14 July 2023

Pastoring the Twenty-First Century Church

I. Introduction

In considering this subject, it is a wise approach to start with the big picture before we descend to the details.

The big picture is that God himself is the Pastor of his people, and his aim in pastoring them is that the salvation planned by the Father in eternity and secured by the Lord Jesus Christ in history is applied to them by the Holy Spirit.

This salvation means an undoing of all the effects of sin: on our status before God in justification, reconciliation and adoption, on our nature in regeneration and sanctification, and ultimately the complete removal of all vestiges of sin, together with all the remaining effects of the curse, in the new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells – this is the perfection, the fullness and the end of salvation.

This salvation comes to us “in Christ” – all our deliverance from sin flows from his saving work in history and flows to us through union with him. Thus, all pastoral help comes through communion with Christ by his Spirit.

In addition, our salvation in Christ restores us to a higher state than that experienced by Adam and lost in sin. There is a wonder and glory in knowing Christ as Redeemer that is beyond unfallen Adam’s experience of God as Creator and Sustainer. Isaac Watts put it well:

Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more;
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.^[1]

A number of corollaries flow from this big picture:

1. God himself is at work in the salvation of his people – not just initially when we are born again, but continually and at every point. This is a ground of great confidence, both for Christians and for those who shepherd them:

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6)

2. The final outcome is assured. Each one of his people will ultimately inherit a full and perfect salvation: justified, sanctified and glorified. This certain hope, when grasped by faith, does so much to keep us looking forward while we travel as strangers and pilgrims through this cursed vale of tears.
3. This salvation is to be progressively experienced: a change of status in justification, adoption and reconciliation is a once-for-all act of God, but the Christian’s awareness of its reality and implications must grow and deepen throughout our whole lives. Similarly, regeneration is a once-for-all act of God, but it leads to a lifetime of progressive sanctification – a deepening and broadening of the restamped image of God in Jesus Christ upon the whole person. Glorification is certain, but a growing confidence in and awareness of its reality is to be the work of a lifetime. Restored fellowship with God and his people, that is relationships of love that flow out of the Christian’s experience of the love of God in Jesus Christ, is to be a growing characteristic and delight of each believer. In short, God is at work to make each Christian “complete in Christ” (Col 1:28).

This big picture also raises some questions:

1. How complete can and should our salvation be this side of glory? Our justification and regeneration are complete, but our grasp of our justification, seen for instance in our assurance, and our incomplete sanctification, seen all too readily in our less-than-Christlike lives, are evident. What can be expected in this life, and what should pastors aim for in their own lives and the lives of their people? This is complicated further when we consider the ‘non-sinful’ effects of the curse, things which are not to be repented of and put off and will be removed in glory. Things like physical ill health and disability, mental illness and developmental deficits, difficult relationships, and the effects of poverty and suffering. How much is our pastoral role to help people overcome these, and how much is it to help our people live godly lives in the midst of them, while they look forward to their final release in glory? On the one hand, an over-realised eschatology can be deeply damaging, but on the other hand, we must never lose sight of the fact that these things are not neutral and irrelevant – just things to be put up with – but that the Lord uses them for his own glory in the sanctification of his people. Often these struggles form part of the furnace that the Lord uses to bring his people forth as gold.
2. What means does God use to shepherd his people? What is the role of an under-shepherd, and what roles are other Christians to play? What is the place of the Word of God, prayer and the fellowship of the Church?

II. God as Shepherd

The imagery used for God’s relationship to his people is rich and varied: think for instance of Creator, Sustainer, Father, Redeemer, Healer and King.

But in considering “pastoring the twenty-first century Church”, it will be helpful for us to consider the Lord as the Shepherd of his people.

In the Old Testament, in addition to Psalm 23, Jeremiah 23:1-4 and Ezekiel 34, we have passages like:

And he blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day”. (Gen 48:15)

But He led forth His own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. (Ps 78:52)

Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, Thou who dost lead Joseph like a flock; Thou who art enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth! (Ps 80:1)

Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand… (Ps 95:6-7)

Like a shepherd He will tend His flock. In His arm He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes. (Isa 40:11)

It presents us with a picture of God as one who leads and guides his people, tending to them in their weakness, providing them with food and water and protecting them from their enemies.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is described as the “good” (John 10:11), “great” (Heb 13:20) and “chief” (1 Pet 5:4) Shepherd of the sheep and he functions as a Shepherd during his earthly ministry and today, from the right hand of God.

He is characterised by compassion and self-sacrifice in providing for his sheep and delivering them from harm:

And when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:34)

I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:11)

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’” (Matt 26:31)

In the parable of the lost sheep, he is pictured as seeking and restoring his sheep:

What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the other ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (Luke 15:4-5)

Ultimately, he will vindicate his people, separating the nations “as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt 25:32) and then he will remain his people’s Shepherd forever:

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the centre of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes. (Rev 7:16-17)

III. Under-shepherds of God’s people

The shepherd motif applies to those whom the Lord sends to pastor his people. The leaders of Israel are described in this way (2 Sam 7:7) and so particularly is David who was called from shepherding sheep, to shepherd God’s people Israel (2 Sam 5:2).

Yet it is still the Lord himself that shepherds the people through them: “You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Ps 77:20).

In the New Testament, the same applies. In 1 Peter 5:1-4, Christ is the Chief Shepherd of the sheep, and the elders are to shepherd the flock of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the “Shepherd and Guardian (Overseer) of our souls”, (1 Pet 2:25) while in Acts 20:17, Paul calls the Ephesian elders to himself, and when they arrive he tells them, “the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28) and in 1 Peter 5:2 elders are to shepherd the flock of God, exercising oversight. This relationship between shepherding and oversight is important to recognise.

Without entering into the relationship between elders and ministers, it should be noted that in Ephesians 4, apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers are gifts of the ascended Christ to the Church who each exercise word ministry by which the saints are equipped and built up. The ministry of the Word is the primary way in which the sheep are pastored. While all elders are to be apt to teach, those who “work hard at preaching and teaching” (1 Tim 5:17) can be seen to have the primary role in shepherding the sheep.

All Christians have a part to play in caring for one another. The Lord Jesus Christ has given various gifts to his people. Some of these gifts are to be recognised in men appointed to the offices of elder and deacon, but as Paul identifies in Romans 12:3-8, all Christians should exercise “sound judgment” in recognising the gifts they have been given for the good of the body and other Christians individually, and should exercise them appropriately. In addition to prophecy, teaching and exhortation, he refers to service, giving, leading and showing mercy (Rom 12:3-8). Other gifts are listed elsewhere in the New Testament.

Also, Christians are to pray for one another, encourage one another (parakaleoœ, which includes encouraging, comforting, exhorting, admonishing and persuading) and build one another up (1 Thess 5:11) as well as teach and admonish each other in their singing (Col 3:16). Paul is convinced that the Roman Christians were “full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another” (Rom 15:4). He also recognised that not all Christians are gifted or equipped to help their brothers and sisters in all circumstances, and some things are best left to others (Gal 6:1).

Fathers also have a particular responsibility to bring up their children in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4, c.f. Deut 6:7; 11:19) and the repeated calls in Proverbs to “my son” to hear his father’s instruction and not forsake his mother’s teaching.

This identifies the vital place that Christian fellowship and the Christian family have in the shepherding purposes of God. They add to the richness of the life of the Church and we need to identify and encourage ways in which this can be promoted and encouraged. Having said that, they in no way take away from the primary responsibility of pastors to pastor their people. Rather, when well marshalled, they are great allies in shepherding the people of God.

Historically, two significant ways in which Christian fellowship and the Christian family have been thus marshalled are fellowship meetings and family worship. Fellowship meetings have been established at various points in church history, such as with Spener^[2]. They became a significant factor in early Methodism in the eighteenth century. In Wales, they contributed significantly to the spread of the gospel and the growth of believers who, in many cases, had irregular gospel ministry in their churches. Various rules were drawn up to guide them, the most famous being The Experience Meeting by William Williams, Pantycelyn, published in 1777^[3]. It is full of wisdom on how to encourage honest, edifying fellowship and avoid some of the pitfalls. The spiritual quality of the leader of the meeting is critical.

