“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
In Chapter 20 of Acts, Paul is continuing His travels and is attempting to get back to Jerusalem. Before leaving the region though, he sent for the Elders at the church in Ephesus because he knew he would never see them again. He spent the last three years with them and probably has the greatest confidence in their leadership of those Christian communities. When they catch up to Paul, Paul shares a speech with them, encouraging them and building them up to lead without him being around. There is a lot of great content and stand-alone verses in this speech but verse 28 caught my eye.
Pay careful attention to yourselves…
Let us not be confused and think that Paul is telling them to be self-centered. Paul was never an example of selfish ambition in his leadership and advocates against such focus in anyone’s leadership.
Instead, I believe Paul is encouraging them to look out for one another. Leadership in and of itself is stressful and makes them targets in their roman culture. They would be essentially viewed as cult leaders. Leaders need to look out for one another.
I’ve been very fortunate to be discipled through and in groups of leaders. Back in high school through my youth ministry granting opportunities to lead middle schoolers. Then in college being part of a program with fellow church leaders. While I have substantial support from the leadership of the church I am at, there are times I can’t help but feel disconnected from other leaders. This means all the more I should pay careful attention to the leaders alongside me.
If we forsake each other, we are the wrong people to lead a community.
… and to all the flock…
Beyond looking out for fellow leaders, we must also take up and be responsible for a community of people and their formation in Christ. It’s one thing to lead a business, and another thing to lead in a medical room or courtroom. Being responsible for a community of people through means pressures coming at you from every person you interact with while creating programs and lessons, then coordinating meetings and volunteers, and ensuring all the wheels are moving! None of that is to complain or receive pity, but to help capture a little glimpse of what is on your pastor’s plates.
How a pastor cares for the flock though can make or break their career and calling. I have been lead to believe that the core theme of pastoral leadership in distinction to every other form of leadership is their ability to shepherd. This last year has tested every pastor’s ability to shepherd the people well.
Shepherding goes beyond just care and counsel. Yes, the Pastor should be willing and able to show up and administer God’s grace and love in people’s more dire times of need. But it also means helping to lead people to the ultimate shepherd, Jesus Christ.
These days though, it’s easy to just find the pastors and leaders who confirm what you already believe to be true. People have left to find new churches this last year over Covid policies. So not even a thing involving solid Biblical teaching but simply whether you agree with the pastor's personal politic. Politics have been reshaping churches this year and the shepherdship of church leaders is being put to the test by viewpoints on all sides. The BEST part is there is no easy answer… This is all the more reason pastors and church leaders need to be looking out for one another. To ensure that Christ is the shaper of our churches and flocks, not politics.
Leadership doubts:
All this has led to many doubts about the biblical soundness of any church's leadership. Usually, there is good space to challenge and help purify and accurize our leaders and one another. But it has become full-on skepticism and conspiracy at this point, and sadly not without good reasoning. Pastoral failings are everywhere! They may even teach accurate theology but then the ink of their life is far from Scripture.
Here’s a good article from Christianity today about false teachers being those with bad ethics.
Shepherdship has become my go-to way of talking about how a pastor should lead because it goes beyond just being a preacher. Some churches just seem to want a preacher who will appease and entertain them and roast secular culture. True shepherds also look out for the illnesses and threats within the flock though, realizing they are just as disastrous if not more than a wolf.
I could really go on and on about what Shepherd leadership looks like and how our culture skews and mess-ups what a church leader should be like. But at the end of the day, it is critical for the leader to balance truth and grace. They need to be able to be held accountable by fellow leaders while also seeking out those relationships. They need to be a man or woman who truly cares for the flock. Guarding it against external threats for sure, but also ready to heal wounds and watch for threats within the church.
Final Blessings:
Reach out to your pastor and encourage them. These have been hard seasons for many of them, and are probably more accustomed to receiving criticism than encouragement. And if you do feel they are not balancing truth and grace and leading people to the ultimate shepherd of Christ, then personally reach out to them, if they are secure and teachable, grace will reign. Encourage them in their shepherdship!
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat of your journey!
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