The Healthy Church: Part 1-The Shepherd and His Sheep

THE HEALTHY CHURCH: PART 1-THE SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP Spring Valley Mennonite; May 8, 2022; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 There is nothing on earth that compares to the church. Among all the institutions known, the church stands alone as the most blessed. The church is the body of which Jesus is the Head. The church is the bride of Jesus Christ, the groom. The church is the building of which our Lord is the cornerstone. The church is the pillar and support of the truth, as 1 Timothy 3:15 declares. The Church exists to carry out the instructions of Jesus, its head, as our own body carries out the instructions of our brain or head. And another illustration of the church and Christ is that of the Shepherd and His flock. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, and He delegates leadership in His Church to under-shepherds. We presently live in the dispensation or period of time called "The Church Age." We live between the "already" and the "not yet." Our redemption has been secured, but we await His glorious return. This present age began at Pentecost and will continue until the Rapture of the Church. Its members are all born again believers of this time- period. We all are part of the Universal Church, as well as members of local churches. In his letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul is moving from the discussion of the future to the present. After discussing the Rapture and the Day of the Lord, both future events, he begins to give God's standards for how the local church and its members can thrive and grow as they mature together. Either there was a problem of accepting leadership in this church, or Paul was anticipating leadership issues. In their society which was rigidly divided into classes, we can understand how a servant who believed could be exalted in church leadership over someone of a higher class. Spirituality in the church recognizes no class distinctions. His tone, however, is one of gentle persuasion; he uses the term "I request of you..." He appeals to them as a brother, perhaps to counter the intensity of the previous subject dealing with the Day of the Lord and God's wrath toward sin. So as Paul begins to explain how the church is to function in this "in between time," very significantly he begins with the leadership of the church, using the example of a shepherd and his flock. I would insert here that there are usually multiple shepherds in a church. The Lord Jesus has gifted the church with leaders with different types of spiritual gifts, of which one is that of the Pastor/teacher. We have four elders here at Spring Valley; I, along with Rod, Steve and Chris comprise the Elder Board. It is to Elders, and particularly the Teaching Elder or Pastor that these verses apply. I consider myself one among equals with our other Elders. We have in verses 12 and 13 standards of how Pastors and churches are to relate to one another. In these verses we can find three responsibilities of the Pastor/Shepherd and three reciprocal responsibilities of the flock. Read verses 12-13. I. SHEPHERDS ARE TO DILIGENTLY LABOR The first responsibility of the Pastor/Shepherd is to diligently labor among his flock. In Luke 5, the word for laboring is used to describe the labor of the fishermen/future disciples who had fished all night with no catch. One point being made is of diligence and continuance in the task, sometimes without visible results. The process of how God works in the individual believer's life is multi-faceted and difficult to measure. How does one measure spirituality, especially in another person? How does a Pastor measure the spiritual growth of his flock? One thing Pastors do when they gather is to find out how many people attend the other Pastor's churches, thinking that a church that is large or growing in numbers is a successful church. While that may be a valuable metric, it says nothing about the spirituality of the people in those churches. How is spiritual growth measured? One thing I do know is that it takes time. We have a small stool in our bathroom for the benefit of our smaller grandchildren when they visit. As they grow, we notice that a time comes when they can reach the sink and faucets without the stool. Day by day sees little growth, but month by month there is change. I think this speaks to the value of long Pastoral tenures in churches. Progress in spiritual growth takes time. Spiritual growth happens slowly, and the Pastor must be patient on the one hand and diligent to provide spiritual food on a consistent basis. He can't get discouraged by the slowness or difficulty of the process but keep on pressing forward. A second responsibility is that: II. THE SHEPHERD IS TO EXERCISE SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY It is an extremely sobering thought that the Lord Jesus will call me as Pastor to account for the spiritual welfare of this congregation. This is the meaning of the phrase "have charge over you in the Lord." But my responsibility and accountability does not extend outside of your spiritual welfare. When a Pastor or leader expands his influence outside of that parameter he is operating outside of his God-given responsibilities. I have no business trying to tell you how to run your business or family outside of what scripture teaches. Admittedly, there are principles of family life and business which are scriptural, but a Pastor's authority does not extend past what scripture teaches. I can't tell you what kind of car to drive, or what food to eat, how to educate your children or dictate health decisions. If you want my opinion, I will give it, and I will pray with you about decisions such as these, but there are limits to my authority. Hebrews 13:17: "Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. Spiritual leadership is balanced by the words of 1 Peter 5:2-3, as he instructs Elders, "...shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; not yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. Again, I, along with the elders, will stand before God regarding our leadership. This is a weighty obligation I have as your Pastor. So, if I ever need to personally exhort or correct