Around the same time in Scotland, John Brown, Haddington, produced his Divine Warrants, Ends, Advantages and Rules, of Fellowship-Meetings, for Prayer and Spiritual Conference together with Rules Agreed Upon by Some Praying Societies. In Divine Warrants he says:

The important ENDS for which such societies ought to be formed and conscientiously attended, are, 1. To promote and increase the knowledge of the truths, ordinances, and works of God, Col 3:16; Ps 116:2. 2. To express and exercise mutual sympathy among the members, Rom 15:1,2; Gal 6:2 3. To provoke and encourage one another to holiness and virtue, in all manner of conversation, Heb. 10:24,25; Eph 4:15,16. 4. To communicate one another’s gifts and graces to their mutual edification, 1 Pet 4:10; Eph 4:12,13. 5. To render Christians faithful and friendly watchers over, counsellors, warners, and reprovers of one another, 1 Thess 5:14; Heb 3:13; 10:24. 6. That they may join together in prayer, praise, and other spiritual exercises, Matt. 18:19, 20.^[4]

Small groups have become very common in our churches and usually involve prayer and bible study. Williams and Brown would encourage us to maximise the benefit likely to accrue from these meetings by having a focus on Christian experience and encouragement in the practical outworking of the Christian life.

Many guides are available to help with family worship, some rather overwhelming. As is so often the case, it is vital that fathers do not try and do too much, and so find they are unable to keep it up, and in the process frustrate their children. Reading the Word with some comments, honest prayer which adores God and seeks his blessing on the family and the church, and perhaps some singing, held at a time when family members can be available (perhaps around the tea table) is a useful aim. Not everything needs to be done together, and every day does not need to be the same. Iain Murray’s comments deserve consideration^[5].

In addition to these two ‘formal’ approaches, the informal and organic should be encouraged: believers visiting and praying with one another, recommending books and sharing their problems and their joys, and families living their lives with an awareness of God, talking about Christian things when they sit and walk, lie down and rise up (Deut 6:7) and praying for God’s help in their difficulties as they arise.

IV. The purpose of shepherding

John Owen, in the final question of his A Brief Instruction in the Worship of God and Discipline of the Churches of the New Testament, helpfully asks,

53. 53. What are the ends of all this dispensation and order of things in the church?
    A. The glory of God, the honour of Jesus Christ the mediator, the furtherance of the gospel, the edification and consolation of believers here, with their eternal salvation hereafter.^[6]

Put more simply, the purpose of the Church is the worship of God, the evangelism of the world and the building up of believers with an eye to eternity.

In pastoral terms, this means our approach is not primarily focused on the problems people think they have. Our aim and purpose is to bring men and women to know God through the Lord Jesus Christ, to worship and serve him, and grow to be like him.

Andrew Davies^[7] helpfully points out that the Puritans typically saw pastoring as Biblical, Theological, Evangelical, and Analytical and Experimental and we can use these four headings to orientate our thinking.

a. Pastoring must be biblical

Firstly, it must be biblical. This means more than using the Bible to find answers to people’s problems – a kind of Christian version of a secular problem-focused therapy. It goes deeper. It means we must come to see ourselves in the way the Bible views us. We must see ourselves and all our issues as people who stand before God. The effects of sin are such that we are by nature alienated from the life of God, with futile minds, darkened understandings, and hard hearts (Eph 4:16-19). We love darkness rather than light and will not come to the light for fear that our deeds will be exposed. We see ourselves as being at the centre of everything. But our need is to reorientate ourselves so that God is in the centre and we view ourselves and our lives in relation to him. Christians, facing the struggle between flesh and Spirit need to do this continually.

This leads inevitably to a humbling of self and a sense of self-realisation. Our hopes and ambitions and desires are not the big things we thought they were. We live our lives in the presence of God – his holiness searches all our petty ambitions, and his glory is worth far more than our ‘successes’ – in fact, his glory is the only thing that really matters.

It also leads to a change of priorities and a sense of servanthood. Saul of Tarsus, when he was confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ was humbled to the ground and cried out, “Lord, what shall I do.” At times we struggle to know the answer to that question, but even then, it must be our desire:

O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee. (2 Chr 20:12)

It was so for our Saviour whose plea, “not my will, but yours be done” is surely the paradigm and high-water mark for our humility and self-denial.

It gives us a vision of the people the Lord has saved us to be. There is nothing so liberating as knowing that as Christians we are new men and women in Jesus Christ with a new heart, a new love, a new Lord and a new life. His law is written on our hearts, our idols have been dethroned, and his Spirit dwells in us to enable us to walk in his ways. We have fellowship in light with the God of light, and the promise that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have a home in heaven where there will be no sin, sorrow or sickness. And it all comes to us freely, the product of blood-soaked love.

Colossians 1:28 tells us, “And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.” God’s purpose is that Christians may be complete in Christ, mature and well-rounded, conformed to his image, knowing him and representing him in the world. And this comes about through the proclamation of Christ, as believers take hold of who he is, what he has done for us, what he is doing in us and what he will do for us as we are united to him in his death and resurrection.

b. Pastoring must be theological

Secondly, it must be theological. This isn’t the same as theoretical or academic. Rather, it means that it is the true knowledge of God and the gospel that the Lord uses to transform us.

Derek Tidball refers here to Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ sermons on Ephesians 4:17-5:17 as “an outstanding example of good pastoral theology”.^[8] In particular, he identifies a sermon concentrating on the “therefore” in Ephesians 4:17 as one that “explained the relationship between doctrine and practice”.^[9] In the second, less doctrinal part of Ephesians, Lloyd-Jones shows how “each practical issue is an application of spiritual truth. Thus in 4:17-24, certain standards of behaviour are required because we are entirely new creatures in Christ. In 5:3-17 certain patterns of behaviour are to be rejected because, as is stated in verses 1 and 2, we are children of God. Ephesians 5:18-21 lays down the doctrinal principle about the control of the Spirit out of which teaching regarding relationships arises in 5:22 – 6:9. He goes on to quote Lloyd-Jones:

Failure in the living of the Christian life, therefore, must ultimately result from a failure somewhere or other to understand the doctrine and the truth… You do not appeal to the will of people to make them holy; instead you get them to understand the doctrine. It is not a matter of decision, it is a matter of understanding.

Doctrine helps to provide us with the ‘why’. Sadly so much preaching, teaching or pastoral care never tells us ‘why’, because it is too concerned with telling us ‘how’ or ‘what’.^[10]

What Tidball says of the relationship between doctrine and practice must also be said of the relationship between doctrine and experience and between doctrine and self-understanding. We are “sanctified by the truth” (John 17:17) and transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:1-2). The implications of this are that understanding, embracing and applying the truth is vital for a Christian to be complete in Christ. As such, shepherding involves explaining the truth and applying it to people’s lives.

In a similar vein, Davies quotes William Perkins, “The blessed life ariseth from the knowledge of God”,^[11] and it was William Ames who said, “Theology is the doctrine or teaching of living to God… men live to God when they live in accord with the will of God, to the glory of God, and with God working in them”.^[12]

c. Pastoring must be evangelical

Thirdly, it must be evangelical. That is, we have to know how to apply the truths of the gospel, and this means law as well as grace.

The law has two main functions in the life of a believer. Firstly, it convicts of sin with a gospel purpose – to drive men and women to Christ for forgiveness. Secondly, it shows the paths of righteousness in which Christ would have his people walk by the power of the Spirit. That is, it puts meat on the bones of love to God and to our neighbour.

A failure to see the seriousness of sin can be a problem for Christians and non-Christians alike, and the law is designed by God to make us aware of his holiness and his unflinching standards. In these lightly antinomian days, it is important for Christians to come to terms with the fact that there is a holiness without which no one shall see the Lord (Heb 12:14). Similarly, duty is a biblical principle, a part of our gospel obedience. Paul informs Timothy, “in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15), and John tells us, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:15).

Grace, by comparison, draws from sin to God. The law can convict us and drive us, but without grace, it only drives us from one sin to another, and deeper into despair. True repentance is a fruit of grace. It takes an awareness of the goodness and mercy of God to draw us from our sins and back to God in repentance. This applies both in conversion where, as the old proverb says, “more flies are caught with honey than with vinegar”, and also in the Christian life (a life of repentance) where, for instance, backsliders are told, “I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them” (Hos 14:4).

