Providing Nurturing Pastoral Care
August 20, 2006. Providing Sustained Pastoral Care. 1 Peter 5:1-5.
Years ago when it was still legal for children to buy cigarettes I would go to the store and get them for my parents. On my way home I’d noticed among other things the surgeon general’s warning concerning the danger of smoking cigarettes. At that time in the mid seventies I believe the warning read something like
"Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health"
That warning was supposed to serve notice to those who continued to smoke that serious health consequences could result.
I believe that the church may have to issue a similar warning to those who attend and seek to come under its spiritual care. It may be that in the not too distant future that churches may have to put a warning in small print on the back of our bulletins that reads something like ‘warning attending a church may be hazardous to your spiritual health’.
That may seem strange coming from a pastor, especially in light of the message I preached a few weeks ago on the primacy of the church. Let me assure you however that though I believe that being a member of a church may be hazardous to your spiritual health, attempting to live the Christian life apart from a vital connection with a local church is most certainly dangerous to your spiritual health and clearly not God’s will for your life.
The reason I say that being a member of a church may be hazardous to your spiritual health is not because God didn’t have the wisdom, knowledge, insight, forethought and love to care for His people. Rather it is because we as pastors have abandoned His clearly spelled out word regarding how to care for His people.
To better explain this to you let me refer to the very text that’s in front of us. Notice how the apostle Peter who refers to himself as a fellows elder identifies pastors, God’s people and their task.
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;
First and foremost pastor’s are shepherds. The Scriptures use the terms pastors, teachers, elders, bishops and shepherds all to refer how we glorify Him by serving His people. Whether we’re called elders, pastors or shepherds we serve God and His people by serving them His word.
Secondly, God considers His people His sheep or flock. That term is used for a number of reason the chief of which may be that sheep must be diligently cared for if they are to grow into healthy, productive animals. God does not consider His people or His church to be a business nor does He use terms borrowed from the world of commerce to refer to His people or His work.
Thirdly, the task of the shepherd or pastor is to feed, care for and look after the sheep intently. The spiritual health and welfare of the sheep must be uppermost in the mind of the shepherd so that they will grow into healthy believers who bring glory to God in every area and aspect of their lives.
It is my view that in general the church has gotten away from viewing pastoral ministry this way and instead exchanged the shepherd/sheep metaphor for a business/consumer metaphor.
In this metaphor pastors are viewed as the manager of a small business. As such he’s expected to adopt the characteristics and skills of a marketing manager, entrepreneur, administrator or CEO.
God’s people are viewed as consumers who shop for the best value for religious dollar. As consumers they are to be catered to, entertained and above all made to feel good by the product served at their local spiritual store.
Lastly, the task of the new type of pastor is to increase the bottom line of the business. He is to manage, administrate and market the product so as to attract religious consumers so that the business will grow. Success is view solely in terms of numbers. The more people a particular church has the more effective the CEO of that church is thought to be.
While all this may look good on the outside such an approach is dangerous to the spiritual health and welfare of God’s people. That’s because it can take pastor’s away from our primary calling with is to faithfully teach the word of God and diligently look after the spiritual welfare of God’s sheep.
The reason pastors should make the spiritual health of the sheep our top priority is because God is vitally interested in the health of His people. Their spiritual welfare is His concern.
The gift of elder to God’s church shows His wisdom and care for His people. It also reminds us that God exercises His leadership through people He chooses, equips and ordains through His church. This has been God’s method for His people ever since He’s claimed a specific people. It is His will that leaders guide, direct, and care for those entrusted to them. This is such a prominent Biblical metaphor for leadership that Jesus referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd.
One of the most important passages regarding elders and the welfare of God’s people is found is Exod. 18. There we find Moses the man of God faithfully carrying out His role as the shepherd of God’s people. Exod 18:13, The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening
Jethro, Moses’ father in law sees this and offers Moses some good wisdom that leads to the more effective shepherding of God’s people. In fact his wisdom was so good that it still describes how pastors are to lead God’s people today.
First, Jethro told Moses to teach God’s people His word and bring their issues to God, Exod. 18:19-20. Essentially, Jethro told Moses to be a man of prayer and Scripture. This was the way he’d best serve God’s flock and see to their spiritual growth and maturity.
How fascinating then that this is the very same thing the apostle Peter told the church when a dispute came up that threatened to divert the apostles from their primary ministry, Acts 6:1-4. To sum up Peter said that God had called the apostles to glorify God by praying for God’s people and feeding them the word of God.
Secondly, Jethro advised Moses to appoint godly men to help him to shepherd God’s people, vss. 21-23. Jethro advised Moses that the care of God’s people cannot be left to one man. Thus, there should be a group of elders who work together to look after the spiritual needs and welfare of God’s people. This kind of leadership continued into the New Testament church. Acts 14:23 tells of how Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in the churches they had planted on their first missionary journey. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed
These examples and models show the importance God places on the care of His people. It says to us that God is much more interested in the spiritual health and welfare of His people than He’s concerned with having large churches filled with spiritually unhealthy people.
If the passages from Exodus and Acts aren’t proof enough please consider the words of our Lord who referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." John 10:1-5.
Here Jesus refers to Himself as the good shepherd of His sheep. He’s the One who carefully looks after the welfare of His people seeing to it that they are well nourished and protected.
It is this model of shepherding God’s people that Jesus charged Peter with after His resurrection and it is this ministry that the apostle Peter charges his fellow elders with in 1 Peter 5.
