I’ve been thinking about the role of the Pastor and how we each come from a place where different rules and customs existed for the pastoral office. Those expectations, childhood or adulthood, still shape us today.
I invite you to think anew. I invite you to the scriptures.
In John’s account of the Gospel, Jesus calls himself “The Good Shephard.” He tells you what the Shephard does.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:1-5
I invite you to a relationship where I follow the Good Shephard and so do you. We know his voice by spending time with him and aligning our lives with his desires for us. We eat from the pastures that he leads us to. We rest beside the still waters that he finds for us. We experience the restoring of our soul in his presence. (Psalm 23) The pastorate is both leading, but also about being led. It is not about power. It is not about prestige or prosperity. It is about always remembering and always reminding that even when the temptations of life are loudest, “The LORD is my shepherd. I shall not want.”
Pastoring equips the saints to do the work that God has for us within our sphere of influence (our homes, our job, our communities.) (Ephesians 4:11-16)
Pastor is not a synonym for massa’. It’s not about being an overlord, but the office is a gentle guide that reminds you through the sacraments, through scripture, and through community, that God and God’s will is our ultimate concern.
If this is a new definition for you, I invite you to mutual edification, not perfection. I invite you to the truth that the perfect one is the one we seek. The one we follow. This is central to the Gospel. This will be central to our relationship at Emmanuel.
My charge to you as your pastor is that I will teach you the scriptures as I continue to devote myself to prayer and the reading and inward digesting of God’s word. We will create a space where you can worship in spirit and in truth. I will challenge you, and I will support you. I will ask you about your walk with Christ, and all the places that walk should be impacted by. I will surround myself with pastors, lay-leaders, friends, and Bishops, who will also ask me the same questions.
As your pastor, I will lead as I follow.
I can’t say it better than Peter’s charge:
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 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.”
Amen.