The grace of God in forgiveness is never an end in itself, but is designed to lead us to God in lives of thankful worship and service. Paul says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Tit 2:11-12). And Peter tells us, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18).

d. Pastoring must be analytical and experimental

Fourthly, it must be analytical and experimental. Not every problem is the same, and not every person is in the same condition. Is the person we are seeking to help a believer or an unbeliever? The comforts of God’s children don’t apply to those who are not yet saved. Erroll Hulse writes, “It is true that it is not possible to determine in an infallible way whether a person is regenerate, but nevertheless Puritan writings demonstrate the importance of using the biblical data to ascertain this question as carefully as is humanly possible.”^[13] Pastoral counsel for unbelievers must focus on real faith and repentance, and the necessity of the new birth. Things that appear similar must be distinguished, for instance, habitual sin must be distinguished from frequent, strong temptation and the flaming missiles of the evil one. Also, not every problem with the same symptoms has the same cause – depression, for instance, may have a number of spiritual causes, or it may be a result of other things such as difficult life circumstances or ill health.

It is here that the shepherd’s knowledge of the word of God, his dealings with others, and also his experience of God’s dealings in his own life is so vital. Charles Bridges quotes Luther as saying, “Prayer, meditation, and temptation, make a Minister”^[14].

To mix metaphors, we must seek to become skilful physicians of souls, able to diagnose the malady and apply the cure (or at least recommend it to the patient). We must seek to approve ourselves to God as workmen who do “not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15).

V. The remit of the shepherd

We need to consider the breadth of the shepherd’s responsibility. This is related to the question asked in our introduction, “How complete can and should our salvation be this side of glory?”

One consideration is our response to practical and ‘physical’ difficulties in life: financial problems, ill health, injustice, childcare demands, caring for sick relatives and so forth. The New Testament places a great responsibility on believers to “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ”. While the social state has to some degree taken away the hard edge of such difficulties for many, people still experience great needs, and we require wisdom in knowing how best to help them. Paul refers to such gifts as service and giving in Romans 12, and the office of deacon in the New Testament is important here. The men appointed to serve tables in Acts 6 were required to be “full of the Spirit and of wisdom”. Helping the saints in practical ways is not beneath a minister or elders – in Acts 6 the apostles just didn’t have the time and needed help so that they could focus on what they had been called to do. Charles Bridges notes “As a general rule, partial assistance – giving a stimulus to their own exertions – is more efficient as well as more economical, than a complete deliverance from their difficulties”^[15]. The ministry of Thomas Chalmers has useful insights for us. G. R. Evans comments, “there is an ancient duty to protect the helpless. One-parent families are perhaps the modern Western counterpart of the widows and orphans of the New Testament.”^[16] We have not fallen captive to a ‘social gospel’ just because we go around “doing good” (Acts 10:38). Rather, we should do good to all as we have opportunity, especially to the household of faith (Gal 6:10). To help a brother in need as we are able is just a natural outworking of love (1 John 3:17).

Another consideration is what “spiritual” issues should a shepherd seek to address, and what issues are beyond his remit? Or perhaps more pointedly, what issues are beyond his competence?

The rise of professionals in medicine and the social sciences in more recent years is well known, and this has meant that shepherds are suffering a crisis of confidence and often feel on the back foot. It is as if the ‘professionals’ are the ones who can really help people, and that the contribution of a shepherd is amateurish at best.

While there is much to be applauded in the discovery of new knowledge and the development of ways to help people, it needs to be noted that every approach to helping people has a theoretical undergirding that inevitably plays out in the help it offers. The enlightenment introduced, as David Cornick noted, “the establishment of the primacy of reason, the autonomy of the human self, and the slow shrinking of the realm of the supernatural”.^[17] The resultant post-enlightenment secularism and naturalism mean that much of this work is being done without a distinctly Christian understanding of what it means to be human. Man’s inherently spiritual and moral nature as a creature made in the image of God and the devastating effects of sin and curse upon him are minimised or dismissed.

Eric L. Johnson notes that:

In the premodern West, the soul’s worst problems were understood to be ethical and spiritual. However, the replacement of theism with naturalism as the worldview underlying the care of souls in the West necessitated that psychic problems be understood solely in terms of natural dynamics (i.e. biological and psychosocial).^[18]

Thus among secular, naturalist ‘shepherds’, ethical and spiritual causes and effects are largely ignored or dismissed, and hence diagnoses and treatment options are often lacking. This is particularly true when it comes to issues of guilt and shame, self-hatred, loneliness, meaninglessness, and unforgiveness^[19]. In addition to this, a secular, naturalist approach has no godly target in view. It does not seek to make people more like Christ, more thankful for grace received and more confident in the promises of God. It does not seek to prepare them for glory.

(M)odern psychology has simply made what the majority of (mostly modernist) intellectuals today consider to be a compelling case: that its version of human beings is simply better than those that went before it – more accurate, more comprehensive and less distorted. All of this has contributed to the crisis in the church.^[20]

Thomas Oden addressed,

[T]he Church’s critical loss of confidence in its own insights. He quoted one therapist, Paul Pruyser, who had spent a lot of time in dialogue with clergy: “I became aware that much of the instruction was one-sided, with the consent of both parties: the theologians sat at the feet of the psychiatric Gamaliels and seemed to like it. Pastors were eager to absorb as much psychological knowledge and skill as they could, without even thinking about instructional reciprocity… I have learned that ministers would be hard put to know what to teach, from their own discipline, to members of the psychological professions even if they were specifically asked and salaried to do so.”^[21]

It is true that, as Johnson notes, “(t)he triune God did not convey through Scripture his entire understanding of human beings, so the use of other, relevant sources of knowledge about human beings for Christian psychotherapy and counselling is legitimate and highly desirable, so long as they function subordinately to Scripture”, and it is at this point that the Christian shepherd’s contribution should become evident. We have an understanding of humanity that is better and more accurate than the secular, naturalistic one, and we have better tools at our disposal to help people. We are sent by God with the Word of God and the promise of the aid of his Holy Spirit. In fact, we have the promise that God himself will shepherd the people through us. This spiritual, truly supernatural element is the one we must never forget.

When it comes to our understanding of humanity, Johnson makes a three-fold distinction in the way the fall has affected men and women. Firstly, “humans have become disordered ethically and spiritually, a relational malady called sin”. This he subdivides into original sin, sinful desires, sinful actions and “vices or habitual patterns of sinful actions”. Secondly, there are soul disorders that contemporary psychology calls “syndromes characterised by symptoms and usually various kinds of biopsychosocial damage”. Thirdly, “while not a disorder per se, suffering can contribute to the development of a disorder – especially when experienced chronically in childhood together with some genetic vulnerability”^[22]. In theological terms, this means men and women are affected by both sin and curse.

Johnson’s position is that “These three perspectives together provide a more complex and comprehensive approach to psychopathology than any one by itself. The challenge for the Christian community is to develop a unified framework of discourse and diagnosis based on Christian worldview assumptions”^[23].

The shepherd has a responsibility to address sin issues, and to promote godly living in the face of “biopsychosocial damage” and the effects of suffering and trauma. There are areas where specialists and medical professionals are well-placed to help. Bipolar disorder, for instance, requires more than a spiritual remedy. Those who need such help should always be pointed to such specialists, and their help should be encouraged and welcomed. However, even in those cases, the spiritual needs of the individual should not be neglected.

To say this is no different from shepherds of former generations emphasising the need to involve a ‘physician’ in some situations. Richard Baxter does this in his great work The Reformed Pastor, as does David Dickson in his Therapeutica Sacra, where he tells us that we:

[M]ust distinguish worldly sorrow, and Hypocondriack-passions and Perturbations of mind from Cases of Conscience, and spiritual Exercise in the Wrestlings of Faith, that for a natural Disease and Distemper a pertinent Remedy may be called for from the bodily Physicians… In such a Case, where both the bodily Distemper and spiritual Exercise are joined, Circumspection is necessary, that proportionable remedies be used by the Physician, and the Pastor, or prudent Friend, that bodily Medicine and spiritual Consolations may be each in their own time and order wisely made use of.^[24]

Sometimes the best solution to a downcast spirit is sleep, fresh air and exercise, but even that can be helped along by a dose of thankfulness, and consideration of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

We must also realise that some problems will not be resolved. This includes, but is not limited to certain effects of sinful choices.

