Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. — Hebrews 13:17
Would you rather have a shepherd or a preacher?
Do you know the difference?
Do you know enough of Scripture to know the difference?
Could you tell the difference?
Many people today, and throughout biblical history, have often opted for preachers (2 Tim. 4:3-4) over shepherds. But why? What is the difference? One of my pastoral mentors offers some guidance…
Preacher: Someone who stands and delivers a sermon. We might add to this the CEO-type religious leader who runs and oversees the functions of the church organization.
“The vocation of the pastor has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans.” -Eugene
Shepherd: Elder, Overseer, Shepherd-Teacher. Men who are called to care for God’s people through a personal ministry that centers on knowing God and knowing God’s people. Shepherds bring God to people and people to God.
All shepherds preach. Not all preachers shepherd.
While all good shepherds preach (they exercise the authoritative ministry of preaching and teaching God’s Word to God’s people(1 Tim. 2-5)), preaching is not the essence of what it means to be a shepherd. Shepherding includes preaching (Eph. 4), but it is not the one single thing Pastor-shepherds do. Shepherds are with their sheep in the fields of life.
Eugene on Shepherding…
“The pastor’s question is, ‘Who are these particular people, and how can I be with them in such a way that they can become what God is making them?’ My job is simply to be there, teaching, preaching Scripture as well as I can, and being honest with them, not doing anything to interfere with what the Spirit is shaping in them.”
“My job as a shepherd is to teach God’s people to listen and to pray. To get God’s Word into them, and to get God’s Word lived in them.”
Here’s what Biblical Shepherds do…
1 - They love their sheep. (Phil. 1:3)
Shepherds know their sheep, and they give thanks to God for them. They love, and give their time, effort, and energy.
2 - They know their sheep. (See all the NT letters)
The NT letters show us shepherds who know their sheep. They know the situations of their lives, their particular challenges to faith, and they give precise and helpful pastoral teaching.
3 - They feed their sheep. (Preaching, teaching, counseling)
The NT primarily uses three Greek words to refer to preaching, each one oriented at feeding the souls of God’s people. Shepherds lead their people into the rich and nourishing pastures of God’s grace as they open the Scripture to them again, and again, and again.
4 - They protect their sheep. (Acts 20; Titus, and all the others…)
In Acts 20, Paul warns the Ephesians Elders that wolves will seek to infiltrate the flock, often camouflaged to look like sheep. And it is the job of the shepherd to watch for such predators, battle with them when necessary, and protect the sheep. False teachers and spiritual predators show up in almost every single book in the New Testament.
5 - They lead their sheep. (1 Tim. 4-5)
It is the responsibility of Pastor-shepherds to set the course for the sheep. Each morning, the shepherd opens the fold and leads the flock to safe pasture. And so it is with the pastor-shepherd. He meets his people where they are and leads them to the safe pasture of God’s grace.
6 - They are with their sheep. (The Pastoral letters; 1 John; and more)
Faithful shepherds are with their sheep. Paul spent 3 years with the Ephesians, years with the Corinthians; he left Timothy in Ephesians, Titus in Crete. Why? Because spiritual shepherding requires leaders on the ground watching their people. Shepherding in is not one-size-fits-all. Shepherding is a bespoke industry. Tailor made.
7 - They sometimes say hard things to their sheep. (All the NT letters)
In Romans, Paul calls out his people’s racism; in Corinthians, he calls out their hypocrisy, immorality, and gullibleness. In Philippians, he names names. John calls out a bully by name. Titus contains open rebukes and threats of conflict. And yet, in each of these letters, in each situation, the heart of the shepherd writing is godliness and peace. Shepherds sometimes lovingly say hard things to us because they truly long for us to have godly and peaceful lives.
8 - They sacrifice for their sheep. (2 Cor. 12)
In the closing words of 2 Corinthians, Paul writes these moving words, “I am ready to spend and be spent for your souls.” Such are the words of a shepherd who loves his sheep.
A Roadblock to Shepherds
But why don’t more people want a shepherd? Someone who watches over them, leads them, guides them, feeds and protects them?
Why don’t more people value the God-given ministry of spiritual oversight that good shepherds provide?
In a word: Pride.
We don’t want to be held accountable. In each of our hearts lurks a lie that says, “I don’t need to be watched over; I don’t want to be led; I do not need a shepherd.”
To receive the good gift of shepherding requires submission on my part. Hebrews 13:17 makes it plain saying, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.”
If I have a shepherd, I’m accountable to that shepherd (or those shepherds). If I have a shepherd, I am under his watchcare. If I have a shepherd, I know that, at some point, he is going to come calling, searching, and checking on me.
And just as I am accountable to my shepherds, my shepherds are accountable for my soul before God!
If I wander from the paths of God’s righteousness, they’re going to come after me. If I’ve fallen into sin, or adopted sinful patterns in my life, they’re going to come confronting me. If I have just gotten spiritually lazy, my shepherd(s) are going to come correcting me.
Another challenge to shepherding is the slowness at which is operates. Many people opt for preachers over shepherds because they’re only after a quick spiritual fix. They want a word from the pulpit, not a watchful eye. But the helpful ministry of shepherding is slow, it takes time, its personal, and cannot be hurried.
“The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped — it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in the pauses and reflections where we engage in prayerful conversation with one another and with him.” -Eugene
The Truth: We all Need Shepherds
To be under a shepherd is to be held accountable. To be under shepherding is to be helped. Even shepherds themselves need shepherding and accountability (which they [should] receive from their fellow Elders).
Being shepherded means being personally known and cared for; it means being watched over and loved. It means being loved so much that I am fed the pure Word of God in season and out of season, I’m prayed for, confronted, guided, rebuked, taught, matured, and protected.
It means having someone who sits with me in hardship, prays with me, and helpfully reminds me of God’s unchanging and unmoving presence in my life even when I doubt or forget. Faithful shepherds are a quiet reminding presence of God’s faithfulness to us.
It is often through the good shepherding of earthly pastors that many Christians learn to trust and treasure the promises of Psalm 23, “The LORD is my Shepherd…” And in the same way, it is often through the failure of earthly pastors that many Christians come to doubt the Lord’s promises.
Thankfully, we have the Good Shepherd of heaven (John 10) to which all our successes point, and Who is faithful even in all our failures.
As I said in another post, “Pastors-Shepherds, by nature of their ministry, cannot fake their character. They must be known by their people. Preachers may or may not be known. They can preach without being known. But when a shepherd rises to his pulpit, week after week, his sheep should think, “That man loves me and cares for me. He knows me. And what he is about to say is for me.”
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