives in daily penitence and depends totally upon God's grace and mercy in Christ for his personal salvation. Through and in Jesus he finds nourishment for his soul. His personal relationship with Jesus guides everything he does and teaches, since he realizes that his task as shepherd is to lead each member of his flock to follow Jesus, the one and only Good Shepherd. 
2. Following the pattern set by that same Good Shepherd, the under-shepherd recognizes that his task is to "lay down his life for the sheep." His calling is to tend that particular flock committed to his charge. He is to use each and every gift he has to care for his flock. He dare not neglect his flock to focus instead upon some other cause, however worthy he thinks it may be.
3. That further implies that he learns to "know" his flock. This means that he becomes personally acquainted with the members of his flock. He visits them, prays for and with them, teaches them, sorrows and rejoices with them. He is their pastor. They are his sheep. 
4. And then he turns to the world around him, because he knows that Jesus has other sheep that are not of this particular fold. Whether they are many or but one, he is committed to bringing them also into the flock of God. This will involve leading them also to see their sin and receiving Jesus as their one and only Savior. "So there will be one flock, one shepherd." 

I need to discuss further that relationship of the members of the flock to the pastor placed over them, but that must wait until the next time.