The Word of God indicates that certain ethical and moral patterns bring negative results which the grace of God does not necessarily change in this life… Ten of the best counsellors in the world could never sort out the wretched fruits that came from David’s lust and murder, since most of these things were imposed on David as divine chastisement for his (forgiven) sin.^[25]

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones provides helpful guidance in diagnosing distressed people in his 1974 Rendle Short Memorial Lecture for the Christian Medical Fellowship, entitled, “Body, Mind and Spirit”^[26]. He suggests that you start with the question, “Is it physical?” Is there, for instance, an illness or imbalance causing the distress? If so, appropriate medical treatment is needed. Secondly, “If it is not physical, is it spiritual?” “I have always found that with persons in this spiritual category, there is a clear diagnostic point. They always show a readiness to listen and they almost jump at any of the verses quoted that give them relief. They hold on to what will bring comfort and release. One must not be put off by their appearing at first to demur a little, with a, ‘Yes, but…’ They are really doing this in the hope that you can go on to make your case still stronger. They want you to make your case and in my experience it is a diagnostic pointer to those in this group.” Spiritual cases need “detailed proof”. “One must be precise and detailed in bringing to bear the scriptural arguments”, maybe more than once. Patience is needed. Merely telling them ‘Don’t worry’ is not only wrong, it can be real cruelty.” Thirdly, he refers to psychological problems, or ‘mental illness’. “I think that you will find almost invariably that those who are mentally ill do not really listen to you. You quote Scripture, they do not listen. They keep repeating the same statements and give the impression that they are waiting for you to finish so that they can say their piece over again… You notice the difference as compared with those in spiritual trouble: the latter are anxious to have help. The others are not.”

His last category is the ‘demonic’: “in my experience, what appears to me to be the results of demonic activity is a very, very common cause of people’s coming to see the minister”. Lloyd-Jones differentiates between demon ‘oppression’, or ‘satanic attacks’ and ‘demon possession’. The diagnostic points for satanic attacks are, “First, the sudden onset of the condition; second, it was something unexpected in this type of person, and something they have never had before. Suddenly these excellent people are changed and become more or less useless… Another diagnostic element is extreme weakness… Then the last diagnostic point is that they, of course, make no response to any medical treatment, no matter what it is. They also baffle all those who treat them medically or psychiatrically.” In these cases, “you will always be able to deliver them by reasoning with them out of the Scriptures. I do not mean by just quoting Scripture but deploying the whole basic arguments of Scripture concerning salvation, calling and service.”

Regarding ‘demon possession’ the diagnostic points are, “You generally find a history of dabbling with spiritualism or the occult in some form… They may also have experimented with drugs. One clear diagnostic point is that one becomes aware of a dual personality. There is another person; you see it in the face, hear it in the voice. It is an unnatural and quite different voice and can very often be accompanied by horrifying facial expressions. There is also – a most important point – an alteration between what we may call a normal and an abnormal element. These persons can be one moment quite normal and can discuss things quite readily for a time; then suddenly they change. The ‘other’ person seems to take charge… A still more significant pointer is their reaction to the name of our Lord. I always tell ministers who are confronted by the duty of treating such cases to use the phrase – ‘Jesus Christ is come in the flesh’ and to note the reaction. Talk to them of ‘the blood of Christ’ and you will generally see that they will react quite violently to this.”

This last area, recognising a demonic element, whether by means of “fiery darts” or something more oppressive, is an area that a naturalist will be completely unable to diagnose or help. While we must not be naive, and there is a real need for discernment (1 Cor 12:10). To dismiss this element would be a major pastoral weakness.

VI. Work of the shepherd

A review of the biblical data shows the shepherd’s work to consist of knowing, seeking, finding, accompanying, feeding, tending, strengthening, restoring, leading, ruling and protecting the sheep.

This covers both evangelism, which is the calling in of Christ’s elect sheep, “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd” (John 10:16) and also the pastoral care of Christians in the full variety of their conditions.

Different periods of history have emphasised different elements of pastoral care, and also different ways of going about it, but the consistent concern of godly shepherds has been the same in principle through the ages. Augustine, for instance, stated,

[D]isturbers are to be rebuked, the low-spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazy aroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, litigants pacified, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved, the evil borne with, and all are to be loved.^[27]

The Reformation brought about a variety of changes in pastoral practice. According to the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, “[t]he art of pastoral care was to be crafted from the discipline of penance, the celebration of the Eucharist within the context of the Christian year and the skills of the confessor, a doctor of souls.”^[28] However,

[T]he landscape was to be irrevocably changed by the reformation. As ‘justification by faith alone’ laid waste the penitential system, the whole panoply of confession and works of satisfaction fell into disrepair, for they were no longer needed. Redefinitions of Eucharistic theology laid waste the bold symbolic statement that had held the world together for three hundred years, and the ritual year suffered grievous assault and died.^[29]

Luther’s “new understanding of the Christian faith – ‘The sum of the gospel is this: who believes in Christ has the forgiveness of sins’ – implied a dramatic simplification of the Church.”^[30]

So it was that,

[T]he early reformers created a new world. In place of the visual culture of late medieval Catholicism with its central symbol of God made present in Eucharist host, they offered a God who had come in Jesus Christ, and spoke still through the words of Scripture and sermons in the language of every man and woman. It is hard after four centuries to capture the thrill of immediacy, the sense of involvement and participation which rippled through early Reformed Europe. Holiness was no longer the prerogative of the few but the possession of all. All were priests. All resonated with the glory of God.^[31]

Reformation period soul care focussed on the Word of God, particularly as preached by men called of God to do so, but also as shared on a more personal level in conversation and visitation or as written in letters. Prayer was vital, and the sacraments played an important part in strengthening the spiritual lives of believers. The involvement of laymen was encouraged – an outworking of the principles of the priesthood of all believers – but not in such a way as to remove either the role or the primacy of those called of God. Confession of sin retained a place, but this was on a voluntary basis to a minister, as was best for the unburdening of the soul. Calvin for instance is quoted as follows: “we should lay our burdens on one another’s breasts, to receive among ourselves mutual counsel, mutual compassion, and mutual consolation”.^[32]

One difference which perhaps needs to be recovered in some circles is the change brought about in the role of the shepherd as ‘spiritual director’.

The Protestant director does not claim so much of authority; nor seek to make permanent the relationship in which he gives counsel. He is a physician for a crisis who expects his patient to recover and normally to control his own health… Perhaps a more constant difference lies in the fact that the Protestant… does not assume the position of sole guide, as is normally the case with Roman Catholics.^[33]

From the Reformation on, there has been a great consistency of opinion in the elements of a shepherd’s work. Martin Bucer in his 1538 work Concerning the True Care of Souls^[34], described by David Cornick as “the most comprehensive and systematic pastoral theology of the Reformation era”^[35], approaches it under five headings as follows:

1. How the lost sheep are to be sought
2. How the stray sheep are to be restored
3. How the hurt and wounded sheep are to be bound up and healed (including a discussion of penance)
4. How the weak sheep are to be strengthened
5. How the healthy and strong sheep are to be guarded and fed (including a discussion of excommunication for unrepentant troublers of the Church)

In the following century (1656), Richard Baxter in his The Reformed Pastor^[36], lists seven functions of pastors:

1. Labouring for conversions
2. Advising those under conviction of sin
3. Building up Christians:
   1. the young and the weak
   2. those who labour under a particular corruption
   3. backsliders
   4. the strong
4. Families
5. Visiting the sick
6. Reproving and admonishing offenders
7. Exercising church discipline

Charles Bridges, in the section The Pastoral Work of the Christian Ministry of his 1849 work, The Christian Ministry lists the following “Cases”:

1. The infidel
2. The ignorant and careless
3. The self-righteous
4. The false professor
5. Those under natural and spiritual convictions
6. The young Christian
7. The backslider
8. The unestablished Christian
9. The confirmed and consistent Christian

More recently, Timothy Z. Witmer, in his 2010 book The Shepherd Leader^[37] seeks to subsume the whole of a shepherd’s duty under four headings as shown in the table below. He also helpfully shows that the shepherd has a responsibility both to the Church as a whole (the macro level), and to individual Christians (the micro level).

