How Am I As a Shepherd?

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with his own blood.” –Acts 20:28 (ESV).  “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.  Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.  Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” -1 Peter 5:2-5 (ESV).

I’ve been reading a thought-provoking book by Mary Foxwell Loeks entitled Named by God:  Discovering the Power of God’s Names for You (Grand Rapids: Revell, c2010).  I feel a kinship with Ms. Loeks and her writings, for she, likes (as I) to pursue ideas and give devotionals on a word or a thought.  And her Named by God has a meditation  about us as both “sheep” and “shepherd”.  To be named as “sheep” shows our dependence on God, as the sheep is dependent on the shepherd.  But what we seldom think about is the more responsible name God also gives us—that of shepherd.  Because sheep are so prone to be helpless, hapless and hard-headed, they need a leader, a shepherd, who can guide, provide and held them be secure.  It’s like the poet has said, we may be “the only Bible the careless world will read.”  We, as Christians, are a shepherd to some. 

I remembered back to my childhood when my father, a good farmer, went through a period of raising sheep.  My grandfather, Bud Collins, also raised sheep.  From the flocks the wool was gathered, cleaned, carded, spun and woven into warm blankets and knitted into socks, sweaters, scarves and other clothing items to protect us.  During the time of my father’s sheep-raising, he gave me a newborn lamb and told me that it was mine to feed and nourish.  Like the familiar nursery rhyme, “And everywhere that Mary went, that lamb was sure to go!” held true of my pet lamb, Fluffy.  I loved that lamb and she loved me.  I could hardly wait to get home from Choestoe School, a mile walk, to cuddle my little lamb and care for it.  As it grew older, it grew more mischievous, probably because I had spoiled it so.  Eventually, when Fluffy was grown up, she was sold along with other sheep from  my father’s flock.  I missed her.  But maybe that early care of a lamb—my job as a shepherd to her—helped prepare me for some of the later experiences of my life.

I had a wonderful husband, the Rev. Grover Jones, who was what Peter writes about in 1 Peter 5 as a “shepherd of the flock.”  And I, likewise, felt a God-calling to be a caring, loving, teaching member of our shepherding team.  What a privilege!  We are under-shepherds because the Chief Shepherd has given us our own to care for, and called us to the task of spiritual mentors.  We read in Hebrews 13:20-21, that we are to “equip ourselves with everything good for doing His will…be pleasing to Him…and give Him glory forever and ever.” 

How is our shepherding of those to whom we are spiritual mentors?  Peter emphasizes in the focal passage that one who shepherds another is to be an example and is to lead humbly.  These admonitions give us pause for thought, and call for self-examination.  -Ethelene Dyer Jones  07.27.2014