Note To Self (and other pastors)

The Greek word translated “pastor” is poimen, also the word for shepherd.  New Testament writers were tapping into a well-known Hebrew (Old Testament) idiom for a person who would be a spiritual leader over God’s people.  The Old Testament has much to say to shepherds.  The book of Zechariah, especially, contains some poignant shepherd-admonitions.  Today, in my daily study, I came to chapter eleven, verse sixteen.

For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.  Zechariah 11:16 (NASB95)

Here, God is threatening to raise up bad leadership as a form of discipline, but in this we can assume the opposite would be God’s idea of a good shepherd.  This is a great reminder for me and anyone else in pastoral leadership.  According to this verse:

A good shepherd/pastor will:

1.) care for the perishing,

2.) seek the scattered,

3.) heal the broken,

4.) sustain the one standing, and

5.) cherish (not exploit) the strong.

One could write a sermon on each of these phrases, but I’ll leave it at that.  Thank you, Lord, for this sobering reminder and the fulfillment that comes in doing your work.

From my wife...

Ok, my wife does a little newsletter each month for the minister's wives (and female director of music/children's ministry) on our staff.  The article she wrote this month is outstanding, and I wanted to pass it on to my readers.  Here it is... 

"Where's the Fruit?"

I did something kinda funny the other day. Okay more than funny…more like air-headed. I was all jazzed up about this new watch/fitness device I bought. Couldn’t wait to try it out! I charged it up and got ready to run. I was really disappointed by the end of the run, because 2 of the 4 areas the watch was supposed to monitor couldn’t possibly be correct!!! I had been running at a pretty good pace for a pretty good while and my watch pronounced that I had only burned 19 calories and gone .13 of a mile. What?!? I shared with Mark that my new dream watch was not so cool and promptly going back to the store. That’s when a key factor occurred to Mark.  My watch tracked stats by following my movement on a GPS. The problem was…my first run with the watch on was on the treadmill. Hellooooooo!  Once I got past feeling like a total moron, I was really relieved. The whole episode made me think about my walk with Christ. Sometimes, when I am giving my very best to follow Christ I experience difficulty instead of victory or breakthrough. Sometimes, I feel like giving up when passionate, consistent prayers don’t seem to be answered. Like my watch…life just isn’t telling me what I want to hear. Kinda like the first time I saw a fruit tree. I thought it looked pretty ugly in my new yard. Just looked like a dead, knarly twig to me, but then summer came and I couldn’t believe the amazing flowers and fruit is produced. And to think I almost chopped it down. A great reminder that appearances are not always what they seem. When life or the enemy discourages us we can know our efforts to love and follow God are worth it in every way. Though appearances may deceive us at times, God is working down deep in the marrow of our souls to produce fruit. So don’t give up! Remain in him till your faith becomes fruit.