	Knowing	Feeding	Leading	Protecting
Macro Public / Corporate Ministry	‒ Accurate membership roles  ‒ Knowing the flock’s corporate strengths, weaknesses, traits and opportunities	‒ Pulpit ministry  ‒ Christian education  ‒ Sacraments	‒ Vision casting  ‒ Mission and Purpose  ‒ Ministry decisions  ‒ Committee leadership	‒ Public instruction and warning from the Scriptures  ‒ Awareness of cultural “wolves”  ‒ “Tell it to the church” step of Matt 18:17
Micro Personal / Relational Ministry	‒ Knowing the sheep personally  ‒ Knowing which elders are caring for which sheep  ‒ Strategy for regular, personal contact	‒ Discipleship  ‒ Mentoring  ‒ Small group	‒ By example in personal godliness, family life, church commitments  ‒ Counselling	‒ Private warning  ‒ Matt 18:15-16 steps to restore wandering sheep

Each of these divisions cover the same basic territory.

Certain clear needs stand out:

The need to know who our people are, and have some acquaintance with their condition. This can only be achieved by spending time with them, listening, and asking questions. A sympathetic ear, appropriate confidentiality, and compassionate and wise responses will help foster the trust that makes this possible.

The need to feed the sheep with appropriate food in the right-sized portions. This applies to the healthy sheep that need strengthening and equipping, and the less healthy who need food tailored to their specific needs.

The need to identify strengths and weaknesses in the church as a whole as well, its ministries, and the individual sheep.

The need to provide leadership that is evidently for the glory of God and the good of the sheep, and that is not self-serving in any way.

The need to be examples to the flock of everything we wish to develop in them. Our food is more readily eaten, and our lead is more readily followed, when people can see the good it does us. Think of hard-working Paul among the idle Thessalonians, 2 Thess 3:6-9.

The need to reprove sin and to identify error which would otherwise harm the sheep. This takes courage; wolves are not puppies, and sin is never the Christian’s friend.

a. Developing strategies

We need to develop strategies to meet these needs. Using Witmer’s headings, we need to consider the following:

1. Knowing

Witmer quotes some unpublished class notes of Timothy Keller, giving the elements of personal ministry presented by Paul in Acts 20:

Inspection (Acts 20:28): A pastor seeks to become intimately familiar with all the characteristics, circumstances and needs of the people; the people should be conscious that their pastor knows them.

• Visible Caring (Acts 20:31): A pastor shows that he loves and cares in his visitation. The pastor in his contacts seeks to be transparent enough so the people see how he feels (“with tears”). The pastor by his presence shows that he cares. By being available (“night and day”) the pastor expresses the love of the Good Shepherd.
• Diagnosis (Acts 20:20a): Paul was careful to declare the profitable: he adapted his ministry to the “deficits” (needs) of the hearers. So pastors must move beyond inspection and caring and diagnosis. What are the specific spiritual conditions and spiritual needs? What are the person’s deficits?^[38]

At the micro level, we have to know the individuals we are responsible to pastor. That includes the housebound and children in families.

2. Feeding

At the macro level this means our regular preaching and teaching. We need to give people the food that is right for them, milk and meat in due season, and the word needs to be applied. We need to consider how this should affect our attitude towards age-appropriate teaching such as Sunday School during the morning sermon. Similarly, are we sufficiently invested in what is being taught to our children and young people? What is the purpose of the message in our mid-week prayer meetings?

At the micro level, pointing our people towards good resources – including audio and video for those who find reading difficult – can be of great significance. The internet is a dangerous place for the undiscerning, and we need to protect our people against wolves. Devotional literature is of great value to warm the heart, give a ‘taste’ of spiritual things and promote love for the Saviour. As Baxter said, “It is not the reading of many books which is necessary to make a man wise or good; but the well-reading of a few, could he be sure to have the best.”

3. Leading

At the macro level, we need to consider the strengths and weakness of the church in such areas as worship, teaching, fellowship and evangelism. This means considering aims, methods, structures and resources, but primarily giving attention to our workers, encouraging and training them as we are able.

At the micro level, it means the importance of personal example, that people may imitate us as we imitate Christ (1 Cor 11:1). All that we wish to see develop in our people should be developing in us. This includes such things as pure, honest speech, zeal, consistency and humility. All the fruit of the Spirit should be evident in all our relationships: with Christ, with the church, with our own families and with the world, and where we fail there should be honest recognition, the seeking of forgiveness where necessary, comfort and peace rooted in the astounding grace of God, and a striving for greater faithfulness to Christ.

4. Protecting

At the macro level this includes warning our people about the spiritual dangers that are ‘doing the rounds’. Such things as false teaching and unhealthy emphases need to be identified so that our people can protect themselves from the wolves. Endemic spiritual diseases need to be identified such as complacency, despondency or introspection.

At a micro level, it means addressing the things that threaten to damage individuals: such things as unhealthy interests, spiritual imbalance, unresolved conflicts, or an unwillingness to forgive. The nature of the body is such that what affects one can have an effect on all. A root of bitterness causes trouble and by it many are defiled (Heb 12:15). When people start to withdraw and no longer attend, action is needed to follow them up. Sheep do not survive well without a shepherd. Witmer quotes the Christian Reformed Church publication, Building Bridges as follows, “the best time to reclaim disaffected members is within six to eight weeks. During this time the potential dropouts are in fact waiting for the church to pay attention to them so that they can talk about whatever is bothering them. After this initial two-month period it is much more difficult to re-involve such members.”^[39] Once genuine backsliding sets in, as Baxter notes, “Much skill is required for restoring such a soul.”^[40]

VII. The tools of the shepherd

Fundamentally, if the people are to be well shepherded, God must work by his Spirit, through his Word. This means the fundamental place must be given to prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). But we need honest, earnest creativity to use the Word of God well.

Shepherds have often said, “I do most of my pastoral work from the pulpit.” That may well be true. The public proclamation of the Word is the shepherd’s main tool. As John Owen noted, “The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the word.”^[41] That being the case, much thought and prayer must be given to how our preaching and teaching meets the need of the flock. This raises important questions about how we select our texts, and how we apply the Word. In it all our prayer must be that the sheep hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow him.

Perhaps a more significant question is, ‘What is the purpose of our regular preaching on the Lord’s Day?’ There is much talk about “expository preaching”, particularly in reformed circles, but what that means needs to be explored. While all our preaching should explain and apply biblical truth, we need to recognise that the pattern of preaching consecutively through books of the Bible has not been the only model in the history of the church and is not without its dangers. A careful reading of Iain Murray’s article, ‘Expository Preaching’ – Time for Caution^[42] may do many of us – and our people – much good.

But the shepherd is to teach and apply the Word in other ways as well. In Acts 20:28, Paul reminds the Ephesian elders, “how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house”. Face-to-face visitation has a noble history. For instance, Baxter and his assistant met with fourteen families every week between them, spread over two days. Families came to Baxter, while his assistant went to them. In that way they were able to meet with the several hundred families in Kidderminster every year. Witmer, recognising the difficulties associated with home visitation in modern urban society with most people working away from home, recommends monthly telephone contact, by elders, with each family and adds, “supplementing monthly phone contacts with a realistic plan of home visitation would be beneficial, if practicable”.^[43] A generation of older ministers regard the contemporary decline in visiting as a serious deficit. Surely personal, face-to-face contact must be our aim.

Baxter advocated teaching families using a catechism. We can think of small group bible studies, family visitation, pastoral counselling and private conversation. Much good has been done historically by means of pastoral letters – just think of John Calvin, Samuel Rutherford and John Newton. What about their modern equivalents: emails, texts and electronic messages?

In addition to giving away evangelistic resources such as bibles, books and DVDs we can provide evangelistic bible studies, and evangelistic visiting, with plenty of time for people to ask questions. As Richard Baxter observed,

I have found by experience, that some ignorant persons, who have been so long unprofitable hearers, have got more knowledge and remorse in half an hour’s close discourse, than they did from ten year’s public preaching. I know that preaching the gospel publicly is the most excellent means, because we speak to many at once. But it is usually far more effectual to preach it privately to a particular sinner.^[44]

Prayer is vital. As Eric Alexander noted,

In the Christian church over the years, we have turned the truth upside down, and commonly speak of ‘praying for the work’ – the implication being that prayer is an additional ingredient to our Christian service. The truth is that prayer is the real work, and apart from it all other work is in vain. The reason for that is quite simple. It is that essentially this work in which we are engaged is God’s work, not man’s.^[45]

Much good would surely be done if shepherds spent more of their time seeking the blessing of the Chief Shepherd on their flocks. In fact, we have no reason to believe any good will be done without prayer for the Chief Shepherd’s blessing.