In this pastoral charge the apostle Peter tells the shepherds of God’s people what they are to do and how they are to do it. This passage therefore answers the question ‘How does God care for my spiritual well being and health?’
The first part of the answer to that question is that God has gifted, appointed and ordained pastors to provide nurturing pastoral care with the intent that you will mature in your walk with the Lord to the end that you’ll use your gifts, talents, abilities, and resources to exert a gospel driven kingdom focused influence on your families, church and community.
This passage in 1Peter is instructive because it pointedly commands elders to shepherd God’s people. As I said previously the office of elder was a regular and expected one in all of the local churches of God. Peter’s instructions were probably a repetition of what these men had already heard when they were ordained. Since he’s writing to a number of churches experience persecution he may have wanted to reinforce the charge in light of their specific situation. Peter is telling them that even, and maybe especially in the face of turmoil and difficulty leaders need to pursue their God given calling to shepherd God’s people.
God cares for your spiritual well -being by appointing elders to diligently attend to your spiritual health.
The elders or presbyters referred to a group of men who were given charge or oversight over a particular congregation. Acts 14:23; 20:17, 28-29; Phil. 1:1. What was perhaps an unofficial yet recognized leadership in the Old Testament became an official, ordained and permanent part of New Testament church gov’t. They do not own the flock for we are all God’s people bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. The elders worked together to exercise oversight over a particular church and they had specific duties and qualifications. This office demonstrates that the church is to have a certain order and orderliness about it.
For that reason you should be praying that God will raise up elders from within our fellowship that will work with me to oversee the spiritual welfare of the flock.
God cares for your spiritual well being by spelling out how elders are to serve and what their responsibilities are. to shepherd is to pastor, minister, lead, navigate, guide, one who points and shows the way. The task of the elder is to serve God’s people by providing the necessary guidance, leadership, and care so as to see to their maturity in the faith. The primary duty of the shepherd is to see to the nourishment of the sheep.
Feed the flock. The elders are to provide God’s people with a steady, balanced, diet of the Word of God. Like the actual shepherds of sheep are to find good pasture for their animals to graze on, pastors are to study the Word of God in order to teach the full council of God’s Word to His flock, Acts 20:20-21. This passage along with the ones in Acts 6 and John 21 emphasize the importance of feeding God’s people by teaching them the Scriptures. What are pastor’s to preach?
Pastor’s are to teach God’s people about the triune God. We are to teach in such a manner that you come to know God through being exposed to His attributes, character, nature and ways.
Pastor’s are to teach on the redemptive historical themes of Scripture. That means that we are to consistently teach on the main theme of Scripture which is the redemption of God’s people through the good Shepherd Jesus Christ for the glory of God. This grand story of redemption occurs within the actual history of God’s people recorded in Scripture. Teaching scripture in this way helps us to avoid the trap of viewing the bible as our own private book of magic in which we simply use various passages to deal with the many emotional ailments we will surely face.
Pastor’s are to teach on the Person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the point, plot, theme, subject, substance and culmination of Scripture, history, life and salvation.
Pastor’s are to teach the Scriptures so that God’s people can align how we think, speak and live according to the mandates of Scripture and not the fashion of our culture and society.
God cares for your spiritual well-being by charging elders to watch over, watch out for and diligently tend to the flock. (exercising oversight)
Feeding the flock is also somewhat synonymous with protecting it. Elders protect God’s people by teaching them right doctrine and warning of false doctrine. That’s because false doctrine can wreak havoc on the life of the flock.
(it’s similar to how the gov’t sought to protect its citizens from the harmful effects of smoking. In fact, one of the warnings now found on cigarette packages reads as follows: SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy.)
Care for the flock. We are to pay attention to the individual needs of the flock. Pastors are to take the time to speak with, pray with, counsel, encourage, rebuke the flock for their spiritual growth in the Lord. We are to spend the time necessary to inspect your spiritual state, deal with the particular issues that you face and provide the proper guidance through Scripture and prayer.
Find wandering sheep. The shepherd is charged with pursuing those who have wandered away from the fold. Though God’s people wander for different reasons it is important that the shepherd pursue them.
Lead the flock. We are to lead God’s people into using their gifts, abilities, acquired skills, resources, time, etc. to pursue a gospel driven, kingdom focused agenda, Ephes. 4:11-13.
Our task as leaders is to guide this specific fellowship into fulfilling God’s call to propagate His agenda through Jesus Christ.
How are elders to serve?
We’re to do so eagerly not with an attitude of complaining. We’re are to serve because it is what we want to do. We’re not to serve in order to manipulate God’s flock into making us wealthy. The pastorate is not a means to get rich. Rather we are to serve eagerly. We’re not supposed to dominate, demean, and try to control God’s people. Rather our task is to lovingly lead for the glory of God. Instead we are to serve as examples.
1 Tim. 4:12 Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
I’m to pattern my leadership after our great and good shepherd Jesus Christ. For He is the One whom I’m accountable to.
Finally, please keep the following things in mind and in prayer.
1. You ought to be apart of a local fellowship under the care of godly, loving pastoral leadership.
2. Realize that the the task of the shepherd is to lead you to maturity in the things of God. It is therefore not only unwise, but detrimental and rebellious to resist godly leadership.
3. I ask for your prayers as I attend the privileged task of watching over God’s flock. Pray also for God to raise up other leaders to assist me in this task.
To Him Who Loves Us...
Pastor Lance
