The care which must exist in Churches

Today’s devotion inl Advent Journeys demonstrates how good shepherds care for their sheep.  Each sheep is important to the shepherd: first, because they are counted by the owner, second because the shepherd grows to know their personality through the long hours spent together in the field.  The shepherd wants the best for each sheep.

The church is instructed by the Lord to pay attention to the flock of God even as good shepherds take care of each individual sheep.  Jesus told Peter to “feed my sheep.”  Peter told elders of the early church “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:2-3)

Some in today’s world have lost the intended concept of caring for the church as shepherds care for their sheep.  Some congregations design an experience called a worship service for clients to attend and enjoy.  Pastors and leaders have been led to think the church is in competition with the entertainment industry, and we must reach the world’s one-upmanship standards of excellence.  Each week we desire people to walk away with a positive experience, and to desire to return (hopefully with a friend) to experience the gospel also.

This thought process misses the point of what both the church and what worship are all about.  The New Testament word for church is ἐκκλησία, which means “an assembly of people.”  As one reads the epistles of Paul we discover this is not just a gathering in an auditorium, but a people who come together to pray, care for others, and receive encouragement to live the Christian life in a pagan world.  Paul spends a great deal of time talking of personal relationships and at the end of each letter he greets people by name.

The church, ἐκκλησία, is to be a place of involvement. We are to be active in our care for one another.  The pastor is to know his sheep by name.  He is also to train under-shepherds; and the flock to share for one another.  This care is a standard of excellence which brings health and vibrancy to the congregation.  If one person is hurting, others help.  If a person is in trouble, friends come together to see how the problem can be solved.  We help the sick get well, bind up the brokenhearted, and help people walk out of darkness into light.

We are also to be active in our worship.  Paul tells us to “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” (Eph 5:18-21)

The shepherd in today’s entry of Advent Journeys says, ”Through observation in the field and processing each animal as an individual we can catch problems in the early stages.”  We must take the same care in our churches.  People are more important than sheep.  We must listen to each other each time we come together in order to hear of any needs.  If an individual is not present, we should call (how often does that happen today!) in order to know if the individual is well.  We must be attentive to God’s flock in order to “catch any problems in the early stages.”

God desires churches which are healthy because they make sure their members enjoy intellectual, physical, social and mental health.  Healthy churches are encouraging churches.  They are places broken people go to become whole.  They become known in the community for the miracles worked in individual lives.  And these miracles become contagious.  These churches take full-time dedicated shepherds, who give beyond the normal because of God's love.

Character traits of True Shepherds

The people of the Bible were much more tied to the earth, to agriculture, than we are today.  Through these ties, people were able to observe what worked … and what did not work.  People were trained through some aspects of agriculture for more vigorous service to God.  Take for instance shepherds.

Abel was the first shepherd, and the Bible tells us he gave a more excellent sacrifice than his brother Cain.  Beyond the blood offering, we must note that sheep require more care than crops.  A farmer can get by with tilling the soil, watering the crop, and making sure thieves do not come in and destroy.  A shepherd must do all of the above (instead of tilling, the shepherd must carefully select a field with good grass), and more!  The shepherd is in charge of living animals.  They can wander (and he must watch).  And more important, he must love the sheep with all of his life.  Sheep who are loved flourish.  Sheep which are just tended do ok.  Sheep who are abused grow weaker and die.

Through the care of sheep men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and David learned to rule people.  They learned one cannot haphazardly do his work, occupying their time with pleasure rather than focused care: or the sheep, and the nation will wither.

I have been reading some of Philo of Alexandria, who lived at the same time as Jesus, who said this of the Shepherds: “It is customary to call those who have management of sheep both the name of shepherd and the keeper of sheep.” We often do not do not connect these names with government leaders or business managers of people, but we must reason the same way for leaders and managers are caretakers of people and therefore superintendents of the flock of the soul. “A man who is but an indifferent manager of the flock is called a keeper of sheep, but a good and faithful one is called a shepherd.”  

In the book Advent Journeys, I wanted to make sure to represent the shepherds of Bethlehem as good shepherds, not just “keepers of sheep,” for God gives extra privileges only to the righteous.  Philo says, “Since the flock is devoid of reason, and God is the fountain of reason, it follows of necessity that a man who lives in an irrational manner is separated from the life of God.”

“Those indeed who are able to reason correctly, it is more noble employment than that of a king, to be able to govern the body and the outward senses, and the belly, as one might govern a city or a country, and to restrain the pleasures which have their seat around the belly, and the other passions, and one’s tongue, and, in short, all the different parts of one’s composite nature with vigor and exceeding power, and again to guide them in the right way with due gentleness, for it is necessary at one time to act like a charioteer who slackens the reigns with which he holds the horses which are yoked in his chariot.”

“It is said that ‘Moses was the shepherd of the sheep of Jethro, the priest of Midian.’  And this man himself prays that the flock many not be left without a shepherd, meaning by the flock the whole multitude of the parts of the soul; but that they may meet with a good shepherd, who will lead them away from the nets of folly, and injustice, and all wickedness, and conduct them to the doctrines of learning and all other virtue.”

I am sure the shepherds of Bethlehem, as referenced in Advent Journeys, were good shepherds, who were given the privilege of hearing angels and seeing the Great Shepherd at his birth because they were not only responsible shepherds, but also shepherds who cared for their sheep out of love rather than obligation.

Our lessons from this: 1) Pastors, Elders, Deacons, Sunday School Teachers and other leaders in our churches must serve out of love rather than obligation; and must diligently care for the souls of the people they lead and serve. 2) We must carry the teachings of Christ into business, always making sure we care for the needs of employees as a good shepherd, as opposed to the manipulative methods used in some organizations. 3) Our political leaders (this is a political year) should exemplify the care for citizens which would define a good shepherd.

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