There is no substitute for consistent godliness. Point 11 in John Owen’s chapter The Especial Duty of Pastors of Churches is “That wherewith I shall close these few instances of the pastoral charge and duty is that without which all the rest will neither be useful unto men nor be accepted with the great shepherd, Christ Jesus; and that is, a humble, holy, exemplary conversation, in all godliness and honesty.”^[46] Consistent godliness creates a hearing for the gospel, and for Christian teaching. The apostle Paul commented in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:10, “you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake… You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers”. Further, the success of pastoral work depends on the blessing of God, and what right do we have to expect that the blessing of God would rest on unholy instruments? M’Cheyne’s comment is well known, “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness.” “It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.” As Baxter said, “Lastly, consider whether the success of your labours depends not on the assistance and blessing of the Lord. And where hath he made any promise of his assistance and blessing to ungodly men?”^[47]

Personal experience of the power of the truth is essential. We pass on to others the truths that have helped us – we have confidence in the food of his word because it has fed our own souls. Augustine said, “I go to feed so that I can give you to eat. I am the servant, the bringer of food, not the master of the house. I lay out before you that from which I draw my life.”^[48]. As George Cowie noted, “God makes ministers a blessing to others by blessing themselves first. He works in them in order to work by them.”^[49]

Doing practical good should not be undervalued. Even apart from its intrinsic value, kindness opens a door into a person’s life. Charles Bridges notes, “our Lord’s example in combining kindness to the body with love to the soul… ‘a man’s gift maketh room for him’ (Prov 18:16).”^[50] Have we lost some of our relevance here because people think we are unconcerned for them in their need?

Persistence and a willingness to suffer are necessary. As shepherds, we should work hard, and be prepared to bear hardship for the sake of the flock. Being faithful doesn’t mean having it easy. Sacrifice is involved in shepherding. Having listed some of his sufferings for the sake of the gospel Paul says, “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches” (2 Cor 11:28).

Authority is another tool of the shepherd, but a difficult one to define. So often in the New Testament, the apostles appeal to the churches rather than commanding them. It is safe to say that the authority of pastors is not invested in them personally, but in the office they fulfil. Even then, it is not in the office per se, but in the faithful functioning of it. It is the authority of Christ, and submission to Christ only occurs when the shepherd is faithfully leading the flock in accordance with Christ’s will.

Shepherds are not to be authoritarian, but to use their authority for the church’s good. They are not to lord it over the flock but are to lead by example (1 Pet 5:3). Their rule is to be like the rule of a father who leads his family well: “He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).” (1 Tim 3:4-5)

John Angell James commented:

The authority of pastors is not legislative or coercive, but simply declarative and executive. It is difficult to define its limits with precision. He is to command, yet he is not to lord it over God’s heritage. It is rather like marriage. The union is founded on mutual love, confidence and esteem. There should, then, be no contests for power. Since the pastor’s prerogative is undefined he should be afraid of extending it and his church cautious of diminishing it.^[51]

The Galatians received Paul as an angel of God, as Christ himself, and would have plucked out their eyes for him (Gal 4:14-15). Paul in his turn had sacrificed for Christ and for his church: “From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).

John Owen has an interesting comment on this issue. He sees gifts as being prior to office in the church: “The original of all church order and rule is in gifts; the exercise of those gifts is by office; the end of all those gifts and offices is, edification.”^[52] Further, he sees authority in preaching as flowing from unction, not office. “It is a consequent of unction, and not of office. The scribes had an outward call to teach in the church; but they had no unction, no anointing, that could evidence they had the Holy Ghost in his gifts and graces. Christ had no outward call; but he had an unction – he had a full unction of the Holy Ghost in his gifts and graces, for the preaching of the gospel. Hereon there was a controversy about his authority. The scribes say unto him, Mark xi. 28, ‘By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?’ The Holy Ghost determines the matter, Matt. vii. 29, ‘He preached as one having authority, and not as the scribes.’ They had the authority of office, but not of unction; Christ only had that. And preaching in the demonstration of the Spirit, which men quarrel so much about, is nothing less than the evidence in preaching of unction, in the communication of gifts and grace unto them, for the discharge of their office: for it is a vain thing for men to assume and personate authority. So much evidence as they have of unction from God in gifts and grace, so much authority they have, and no more, in preaching: and let everyone, then, keep within his bounds.”^[53] This is the authority we should be seeking: authority that evidences itself. May the Lord preserve us from relying on the outward form of an empty, powerless office.

In summary, John Owen described the duties of a pastor in this way^[54]:

• Feeding the flock by diligent preaching of the word
• Continual fervent prayer for them
• The administration of the seals of the covenant is committed unto them
• To preserve the truth or doctrine of the gospel received and professed in the church and to defend it against all opposition
• To labour for the conversion of souls unto God
• To be ready, willing, and able, to comfort, relieve, and refresh those that are tempted, tossed, wearied with fears and grounds of disconsolation, in times of trial and desertion
• A compassionate suffering with all the members of the church in their trials and troubles
• Care of the poor and visitation of the sick
• The principal care of the rule of the church is incumbent on the pastors of it
• There is a communion to be observed among all the churches of the same faith and profession in any nation
• A humble, holy, exemplary conversation, in all godliness and honesty

VIII. The heart of the shepherd

The heart attitudes of the shepherd are perhaps the most significant issue of all.

On a personal level, he is to be a sheep of the Chief Shepherd, and as such is to be characterised by humility, obedience and fellowship with God. These issues are primary. As a pastor once said to me, “If a man wants to be a pastor, he should start by being a good sheep.”

In relation to the flock, Scripture gives us clear guidelines. Love to God and to his people is primary. We are to “shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28) – they are precious to him and so should be precious to us.

Next is a desire to do them good, even though it costs us. Ezekiel 34, with its New Testament counterpart in John 10, gives us much insight. It condemns false shepherds who fed themselves at the expense of the flock – indeed they sometimes fed themselves on the flock, and used them for their own comfort (John 10:3). Rather than putting themselves out to seek, strengthen and heal the flock, they dominated the weak for their own ends (John 10:4), and abandoned them when they wandered away (John 10:6). Such were the hirelings our Good Shepherd warns us of in John 10: 8, 10, 12-13. Peter similarly warns us not to shepherd others for our own benefit, exerting our authority to make us feel good or to compensate for our inadequacies, but to willingly and eagerly keep watch over them and be examples to them: “shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock” (1 Pet 5:2-3).

Ted Donnelly comments, “Some pastors are so insecure that they regard anything as a threat which they themselves do not do or do not control.”^[55] Al Martin comments on just one way this can show itself: “Some men in pastoral ministry have an unmortified lust to control others, and their ego is fed when people become dependent on their frequent personal counsel.”^[56] The way we treat the flock says a lot about ourselves.

The issue of example is critical here, as it identifies that we are on the same journey, among the sheep, under the watchful eye of the same Chief Shepherd. We are not a class above, or apart. Self-sacrifice follows. The shepherd protects his flock from the wolf and the bear, but self-sacrifice is needed in the more mundane matters of the weekly grind also. In John 13, the Lord humbled himself and took the form of a servant (cf. Phil 2:7) to wash his disciples’ feet. In doing this he left an example for us to follow. One of the most telling questions to expose our true heart attitude towards serving others is given by our Lord in John 13:12: “Do you know what I have done to you?” As John says in his first letter, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16) Zeal and earnestness are also needed – a willingness to get on with the job, in season and out of season. Paul reminded the Ephesian elders of his earnestness, “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears” (Acts 20:31). John Angell James wrote a whole book entitled An Earnest Ministry the Want of the Times^[57]. A sense of personal inadequacy, leading to a dependence on and confidence in God is also vital, if we are to remain small and humble in ourselves, and yet confident in our work.

