The image of the shepherd seems somewhat irrelevant to modern Americans. Without a doubt this makes it quite difficult to communicate God’s plan for church leadership. The picture of the shepherd fails to connect with us in the modern church. Shepherds would have been as common to the original readers as telephones and Wal-Marts are to modern Americans. You would think that we could find an image that would be more easily understood by the modern person. Regardless of how hard we search there is just no modern equivalent to reflect accurately the concept of Biblical leadership. Dr. Lynn Anderson writes, “I cannot find any figure equivalent to the shepherd idea in our modern, urban world. Besides if I drop the shepherd and flock idea, I would have to tear about five hundred pages out of my Bible, plus leave the modern church with a distorted, if not neutered view of spiritual leadership.” As you read through the Bible it is impossible to miss the numerous references to God as a shepherd. The image of a shepherd appears more than five hundred times throughout the Bible. Jesus Himself says in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” As we begin our study of God’s plan for church leadership, we must begin by gaining a better grasp on exactly what a shepherd is. If we want to implement God’s plan for spiritual leadership we must accept the concept of the shepherd.
I. A historical view of shepherds.
A. What are shepherds and what do they do?
1. A shepherd is one who pastures or tends a flock of sheep and/or goats. Since these were the most important domestic animals in Palestine, there are many references to sheep and shepherds throughout the Bible.
2. Shepherds were in charge of keeping a group of sheep known as a flock. The average size for a flock was one hundred sheep.
3. The task of the shepherd was to care for the flock, to find grass and water, to protect it from wild animals, to look for and restore those that strayed, to lead the flock out each day going before it and to return the flock at the close of the day to the fold.
4. The shepherd was responsible to the owner for every sheep and was required to make restitution for losses.
5. Shepherds and their flocks enjoyed a close relationship since they were responsible for giving the sheep constant care.
B. The Old Testament pictures God’s relationship with His people in the context of the shepherd/sheep relationship.
1. The analogy of the shepherd and the flock finds rich expression in Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34 as God is pictured as the shepherd of Israel.
2. Isaiah beautifully captures this image of God, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:11—NIV)
3. Old Testament readers would have pictured this type of gentle caring relationship between God and His people.
4. Although we all like sheep have gone astray, we have a good shepherd who will love us and gently lead us back to the flock.
C. God pictured His prophets, priest and kings as shepherds.
1. Despite the fact some were bad shepherds and did not live up to their task, God continued to use the idea that the leaders of His people were shepherds.
2. For example the leaders of Judah who were responsible for their spiritual well being failed miserably leading the people into sin and setting them up for captivity in Babylon.
3. “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.” (Jeremiah 50:6—NIV)
4. These warnings have significance for us today; modern leaders have been entrusted with the same life and death responsibility.
D. The New Testament presents Jesus as being our Shepherd.
1. In our text Jesus pictures Himself as a loving shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine in the open country and goes in search of the lost one.
2. The point is that the lost sheep is as important as any of them and must be found. The fact that the shepherd puts it on his shoulders suggests the tender love of the shepherd.
3. It would be unusual for a shepherd to call his friends and neighbors to celebrate the finding of a sheep with him, but that is the point. God loves each person so much that there is rejoicing in heaven over every single sinner who repents.
4. The Son of God left heaven and came into our pasture and got sheep smell all over Himself. He walked our paths, took on our wolves, faced our temptations and shared our struggles.
5. Jesus modeled the essence of spiritual leadership, sheep following a shepherd because they know and trust Him.
II. Accepting the Biblical idea of the shepherd as our leadership model in the church.
A. After modeling shepherd leadership, Jesus passed the model on to the apostles.
1. When Peter instructed church leaders on how to lead, he urged them to follow the example of Jesus the chief shepherd.
2. Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:2-3—NIV)
3. Jesus modeled the shepherd style of leadership and this was what they used and modeled to others.
4. Both Peter and Paul passed this model of leadership on to us.
B. The shepherd metaphor for leadership was passed on to us very intentionally.
1. By the time Paul and Peter first called the leaders of the church shepherds this image had gained centuries of significance.
2. This is the whole theology of spiritual leadership; this is the model of leadership God intended to be used in His church.
3. Good leaders shepherd the flock like Jesus, they attract flocks through loving service and authentic relationships.
4. They know their flocks and their flocks know them. They put their lives on the line daily for the sheep they love.
5. This is exactly how we should understand the Biblical concept of spiritual leadership.
III. Shepherding revolves around the relationship between the shepherd and his flock.
A. The shepherd figure is one of love, service and openness.
1. Ancient Middle-Eastern shepherds lived in the pasture with their flocks and were as much a part of the land as the sheep were.
2. The many years of shared lifetime experiences nurtured an enduring relationship between the shepherd and their sheep.
3. When a lamb was born in the wilderness, the shepherd took the newborn into his hands, warming it and caressing it.
4. The gentle voice of the shepherd was the first to awaken the lamb’s delicate ear drums.
5. The shepherd lived with the lambs for their entire lives; protecting them, caressing them, feeding and watering them, and leading them.
6. Each sheep came to rely on their shepherd and to know his voice and follow his voice alone.
7. No wonder the Bible uses this metaphor over and over again, it is so appropriate for describing what God desires out of His leaders.
B. The shepherd figure for us in the contemporary church is build around relationships.
1. Biblical shepherds are those who live among the sheep; serve the sheep, feed, water and protect the sheep; touch and talk to the sheep and even lay their lives down for the sheep.
2. Good shepherds will always smell like the sheep.
3. Church leaders who truly shepherd will realize that much of their work is hands on and is done through the building of authentic relationships.
4. When we truly shepherd our flocks, they will be touched by us and we will be touched by them.
C. The shepherd and flock relationship implies at least three qualities of spiritual leadership.
1. Relationships require availability. The shepherd must make himself accessible and available to his sheep. This will help the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and make them willing to follow him.
2. Relationships require commitment. Shepherding require a long-term, costly commitment of self, time and energy. It requires the building of open and authentic relationships.
3. Relationships require trust. Through hours and days and weeks and years spent with their shepherd, sheep come to know from experience that they can trust him. Trust is earned, not demanded and it is built over time.
4. We trust Jesus because He keeps His promise to be with us to the end of the world.
5. In a society where trust is rarely extended or deserved, the shepherd style of leadership by its very nature inspires trust.
6. When godly, loving, gentle shepherds first build authentic relationships with their flocks, they rise up and lead out; sheep hungry for true biblical leadership will willingly follow.
An item in Leadership magazine illustrates the importance of giving attention to needs, not just to numbers. "During World War II, economist E.F. Schumacher, then a young statistician, worked on a farm. Each day he would count the 32 head of cattle, then turn his attention elsewhere. One day an old farmer told him that if all he did was count the cattle, they wouldn’t flourish. Sure enough, one day he counted 31; one was dead in the bushes. Now Schumacher understood the farmer: you must watch the quality of each animal. ’Look him in the eye; study the sheen of his coat. You may not know how many cattle you have, but you might save the life of one that is sick.’" Great advice whether it’s for the Sunday school teacher or the pastor. A full class or a crowded church isn’t necessarily a healthy class or a spiritual church. To find out people’s spiritual condition, you must "look them in the eye." Then you can minister to their needs.
