The Good Shepherding

Good and bad shepherding. What kind of shepherd are you? 

Rick Walker rickthewalker@gmail.com

Transcript

Shepherding the Flock (The Good Shepherd)                                                  10 November 2023                                         
Good morning preachers and shepherds of Guyana, this is for you. Today we are going to be in John 10:11-14.  

Psalm 80 begins with these words lifted up to God in prayer. “Hear us, Shepherd of Israel.”  

Jesus: The good shepherd [0:41]

In John 10 Jesus is disputing with the Pharisees. Jesus is talking about sheep and shepherds. Good shepherds and bad shepherds.

The sheep know their shepherd. And the shepherd knows his sheep. The shepherd leads the sheep. And the sheep follow the shepherd. 

But then Jesus makes this bold statement: I am the good shepherd. Jesus did not say I am “a” good shepherd.  But––I am “the” good shepherd. 

Kalos  [1:26]

In the Greek New Testament there are two different words for “good.”

One word is agathos. Agathos means to be good as in a good person: honest, generous, merciful, meek and mild, patient.  And all the rest. A good person.

The other word is kalos. If a person is kalos he is a good person: honest, generous, merciful, meek and mild, patient. But he is even more than a good person.

Kalos also means that you are excellent! Yοu are excellent at what you do. You are not just a good person––but you are a master. You are excellent.
 
 In 2 Timothy 2:3 Paul told Timothy: Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Jesus Christ:  kalos . Timothy––be a kalos soldier of Jesus Christ. Be a good soldier. Be good at what you do.  

There are good architects. Good carpenters. Good mechanics. Good teachers.  They are masters at what they do.And Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus is good at what he does. He is excellent! 

Shepherds and Sheepherders (3:14)

In John 10:11 Jesus said: A good shepherd goes ahead of the sheep and the sheep follow him.  A good shepherd does not walk behind. He walks in front. He leads the way.

Joe Batten tells this true story in his book Tough Minded Leadership.

In the Middle East there are two countries which share a common border. Both countries rely heavily on large sheep industries. They sell mutton. They sell wool. But these two countries have very different cultures. They do not get along with one another. And they have two different ways of caring for their flocks.

In  one country the flocks are very, very large. And the shepherds walk behind the flocks. They are not really shepherds. They are more like what we would call maybe sheep-herders!  

Sheep-herders do not walk in front of the flock. They walk behind the flock. They do not lead the flock, they drive the flock. They use their staffs to strike the sheep on the head. 

If a sheep or a lamb steps a bit outside of the flock, he may strike the lamb on its head. He may kick it with his foot. 

And the sheepherder has well trained dogs which frighten the sheep. If a sheep gets a bit away from the flock, the dogs go after him and drive him back. 

In Australia they have very large flocks. And the sheepherders––that is the way they do it in Australia––have well trained dogs. I have seen the videos. The dogs do not always run around the flock. Sometimes they run over the top of the sheep. They literally jump up on top of the sheep and run and jump from the back of one sheep to the back of the other. It is amazing. Sometimes the dogs just run around in big circles on the backs of the sheep. While the sheep are moving.

Now, it looks really cool. But it isn’t cool for the sheep. It must be very stressful. 
The sheepherder uses fear and intimidation. 
He uses sticks. Or, in Australia they use dogs. 

But in the other country, across the border, the shepherds walk in front of the flock. They do not drive the flock from behind with sticks and dogs. They lead in the front. The flock is much, much smaller. But the shepherd knows the sheep. If a lamb or a sheep wanders away from the flock just a bit, it is alright. It doesn’t matter. As long as he stays close. 

Sheepherder. Sheepherders raise sheep using fear. As the sheep grow older they live in fear. Fear to go away on their own and explore. They do not go out on their own and look for better grass and water. They are depressed. They don’t even play with one another. They have no desire to explore. They have no interest in anything. No energy. No enthusiasm. They have a lot of health problems. And their mutton is very poor quality.  And their wool is poor. Not very profitable.

Shepherd. But the shepherd who goes in front raises sheep that are full of life. They explore a bit on the their own. They look for grass a little bit on their own. They look for water a little bit on their own. They are playful. They sleep better. They are larger. They are healthier. Their mutton is good. Their wool is good. They bring a good price in the market. 