IX. Obstacles to effective shepherding

These come in many forms, and sensitive shepherds have always been aware of them. There can be obstacles in ourselves, preventing us being the shepherds we should be, and obstacles outside of ourselves that make the work particularly challenging. Charles Bridges addresses these “causes of the want of success in the Christian ministry”. Firstly, “General Causes” such as those found in the people we are ministering to or in the external context: the enmity of the natural heart, the power of Satan and local hindrances due to the particular context of the congregation.

But he identifies two that have particular relevance to our situation. Firstly “the withholding of divine influence” which he regards as the main cause of the want for ministerial success. Bridges stresses that God must work if there is to be any real spiritual success:

Do we not know accomplished and devoted Ministers, who are less honoured in their work than others of their brethren of far inferior qualifications? And do we not find differences of effect under the same ministry, and even under the same sermons, which can only be explained by sovereign dispensation of divine influence?… And do we not realize the same difference in our Ministerial experience – in our pastoral as well as in our pulpit work; that sometimes a single sentence is clothed with Almighty power – at other times it is only the feeble breath of a worm?… ‘Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high,’ the wilderness, notwithstanding the most diligent cultivation, must remain a wilderness still.^[58]

We need God to bless our pastoral work – he is the Chief Shepherd of the sheep.

Secondly, he refers to “the want of a divine call”. It is men called to preach the Word of God that are the main instruments in shepherding the Lord’s people. For such men, Bridges identifies both an external call, “a commission received from and recognised by the Church”, and an internal call, “the voice and power of the holy Ghost, directing the will and the judgment, and conveying personal qualifications” as essential and makes this observation, “The external call, though necessary and authoritative in its character – yet, as being the mere delegation of man, is evidently not of itself a sufficient warrant for our work. The internal call is the presumptive ground, on which our Church delegates her authorized commission.” The Christian minister works in a fundamentally experiential context – God has worked in us and called us, and so we expect God to work through us.

Secondly, as regards causes “connected with our personal character” Bridges lists such things as a lack of entire devotedness to the work, conformity to the world, the fear of man, a want of self-denial, a spirit of covetousness, a neglect of retirement, spiritual pride, absence or defect of personal religion, defect of family religion and want of faith. Baxter, similarly identifies pride, negligence in study and in duty, a focus on worldly interests and undervaluing the unity and peace of the whole Church. We could add despondency, the desire for pre-eminence, defensiveness and self-pity. A strong common theme is the need for humility, devotedness to the Lord and a believing commitment to the work. As regards which, if any of these affect us, each man must answer for himself.

X. Twenty-first-century context

The nature and need of man is unchanged since the fall, and the nature of salvation and the means the Lord uses to shepherd his sheep are similarly unchanged. This means that pastoring the twenty-first-century church is the same in principle as pastoring the church in any other age – people are people and the gospel is the gospel. But there are factors that we have to address if we are to shepherd our people faithfully.

a. New context

The main difference is our context. As noted above, we live in a post-enlightenment age which is secular and naturalistic. This means that people do not have a Christian or even theistic worldview. Problems are to be understood, and solutions are to be found ‘from below’ and not ‘from above’. The subsequent movement from modernity to postmodernity “means a shift from a culture which derived its values from Christianity to a culture that is secular, liberal, humanist and above all relativist: There is no absolute truth excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.”^[59] There are, of course, gross inconsistencies here. All people have a ‘natural’ awareness of God and of aspects of his character, even though they suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18-23). This means that people live with the uneasy truth of God shining through the cracks, particularly in times of trouble when he is to be blamed or called upon for help.

But while we are all influenced by this context, there are other factors at play including a person’s religious background, education and preferences. This means that, while it is important to identify the context in which we are living, we must be careful about making assumptions concerning the views of a particular individual – these are best discovered by getting to know him personally. James Sire^[60] points out that a worldview can be expressed by the “rock-bottom answers” to eight questions: 1. What is prime reality – the really real? 2. What is the nature of external reality (that is, the world around us)? 3. What is a human being? 4. What happens to a person at death? 5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? 6. How do we know what is right and wrong? 7. What is the meaning of human history? 8. What personal, life-orienting core commitments are consistent with this worldview? There are, of course, a whole range of answers to these questions, even on the same street and in the same house.

David Green^[61] helpfully identifies some of the issues we face in seeking to shepherd in our British postmodern culture. The specifics he identifies are:

Firstly, in the area of morality, “It’s not just a case of people becoming less moral; it’s a case of people being moral about different things because their morality is no longer formed by Christian teaching.” We see this with the way that people can regard slavery, injustice, inequality and negatively affecting the planet as evils, and lust, greed, selfishness and idolatry as acceptable, even good.

Secondly, in cultural awareness, people born since the 1960s no longer view Christianity as a part of the British way of life. They view it as a counter-culture. “The younger generation… have never lived in a society in which it is normal or fashionable to be a Christian.” Thus, when people become Christians, the implications of discipleship can require significant lifestyle changes. Green gives the example of our doctrine of the Lord’s Day.

Thirdly, affluence is expected. Children are taught that they can achieve whatever they want in life, and people expect a life of comfort. “If they can’t attain it, or if things go wrong, then there must be somebody out there we can blame or sue.” We need to develop an understanding that we are “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb 11:13).

Fourthly, means of communication are such that people are now living their lives in “a howling blizzard of signals”^[62]. The content and worldview of much that is presented is antithetical to Christianity and so requires careful evaluation. The visual-medium itself stirs us emotionally and can be addictive. People are aware that the people giving them this content have an agenda – they are trying to sell them something – and so people are wary of being exploited. We need to show that when it comes to the gospel, we are seeking their good and not our own.

Fifthly, commitment has waned due to the influence of relativism and consumerism. “People live now by the exercise of choice, not the exercise of responsibility… ‘Is this what I want today?’” The fruit of this is easy to see in family life, and also in the church. Related to this is a lack of consistency. People can hold a whole eclectic mix of opinions and can behave accordingly. Fundamental discipleship issues of consistent commitment to Christ, to his will and to his people in all areas of life need to be developed. They are the fruit of a committed heart.

Sixthly, “[t]he postmodern generation is the first in twenty centuries of Christianity in which authority has been systematically and institutionally despised.” Respect is not automatically granted because of a person’s position. It is to be earned, and until it is, people are treated with suspicion and even disdain. This is evident in the family where “[p]arents are seen as part of a repressive ‘establishment’ and children’s needs are given priority”, as well as in the workplace and society more generally. And the church is not exempt. There is no virtue in a wrong or naïve submission to any old claim of authority – Christians are not mindless doormats, and injustice and oppression are not to be condoned. At the same time, Christian discipleship does require submission (or subjection), that is treating others in the way God would have us treat them because of the relationship God has established between us. This can only be done when we put aside insisting on having our own way. We are to submit to one another (Eph 5:21), and there is to be submission within the God-ordained relationship of marriage (Eph 5:22-33) and the family (Eph 6:1-5), the workplace (Eph 6:5-9), the state (Rom 13:1-6) and the church (1 Cor 16:16), all under the umbrella of obeying God rather than men (Acts 5:29). The alternative is all too often not a fair and reasonable democracy, as people claim, but the tyranny of the loudest voice and the last man (or woman or child) standing. When faced with constant challenges, church leaders must not swing to the one extreme of becoming controlling and not allowing the people to think for themselves, nor to the other extreme of shying away from any and every challenge. They need to be men of integrity, to show their submission to the Word of God, and to demonstrate self-sacrificing love, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor 4:5)

b. Specific issues

We can identify specific issues that are currently endemic:

• Life is overwhelming for many people for a whole variety of reasons.
• The challenges of living longer. How can we be useful in retirement and live faithfully when we decline physically and mentally?
• Life in a hostile culture. Christians are citizens of heaven and this world is not our home. How do we live so as to remain faithful to the Lord, and yet only give to those around us the offence of the cross?
• A lack of Christian worldview among those who are converted. There is more work to be done in teaching those newly converted, and more to be learned by them. There are more obvious things in life that need to be put off and put on.
• Life is demanding, especially if we aspire to the consumerist ideal, or don’t want our children to “lose out”. But it comes at a cost, both in terms of our personal contentment, and our stewardship of money and resources for the Lord.
• This is increasing in significance at present. Questions such as “What is my role as a husband/wife/father/mother/child?”, “What does it mean to be a man/woman?”, and “What does it mean to be human?” are everywhere, and the damage being caused by the answers of our secular, naturalistic society is evident all around us. We need good thought-out answers to these questions, lived out by good role models in our churches.
• The easy availability of influences. The internet influences our opinions – it can give you information on any question you may have, and if you like it, you are given more and more of it – you are pulled down the “rabbit hole”. In addition, social media influences the way people interact. While people should talk to each other on social media with the same courtesy with which they would talk to each other in person, increasingly the opposite is happening, with face-to-face communication becoming harsher and less tolerant.
• Strained relationships and a lack of forgiveness, often over matters of preference and opinion, which should all be covered by love.

c. Perennial problems

In the midst of all this, Christians face the same perennial spiritual diseases: lack of assurance, temptation, suffering, lack of guidance, sense of spiritual desertion (a child of light walking in darkness), depression (be it spiritual or otherwise), difficulty in prayer, concern for the salvation of loved ones. Our approach to treating these things needs to be the same as it ever was.

