My Friend – If you’ve just arrived, Welcome! You’re jumping into a study in three parts. Click here to read part one. Also, you’ll notice I’ve put Scripture right into the flow of my text—setting it apart using italics and quotation marks for direct speech—without specifically citing the reference (I am using the ESV). My desire is for you to read through the entire article uninterrupted. If the subject matter warrants another reading, and I think it does, then you can easily search, find, and read the texts in context. I hope you do because it is another skill to develop as a sheep-shepherd. ~ James

God made Himself known as the Shepherd of Israel. Jesus made himself known as the Good Shepherd. Like Father, like Son. So far, so good.

Now, how about his followers, the flock he would be entrusting with his kingdom movement? Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Under his care, they will be lambs learning how to shepherd souls amidst hostile conditions. Said another way, the apprentice is to become like the Master: Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household?

With your salvation comes a summons to the King’s service, a high calling to mature and learn to care for people in pastoral ways: Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. That is the Sheep-to-Shepherd (S2S) principle. One that goes to the heart of God’s mission both in this life and the next: Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

It is worth pointing out that the apostle Paul penned those words to the wild and woolly house churches in and around Corinth. They were a mess; most of us would have fit right in.

The Shepherding Pastor

“James, are you saying the Bible expects every Jesus follower to be a Pastor?” Good question. The answer is no. And yes. Let me explain. The word pastor in English comes by way of New Testament Greek, translated from the word shepherd (poimēn). Every time you read pastor it is shepherd. In one place, Ephesians 4, Paul, the Jewish apostle to the non-Jewish world, elevates the terminology.

The risen, ascended, and enthroned Lord Jesus, by his Spirit, raises up servant leaders to oversee and steward his work on earth: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. There is scholarly debate as to whether the list includes five functionaries or four, as the last two could be a combination. It does not impact the larger point. Paul uses shepherd here to identify a more formal role of pastor as a noun. In this sense, no, not every disciple is anointed as a Pastor (noun).

But every disciple, including a Pastor, is called to shepherd/pastor as a verb—in complete submission to the Good Shepherd who is protecting, providing, and guiding his work from heaven.

Paul actually proves the S2S principle when he tells us precisely what these divinely-appointed functionaries are to be about: Equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Ministry is the Greek word for service (diakonia) from which we get deacon. Who do we, the saints, serve? Every man, woman, and child in our network of relationships: And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

A Case Study: Simon Before the Cross

Simon was an ordinary first-century Jewish man who attended the local synagogue with his wife while plying his trade as a fisherman. His brother Andrew was a follower of the prophet John, who, in turn, introduced him to Yeshua from Nazareth. Andrew then introduced Simon: “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). Not long after, they had a revelatory encounter that left Simon reeling: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Jesus’ response foreshadows the missional nature of salvation: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Jesus, giving us a glimpse of what he saw in Simon’s heart, gave him a nickname: “You shall be called Cephas“ (which means Peter). The deeper meaning of his new name comes to light during another moment of divine revelation. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,“ said Simon. “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church!“ replied Jesus, joyfully. Peter, in Greek, means little stone. In his first letter, he gives insight into how he understood what he heard Jesus say.

• “On this rock.“ The cosmic truth that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, was the Son of God: A living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.
• “I will build my church.“ The promise that he would remain present with his people, by his Spirit: You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.
• “You are Peter.“ To accomplish the task would require humble servants who can lead by following. “A chip off the old block,“ as the saying goes. Sheep that become like their Shepherd.

A Case Study: Peter After the Resurrection

We all know Peter denied Jesus rather than risk sharing the same fate: He began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.“ But few remember what the Master said to them, quoting from the prophet Zechariah, only hours before: “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'”

His failure broke him. Humility came with forgiveness and restoration: Peter was grieved because Jesus said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” The story is holy, intimate beyond words. For Simon, it all made sense when the voice of his Savior finally penetrated his soul: “Feed my sheep.”

In his first letter, the fisherman from Galilee, now discipled into a fisher of men, shows how powerfully he continued to be impacted and shaped by the biblical picture of pastoring.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. There is no self-promotion here. Cephas humbly acknowledges his appointed position as an explanation of how this letter is to function for his readers spread throughout Asia Minor. Jesus hand-picked Peter as the first among equals to lead his movement. He was within his rights to use adjectives like “chief,” “head,“ or, as Paul characterizes him, pillar. Over time, as the churches grew, more people would learn of his reputation while fewer would know his backstory. So in his second letter, he adds his birth name and an essential descriptor to his salutation: Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ. The man will always be, first and foremost, God’s lost and found lamb.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. The student has learned to see the world through the eyes of the Teacher. Here, Peter embodies the most crucial pastoral sensibility: Look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Our Savior is the ongoing source of all transformation and everything good. Though mediated in any number of ways, he alone is the origin. We are but conduits between the servant and their King. My mentor, Dwight Pryor, nailed it: “Each of our ministries is to be an extension cord through which the power moves from the source to the object. Nobody notices the lowly extension cord, but everybody benefits from it.”

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder. In an “I did not see that coming“ moment, the great apostle speaks with equality and solidarity. In the early churches, elders were those with wisdom and maturity in the faith, who could, along with deacons, care for the spiritual and physical needs of congregations. Even while functioning in his apostolic ministry to the circumcised, he was living locally as one of many servant-leaders. By the Spirit of the Living God, the love and life of Jesus, Peter’s exemplar, were on full display in every expression of his own.

As it was then, so it is two thousand years later: Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.