– 5 min read
Introduction
As our church begins the process of electing and confirming a new elder, I am pondering what it means to be a good pastor. This is hardly something I know anything about on a personal level, but something I am seeking to better understand for my own sake and the people I am responsible for. The best method I can comprehend for becoming a good pastor is to follow the model of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ (John 10:1-18). As undershepherds of the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:1-4), we are to learn from the model of Christ, and what Christ modeled as a shepherd was sacrificial love. Though there are certainly other important features that must be found in a pastor, such as discernment, boldness, moral purity, etc., I wish to highlight sacrificial love in this article. Reason being, that “if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2).
The Good Shepherd
A preacher once remarked that “Shepherds should smell like sheep.” What we deduce from this statement is simply the obvious, because the business of shepherds is the sheep. Pastors should smell like a sheep from being around them so much. The same could be said of pig farmers: they should smell like pigs, or of a fisherman: they will smell like fish. What this preacher was getting at is that pastors should be around their church members often, or, to put it more plainly, they should be doing life with those they minister to. At the beginning of Jesus’ teaching (John 10:1-5), He emphasizes that He knows His sheep by name (v.3) and that they know His voice (v.4). This conveys more than mere familiarity; it conveys intimacy.
This is picked up later in v.14 when Jesus begins to explain the meaning of what He was saying: “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.” Now, clearly, we are not to lay this as an exact template over onto pastors. This is speaking of an intimacy that is strictly unique between believers and their Savior. Yet, we can still glean the principle of how a healthy relationship will look between sheep and the shepherd. How many Christians out there in churches can honestly say that they “know” their pastor? Better yet, how many pastors out there can honestly say they “know” their congregation? If a pastor does not know the sheep in his flock that he is to be shepherding, then how in the world is he going to shepherd them? This may seem elementary and basic, but the pastor and the sheep must know each other.
Without this level of intimacy, there will be no sacrificial shepherding. This is what comes next in Jesus’ teaching. In v.7-10, Jesus builds upon what He is saying and mentions destruction and salvation. He says that if anyone enters through Him, they “will be saved” (v.9) and that this was the very reason that He came; so that the sheep “may have life, and have it abundantly” (v.10). Again, the ministry of the pastor should never be equated to the ministry of Jesus as it pertains to salvation. A pastor cannot save a sinner from their sins and eternal hell; Christ alone does this work. However, the heart of the pastor should be for the sheep and be seen in his concern for their salvation.
We read of Jesus’ method for saving the sheep and what makes a shepherd a good shepherd in v.11, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Let us observe here that on a fundamental level, good shepherds are sacrificial. According to Jesus, what makes a shepherd good is not how they exegete their instructions, or how much history they know, or how charismatic a speaker they are; it is their willingness to lay down their life for the sheep. On the most basic level, a pastor should have a heart of sacrificial love for God’s people. Too many men want to be pastors, but for the wrong reasons.
The Hired Hand
While on a tour of the seminary I now attend, we were able to sit in on a Q&A with the faculty over some lunch. One of the questions a potential M.Div student wishing to become a pastor asked was, “How do I get to the spot in my ministry where people won’t call me in the middle of the night when they need something, because I do not like to be bothered late at night?” One of the panelists pointedly, but politely replied, “Brother, I think you need to check your heart, because if that is how you think, I don’t wish for you to become a pastor.” The main heartbeat of the pastor should be sacrificial love. That does not mean a good shepherd spoils the sheep, but he will deeply care for them.
Jesus tells us in v.12 that the “hired hand” does not sacrificially love the sheep because he is “not a shepherd.“ This implies that only shepherds will have a loving concern for the sheep. One of the basic jobs of a shepherd is to look after the sheep, but when the hired hand “sees the wolf coming, [he] leaves the sheep and flees” (v.12). Jesus further explains why this is the case in v.13; “because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.“ The hired hand is only concerned with himself; the good shepherd is concerned for the sheep. We know that the Lord’s analysis is correct, for if the hired hand were concerned for the sheep, he would not abandon them in their time of need.
A pastor is to have the same heart Jesus has. Jesus loves His bride, the Church, and so pastors are to love the Church. The undershepherds are to have the same concern the Chief Shepherd has; they are to be concerned for the well-being of the sheep. If a pastor does not love his people, according to Jesus’ definition, he is no pastor at all, but simply a hired hand. Good pastors are not to be concerned about the work and the paycheck; they are to be concerned about the people. The hired hand could be compared to a guy who simply likes to hear himself talk; he thinks he is a gifted speaker and teacher, and may think that he is theologically the brightest person in the room, and so he seeks to be a pastor. All the while, he doesn’t really have a sacrificial heart for the sheep. Then, when trouble comes upon the sheep, he is nowhere to be found because he never really loved them.
The contrast between the hired hand and the Good Shepherd could be built upon in v.16, when Jesus says, “I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also…” Here, Jesus is speaking of how He will redeem and bring the Gentiles into His Kingdom. We may observe and principally conclude that the hired hand runs away from the sheep when danger approaches, but the Good Shepherd not only remains to protect the existing sheep but also goes to seek out other sheep and rescue them from danger, too. A pastor’s heart should reflect this. A pastor should be both concerned with caring for his congregation and reaching others with the good news of Jesus as well.
Conclusion
In summary, a pastor’s ministry should be marked as sacrificial on behalf of those for whom Christ died. If Jesus, the Good Shepherd, sacrificed much for His sheep, then pastors, the undershepherds, should also sacrifice much for the sheep. There are many people out there who claim to be and wish to be pastors but have no love in their hearts for God’s people. This is an essential mark of a pastor, and none of the qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 make any sense without love, nor can they be present in a man without love. Let us all be exhorted by the words of our Lord: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:12-14).