It is here that particular great truths of Scripture are especially useful: the finished work of Christ, justification, the sovereignty of God in providence, regeneration, union with Christ in his death and resurrection, and the faithfulness of God to his promises. The better we learn them, and the more we live upon them, the better we will be able to feed others with the food that gives us life.

The Puritan period saw the raising up of men who were great shepherds of the sheep. Some of their classics bear careful study today, not only for the good of our own souls, but also to help us shepherd others. In this category are such works as Richard Sibbes’ “The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax” and “The Soul’s Conflict with Itself, and Victory over Itself by Faith”, Thomas Books’ “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices”, William Guthrie’s “The Christian’s Great Interest”, William Bridge’s “A Lifting Up for the Downcast”, John Owen on “Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers” and “The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded” and Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress”. Their works excel in identifying the problem, discerning its causes and applying the Word of God as both scalpel and soothing balm.

XI. Conclusion

The greatest privilege in the world is to be a Christian, a son of God by faith in Jesus Christ. The next greatest is to be a shepherd, and to know the Lord shepherding his people through us. May the Lord help us to do this faithfully to the glory of his name and the good of his Church.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] From the hymn, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun.

[2] McNeill, John Thomas, A History of the Cure of Souls (Harper San Francisco, 1977), 182ff.

[3] Williams, William, The Experience Meeting: An Introduction to the Welsh Societies of the Evangelical Awakening (Regent College Publishing, 2003). English translation by Bethan Lloyd-Jones.

[4] Published in Brown, John, The Posthumous Works of the Late Rev. Mr. John Brown, Minister of the Gospel At Haddington (R. Morrison and Son, 1797), 257-265.

[5] Iain H Murray, ‘‘How to Do Family Worship’: A Response’, Banner of Truth, 653 (2018), 31.

[6] See: John Owen, ‘A Brief Instruction in the Worship of God and Discipline of the Churches of the New Testament’, The Works of John Owen D.D (vol. 15, New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1851), 445-530

[7] Edward Donnelly, ‘The Gospel Minister in the Bible’, The Gospel Ministry Today: papers read at the conference of The John Owen Centre for Theological Study, September 2002 (Evangelical Press, 2005), 7-23

[8] Tidball, Derek, Skilful Shepherds: Explorations in Pastoral Theology (1997), 26, fn. 35.

[9] Ibid., 26.

[10] Ibid., 27.

[11] Donnelly, The Gospel Minister in the Bible, 100.

[12]Ames, William, The Marrow of Theology (Baker Books, 1997) 1.1.1.6.

[13] Hulse, Erroll, ‘The Puritans and Counselling Troubled Souls’, Foundations, 8 (1982), 10.

[14]Bridges, Charles, The Christian Ministry With an Inquiry Into the Causes of Its Inefficiency (Banner of Truth Trust, 1958), 60.

[15] Ibid., 356. 

[16] Evans, G. R (ed), A History of Pastoral Care (A&C Black, 2000), 5.

[17] David Cornick, ‘Post-Enlightenment Pastoral Care: Into the Twentieth Century’, in G. R. Evans (ed.), A History of Pastoral Care (A&C Black, 2000), 362.

[18] Johnson, Eric L., God and Soul Care: The Therapeutic Resources of the Christian Faith (IVP Academic, 2017), 216-217.

[19] Ibid., 217.

[20] Johnson, Eric L., Psychology & Christianity (IVP Academic, 2010), 25-26.

[21] Cornick, Post-Enlightenment Pastoral Care: Into the Twentieth Century, 376. quoting from Oden’s 1984 work The Care of Souls in the Classical Tradition, Fortress Press, Philadelphia.

[22] Johnson, God and Soul Care: The Therapeutic Resources of the Christian Faith, 211.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Dickson, David, Therapeutica Sacra: Showing Briefly, the Method of Healing the Diseases of the Conscience, Concerning Regeneration (Second edn., James Watson, 1697), 326.

[25] Martin, Albert N., Pastoral Theology, Vol. 3: The Man of God, His Shepherding, Evangelizing, and Counseling Labors (2018), 630.

[26] Reprinted as Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn, Healing and Medicine (Kingsway, 1987).

[27] Sermon ccix quoted in McNeill, A History of the Cure of Souls, 100.

[28] David Cornick, ‘The Reformation Crisis in Pastoral Care’, in G. R. Evans (ed.), A History of Pastoral Care (A&C Black, 2000), 223.

[29] Ibid., 227.

[30] Ibid., 230.

[31] Ibid., 244.

[32] McNeill, A History of the Cure of Souls, 241.

[33] Ibid., 200-201.

[34] Bucer, Martin, & Peter Beale, Concerning the True Care of Souls (Banner of Truth, 2009)

[35] Cornick, The Reformation Crisis in Pastoral Care, 237.

[36] Baxter, Richard, The Reformed Pastor. (5th Abridged Ed.) Edited By William Brown (1974).

[37] Witmer, Timothy Z., The Shepherd Leader (P & R Publishing, 2010).

[38] Ibid., 122-123.

[39] Ibid., 126.

[40] Baxter, The Reformed Pastor. (5th Abridged Ed.) Edited By William Brown, 100.

[41] John Owen, ‘The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government’, The Works of John Owen D.D (vol. 16, New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1853), 74.

[42] https://banneroftruth.org/uk/resources/articles/2010/expository-preaching-time-for-caution/

[43] Ibid., 133.

[44] Baxter, The Reformed Pastor. (5th Abridged Ed.) Edited By William Brown, 18.

[45] Alexander, Eric J., Prayer: A Biblical Perspective (Banner of Truth, 2012), 39.

[46] Owen, The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government, 88.

[47] Baxter, The Reformed Pastor. (5th Abridged Ed.) Edited By William Brown, 86.

[48] Kenneth G Brownell, ‘The Gospel Minister in History’, The Gospel Ministry Today: papers read at the conference of The John Owen Centre for Theological Study, September 2002 (Evangelical Press, 2005), 43.

[49] Quoted in the preface to Philip, Robert, The Life and Times of George Whitefield (Banner of Truth, 2007), vi.

[50] Ibid., 356. 

[51] James, John Angell, Christian Fellowship: The Church Member’s Guide (Solid Ground Christian Books, 2004), 25.

[52] John Owen, ‘The Duty of a Pastor’, The Works of John Owen (vol. 9, New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1851), 453.

[53] Ibid., 454-455.

[54] Owen, The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government.

[55] Donnelly, The Gospel Minister in the Bible, 20.

[56] Martin, Pastoral Theology, Vol. 3: The Man of God, His Shepherding, Evangelizing, and Counseling Labors, 629.

[57] James, John Angell, An Earnest Ministry: The Want of the Times (Banner of Truth, 1993).

[58] Bridges, The Christian Ministry With an Inquiry Into the Causes of Its Inefficiency, 80-81.

[59] Steve Turner, quoted in David Green, ‘The Gospel Minister in Contemporary Society’, The Gospel Ministry Today: papers read at the conference of The John Owen Centre for Theological Study, September 2002 (Evangelical Press, 2005), 124.

[60] Sire, James W., The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog (InterVarsity Press, 2020), 8-9.

[61] Ibid.

[62] Robert Hughes, quoted in Ibid., 128-129.