Because the shepherd leads the flock. He guides. They explore. They play. They are empowered and they are free. Because the shepherd is a good shepherd. 

Jesus said: I am the good shepherd. Jesus goes ahead of his sheep––and––they––follow–-him.

The Butcher [9:15]

There is an old story by John Stott a tour group in Israel. In Israel. Now in Israel the shepherds lead from the front. The tour guide had been explaining to the group about the close relationship shepherds have with their sheep.  He walks in front of the sheep. He calls them. They listen and they follow. See the shepherd and his flock!  

And then they saw a shepherd walking behind a flock. He had a stick and he was driving the flock. 

The tourists pointed out and said: What is it? The shepherd is driving the flock with a stick! The tour guide got off the bus. He ran out into the field and talked to the shepherd for a few minutes. He came back to the bus and he explained: This is not the shepherd. This is the butcher driving them to the slaughter.  

Jesus is not the butcher. Jesus is not a sheep-herder. who Jesus is the good shepherd.

Three Kinds of Shepherds [10:51]

It doesn’t take long to see when the sheep in a church are not happy. Not healthy. Not thriving.  Depressed. No enthusiasm for worship or the Lord’s work. And it doesn’t take long to find out when it is because of the church leaders who are driving the flock from behind. Not good shepherds.  Not like Jesus, the good shepherd. Not kalos. 

I am going to share with you some of my experiences with poor shepherding. Listen very closely. There are three kinds of shepherding.

Good is good shepherding.  Good shepherding is done by good shepherds.  And I have met a lot of good shepherds. Good shepherds are like Jesus. Kalos. Jesus is a good man and he is good at shepherding.  

But then there is poor shepherding. Some congregations are weighed down by poor shepherding. He may be an elder. He may be a preacher.  

Some poor shepherding is done by good men. Good Christians. But, for some reason they are not very good shepherds.  Just not very good at what they do. So, a poor shepherd may be a very good man. He is just not great at shepherding. Maybe just doesn’t have the right skills. Maybe he needs to learn a little bit more. And so the church languishes, to some degree. 

But there is the third kind of shepherd. There is another kind of poor shepherding. Very sadly, some shepherds are not only not good shepherds, they are not good men. And of course you know that. 

Paul warned the shepherds of the church at Ephesus––for three years he warned them––wolves will come in among you and not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth. (Eph. 20:29, 30) Even from this group of shepherds...wolves will come. 

Jesus warned of vicious wolves wearing sheep skins. (Matt. 7:15)
Peter warned of teachers who exploit the sheep for the sake of greed. (2 Peter 2:3)

So keep that in mind. A poor shepherd may be a wolf, or may be a good man who just has a lot to learn. 

One Small Church [14:26]

Decades ago––a  long time ago––in a land far, far away from Guyana. I was asked to come to a church which was looking for a preacher. Thirty-five years ago. 

It was a small church in another state. And so we went. Three hour drive so we left early Sunday morning and made it in time for the services. Me, Paula, our son, our daughter: Clint and Holley.

Not a big church. Right at the cross roads of a small, rural town. Surrounded by cornfields and pig farms. Nice church building. About ninety people.

I go in and everything is going fine during the morning service. Sing. Sing. Teach. Teach. Preach. Preach. Closing song. Closing prayer. It is over. 

And when it was over, the door swung open, and it was like a powerful vacuum sucked the entire congregation out of the building.  Paula and I were talking with someone at the rear door and not paying attention. He said goodbye and stepped out the side door. And when we turned around everyone was gone. Every adult. Every child. Not a single person in the entire building. Only me, Paula, Clint and Holley.

And it happened very, very fast. I would guess maybe two minutes since the closing prayer. I am kind of dumbfounded. I have never seen a building empty so fast. I asked Paula, well where did everyone go? 

Well, I guess everyone is outside. Let’s go out. So, we stepped out the door and every car was gone! The entire lot was deserted. Not a single person in sight anywhere. I guess they didn’t like my sermon. I don’t know.

