~3 min read
Due to the mix of self-generated ambition and modern technology the celebrity preacher (though he would never acknowledge this title) seems to be more and more disconnected from the sorrows, temptations and joys of the Christian life. His growing celebrity status makes him more and more disconnected with his sheep consequently he becomes less a shepherd and more an evangelist. We have countless evangelists’ masquerading as pastors.
These evangelists study endlessly behind closed doors during the week preparing their next homiletical bomb prepared for destination on Sunday morning. Meanwhile the sheep during the week are neglected and relationally malnourished.
Congregants are not as impressed with a well-crafted sermon as much as they are with a man that truly cares for souls.
Give me the man that stutters on the pulpit but instead relentlessly bends his life in constant burden to care for souls God has entrusted him with.
It is an interesting thing that when a man is continuously involved in shepherding souls Monday- Saturday coupled with ongoing prayer and dependence on the Spirit, it will prove to bleed out of his heart on Sunday mornings. His sermons will become less robotic, less academic and more relational. As his heart is full with the trials, despair, love and joy’s he experiences with his sheep as opposed to endless interaction with books and commentary’s, his preaching will most assuredly improve in dramatic fashion.
If you know anything about John Bunyan you know he had a shepherd’s heart. He said, "I preached what I felt". Bunyan's experience was the substance of his sermons. Often it seems large congregation preachers are under the assumption that the work of Christ prospers only when crowds are assembled. As if the supreme problem of the church is how to devise attractive conferences with big names and food trucks.
The experience of true in the trenches ministry though often glory-less will fill the preachers heart on Sunday mornings bringing doctrine to life. Theology disconnected from every day experience is calculating and abstract. Passion and fervor for truth must be fueled by the trials and joys of everyday ministry.
Preachers that have the mindset that the pulpit cures all will find themselves disillusioned. Meanwhile the sheep suffer from lack of meaningful relationships and struggle in their everyday life being weighed down with heavy consciences. I've often heard pastors lament over their lack of relationship , declaring pastoral care is of the loneliest callings. Sadly, it seems this is often of their own doing and absolutely should not be. There is a ever widening relational gap between overseers and their flock. As “elders” become more and more involved in meetings, organizational structure and policy the flock meanwhile are starving for true community.
Making disciples is the calling of a true shepherd not "building a ministry" through the endless pursuit of degree's, crafty positioning and handpicked yes men. Preaching is to supplement the calling to make disciples not be the primary means.
In today's corporate way of "doing church" sheep often feel very disconnected from their shepherds as though they were always at arm’s length distance. Much as an employee feels when his superior walks in the room. Sheep need relating. They need to be secure in knowing that they are of equal status with their pastors. They need to "feel" that their pastor is a sinner just like them and in need of grace and care just like them.
Though Christ be the source of all help does He not use His ministers to reach His people? The sheep cannot imitate Christ in how He responds to sin. They cannot imitate Christ's repentance. A shepherd is not a shepherd unless he has a shepherd’s heart and that requires a willingness to shun the limelight when it becomes too bright. He must show himself not as a cape bearing super preacher but a lowly and humble servant. He must have the heart of a desperate beggar in need of being loved, reproved and admonished himself.
Great pulpit efforts are often a distant memory but true shepherds live in the hearts of those that have seen them in their vulnerable and most open condition. Those that have spent significant time with the sheep and demonstrated selfless love toward them. Faithful shepherding requires soul on soul care. It requires humility, mutual confession and genuine love and concern.
The methodology of bringing in a shepherd more resembles the hiring an executive than it does the NT model. Pastoral search committees are formulated much like the corporate head hunter. These committee’s set criteria that are often high on big personalities, strong communication skills and degree’s. The apostle Paul appeared to give no value to these methods of evaluation and instead considered them worldly and those that implemented them spiritually immature.