Shepherd and Sheep

Shepherd and sheep under an oak

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: ² shepherd the flock of God that is among you…

1 Peter 5:1–2

On Sunday we talked a little bit about all the stuff swirling in the world around. It’s been a sad news cycle. Also, it may have felt like no one wise has been speaking about any of these issues. There aren’t a lot of devotions by pastors on our current political situation in Minnesota. I think that this probably has to do with the fact that Covid made pastors more hesitant to just throw stuff on the internet. But there is a more important concern is what Peter tells pastors to do in 1 Peter 5: shepherd the flock that is among you. This is a really big responsibility, and this limits what a pastor especially ought to speak publicly because of how words might undermine the flock they are responsible to care for. Our goal is to help each of our members, each of you to grow in the fruits of the Spirit, in the knowledge of holiness, in following the path of wisdom, or every other image we find in scripture. 

But this also means that the congregation should learn to be fed by their own shepherd who cares about their specific spiritual health. In every time in history it’s been easy to have itching ears hoping we might get something by listening to everything. We can easily become ships tossed this way and that way nearly broken apart by the winds of what’s happening on the internet, or in real life. This is not to say that we should look exclusively to our own pastors, but it is to say that there are not many people you’re reading on the internet who will visit you in the hospital or be there at the graveside all the while gently leading you to Jesus, all the while sailing toward the northstar through God’s word. 

A sheep going its own way in Petra, Jordan

This is one way for us to understand why we have this thing called church membership. It’s not so we can compete with all the other memberships you might have. Instead, we see this principle in scripture that God cares for you through his church, and it’s not just the blob of the whole worldwide church, but it is through a specific church, like ours who is out visiting Doug regularly praying with him or caring for the needs the might come up. This is the image of the body of Christ: we’re all doing our part to know, love, and pursue Christ. We also see that pastors have specific responsibilities, I am not the pastor of the billions of Christians around the world, I am instead your pastor and I am to exercise oversight of this church with care shooting it straight to Christ.

So let’s all not neglect this our local body and let’s all not neglect our valuing of the ministry of this church for the sake of each of our members so that we can all reach maturity and see our Lord Jesus Christ face to face. Let’s continue not leaving anyone behind.