Usually the way these things go is an elder invites you home for lunch and you spend the day at his house so they can get to know you better. And, at night you come back and you preach again.

So, what happened? What to do? Dumbfounded. 

Paula and I talked about it. We could see if we can find a place to eat and spend the rest of the day in town. But I mean it was a really, really small town. You could walk from one end to the other in ten minutes. Not much to see. And everything was closed on Sundays. We can sit in the car in the church parking lot and wait for the next six hours. 

Or––we can just get in the car and drive back home. We can just go back home!

So, we were walking to our car and talking about what to do. And just then a brother came walking around the corner. 

“Hi. You know we all went home and we got home, and we were wondering who invited you home for lunch. And I made some calls. And found out none of the elders had invited you home. So, I came back and invite you to come home back home with me. Spend the day with us.

“Well––what a lovely idea. Yes, we would be delighted.”

So, we ate lunch, we spent the day, we came back, preached at night. They liked me. They asked us to come. We did. And we went. And every service was the same. Teach, teach. Preach, preach. Closing song. Closing prayer. Doors open. Everyone disappeared very, very quickly.

And what was the problem? Poor shepherding. Never a good thing.

A Deacon’s Burden [20:07]

Poor shepherding like what? Well, like this: After I had been there a while one of the deacons came to me. He was about sixty-three years old. The youngest man among the three deacons and the three elders. The youngest, sixty-three years old. 

He came to me privately. “You know as a deacon I am responsible for making sure the church has cleaning supplies, soap, paper towels, toilet paper––stuff like that. Well, as you know, I am the president of the bank. I am responsible for every single penny in our bank. There are days when I make decisions that involve millions of dollars. And, I am the church treasurer. I know every penny in our treasury.  But––before I can even buy toilet paper for the church--I have to get an elder to approve the purchase. 

Wow! This man could not  buy a pack of toilet paper for five or six dollars without getting explicit approval from an elder.  

And that kind of control was over everything the church wanted to do. Everything. 

Younger Deacons [22:16]

After several months I went to the elders and told them you have wonderful, wonderful men here who are in the forties. Good men. Good families. Maybe you should think about making some of these men deacons! 

“Oh, no! No. No. Well, we have to be very careful. You know young people can have some very strange ideas." So the answer was no. They are too young to be deacons. They were good men. They were good men!

Inspirational Posters [23:07]

One of the Sunday School teachers was showing me her room. Where she taught children. Small room. Table or two. Few chairs. Four bare walls. Absolutely bare. So, she just very casually told me that she would like to hang some colorful children’s posters on the walls. But, we are not allowed to do that.  

And so I noticed that every class room was the same. The whole building was that way, except for one bulletin board in the foyer. The foyer where everyone was sucked out of the church after every worship service.

So, one day an elder invited us over for dinner. Showing me his house. Nice house. We are walking though it and he says, “You notice that nothing is hanging on the walls. I don’t like things hanging on walls. I like bare walls.” 

And my eyes were opened. This is the man. This is the reason the church walls are bare. The personal preference of a shepherd. The church wants it. It is not unscriptural. It is not false teaching. She is not asking the church to pay for the posters. But it is not going to happen. It is not going to happen.

One-year-old Class [25:12]

My wife Paula came up with this idea to start a Sunday School class for one-year-old children. 

Up to one year old. Now that might sound strange to you here in Guyana. And I can kind of understand that. But in America it is very common. But she faced opposition. Not from the congregation––but from a shepherd.  

We just can’t have this. They need to be with their mothers! Not in a class. I know what is going on, Rick. You are “contributing to the break down of the family unit in America. I know what is going on.”   

That really happened. That really happened. I have known men like that. 

New Spiritual Life [26:12]

But things can change. New life can flow into a discouraged church. And that is exactly what happened. Things turned around. 

Within weeks after we came, people were staying after church. And talking––and talking––and talking. Fifteen minutes. Thirty minutes. Even forty minutes after church. People still milling around.  

And they were telling me––this is amazing. This is amazing. This church was over 100 years old.  And they were saying: We have never seen anything like this!   

The attendance was going up and up. The singing was joyful. It was spirited. The VBS was packed. I mean packed! We were sending out our own monthly magazine to 1,000 homes in our area. A nice, full color, professional magazine. It was called Up Reach. 