you, understand what God requires of me. Our third responsibility as Elders and as your Pastor is: III. TO PROVIDE BIBLICAL INSTRUCTION The term "to provide instruction" is often translated "to admonish." Colossians 1:28: "And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom that we may present every man complete in Christ." This is the teaching and preaching of God's Word. I have often mentioned that preaching verse by verse requires me to cover topics which are sensitive and possibly controversial, subjects that I would rather avoid. This passage which speaks of our responsibilities to one another falls into this category. I thought of only reading this passage without much comment and then moving on. But this is God's Word, and we cannot "pick and choose" what we want to follow. Because God has placed me as your Pastor, I have a mandate from God to instruct you in the truth. I would quickly add that I do not consider myself infallible or having an absolute corner on the truth! But I am to study diligently to find out what God would have me say about His Word and then pass it on. Understand that any Pastor is the product of his training and background. We now are to consider the responsibilities of the flock to its shepherd. The first is: IV. THE RESPONSIBITY TO "APPRECIATE" THE PASTOR This is an area where Spring Valley needs little instruction. You do a great job encouraging and expressing appreciation to me. I have difficulty even covering the topic, as I don't want to communicate that you need to do more in this area. But unfortunately, this is not always the case in Pastor-Church relations. For the most part, I have been very fortunate in the churches in which I have served, and you as a church are as good as a Pastor gets. I am part of a group of small church Pastors on social media. It is appalling the disrespect and poor treatment that some Pastors experience. The word "appreciate" is the Greek word "oida" which means "to know by experience." The King James well translates this as "to know them that labor among you." MacArthur gives this comment, "The connotation here is that believers are to know their shepherds deeply and respectfully and to value their service. Such knowledge is much more than the mere recall of their names or the general awareness of some facts about their personal lives. Instead, it entails a close, personal acquaintance that results in the caring appreciation of the Lord's servant.1" A second response of congregations to leaders is: V. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ESTEEMING LEADERS "Esteeming" is to "regard or think about" and here is amplified with the words "very highly, or beyond all measure." This is more than appreciation but speaks of limitless respect. This respect is not because of their personality or attractiveness, but because of their work. Because of the Pastor's calling, he is worthy of great respect. Because the Pastor ministers the Holy Scripture, the very words of God, his significance is one of high regard. In a sense, such words are embarrassing for I am very aware of my own shortcomings. But in a way these words demonstrate God's high regard for His Word and those who have been given the awesome responsibility of ministering that Word. Again, I think you are doing a fine job in this area. The third responsibility of the congregation to its leaders is: VI. THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SUBMIT TO LEADERSHIP Because the Pastor and leaders in the church instruct and teach the Word of God, there is the obligation not only to listen to them, but to follow that instruction. There is no room for believers in the church to hear the Word and then think they have the freedom to choose whether to follow it or not. Again, we are speaking of clear Biblical teaching and exhortation. There is a clear delegation of authority given to church leaders. Going back to the illustration of the shepherd and his sheep, sheep tend to stray and get lost. The shepherd seeks them out and brings them back to the flock. People are much like sheep, as Isaiah tells us, "All we like sheep have gone astray" and I would add, the sheep continue to wander off from the shepherd. The need for correction and instruction is to be done gently and tactfully, especially when dealing with perceived sinful behavior. There are strict guidelines given when we think we observe such sinful behavior: the one observing such behavior is to go privately to that person to find out the facts. While working with Campus Crusade, I had a roommate who had a unique ministry and connection with the Lord. He would be driving down the street past a tavern and God would prompt him that there was someone in that bar who needed to hear the Gospel. So, he would turn his car around and park in front of the bar, go in and find that person and witness to him. Now consider if someone passed by and saw his car and concluded that he was in there getting drunk! And even worse, if they would spread the news that he was frequenting taverns in his spare time! The situation was completely understandable IF the observer had gone and found out the truth. If we want to reach sinners with the Gospel, it sometimes might take us where sinners hang out. My point is that Biblical instruction presents a choice to obey or disobey. God's Word communicated by His chosen servants is to be followed. The applications given are to be carefully considered as we are to be more than hearers of the Word but doers. Leadership in the church is a high and awesome calling with deep and significant implications. The Elders of the church, especially the teaching Elder or Pastor, has major and weighty obligations to his congregation. He is to be diligent and gentle, but authoritative as he speaks the Word of God. He is to carefully study and humbly lead. The congregation in return is to appreciate and respect their leaders because of the heavy responsibility of God's accountability assigned to them. These guidelines, if followed diligently, will enable the church to move forward toward maturity. 1 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2002). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (p. 172). Chicago: Moody Press. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------