Summer Bible Camp [27:59]

One of the great break-throughs was summer Bible camp. I learned of a very nice Bible camp in a very beautiful location, just an hour’s drive away. Access to 1,300 beautiful, wooded acres.  Forests. Streams. Wild life. Beautiful.

This is what we need for our teens. So I asked some of the parents if they had ever sent their kids to this Bible camp? It is owned by churches of Christ. It looks really, really nice. I think it will be great for our teens! Great!

Parents wanted to know more about it. Tell us about it.

And so I asked, “Are you telling me that we have never taken our children to summer, Bible  camp?”

“Well, no!”
“Never?”
“No. Never! We really don’t even know anything about it.”

And the parents were excited. And encouraged. Really, really. And I was stunned. Really, really stunned. 

So I asked the elder. I told him about the Bible camp. It would be great for our teens. 

“Well, I don’t know. Bible camp––that is kind of liberal stuff. So, well, uh I don’t really know. It sounds really liberal to me.”

Well, we talked about over for a couple of weeks. The elders wanted to know exactly what Bible camp was about. How does it work? What do they do? How long do they stay? How much does it cost? Who will pay? 

What do they do all day? Well. Bible study. Singing. Devotionals. Sports. Hiking. A lot of good stuff. Kids really, really like it. And the other churches send their teens. 

And so, finally we had approval. Our kids are going to Bible camp. 

This congregation had been in this exact location for over 110 years! 110 years! And not once had they ever sent their children to the Bible camp which was an hour away. And it was really like the thought had never entered their minds. 

Rarely have I ever seen a congregation so excited and encouraged. Seriously. You would have thought that Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation.  And when they returned from camp, things were never the same. The teens were never the same. The adults were never the same. The church was never the same. And the eyes of the elders were opened just a little bit. 

Your church is packed. [32:06]

Straight across the street from our building was the Methodist church. After a year and a half the Methodist preacher was talking to me one day. And he said: Your building is packed. The cars are overflowing into the streets. And your church is having a major impact in this community. So things can change. Things can change.

A brother finds his service. [33:58]

I remember the day we left that congregation for the next chapter of our lives. A car was parked behind the building. It was parked right about where my car was parked that first day that we visited that church to sing, sing––teach, teach––preach, preach. Right there where I told Paula, “Maybe we should just get in the car and go home.”

Parents were dropping there teens off and they were climbing in that car. A good brother was loading them up and taking them to some youth activity somewhere. Not an elder. Not a deacon. Not a preacher. A parent. A good hearted parent that had learned a very powerful lesson: I can do this. I can arrange this. I can organize this. I can do this. 

I did not know where they were going. But I knew it was good. Your church doesn’t have to appoint a youth minister in order to have a youth ministry. It just needs someone inspired enough to pick up the ball and run with it. And that kind of thing is not uncommon in American churches. 

Devoted Camp Director [34:38]

I know a brother in America who took it upon himself to run the summer Bible camp for the children. Every year he spent the entire year getting ready for next summer. And it was a great-great camp. Every year it was packed. And it was great!  After twenty years he decided to step down. After twenty years.

Who was this man? He wasn’t the preacher. He wasn’t a elder. He wasn’t a deacon.  Well, if he wasn’t the preacher nor the elder or a deacon––who was this man?
Well––he was a brother. 
He was just a brother?
No, he was not just a brother! He was a brother with the most powerful ministry in the church.

Well––who supported him to do that?
Well––he was a school teacher. He supported himself to do that. 
And after twenty years he turned it over to someone else. Not to the preacher. Not to an elder. Not to a deacon.
He turned it over to another good brother. 
And that is the way it is supposed to work

What kind of shepherd are you? [36:29]

Preachers, shepherds of Guyana, do you inspire your members to find their place of service?
If you do, you are a good shepherd.
But if not, why not?
What kind of shepherd are you?
Do you think you are a good shepherd?
Does your flock think you are a good shepherd? 

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.”  
Does the good shepherd think you are a good shepherd?

 Who leads the flock matters. And how he leads matters. And it matters greatly.