“ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”- John 10:11-13 (ESV)
Early on in my ministry, I was told by my pastor, “Luke, if there is anything else in this world that you want to do other than ministry… Do that.” At the time, that statement threw me for a loop. I thought to myself “Is he trying to convince me NOT to go into ministry?” However, the more I grew in the ministry, the more I came to an understanding of what my pastor really meant by what he said. His warning to me all those years ago, was practically the same message we see Jesus give to His disciples in John 10. The message is this: Ministry is not for the careless, the lazy, nor the half-hearted. Ministry that is driven towards bringing glory to Christ Jesus is a ministry that requires not just time out of your week, money out of your bank account, or inconveniences in your schedule. Rather, a Christ-glorifying ministry is one that requires YOUR LIFE. That is why ministry is not something that one does driven by a hunch, they are driven by the Lord Almighty’s call on their life. So in other words, what my pastor was telling me was that if I was not going to go into ministry willing to put my whole life into it, it was better for me not to start in the first place.
Jesus voices this message in His definition of what makes a “good shepherd”. Not only does He say “I am the good shepherd” but He follows it up with “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” As we know, He went on to back that up by laying down His life on the Cross. Now, obviously no man stained with sin could ever atone for any sin as Christ did. However, a shepherd of Christ lays down his life by GIVING it to his flock. He pours himself out as a drink offering to those whom he has been given… Even when the time comes where he reaches a Pauline-like point in 2 Cor. 12:15 “ And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.” (KJV) The shepherd of Christ continues to give himself all the more despite not always receiving the same from his flock.
Unfortunately, we live in a time where there are many hired hands that like to be called “shepherds”. They are many men both young and old that love the “fame” that comes from playing pastor. They love to dress up (or down), get behind the pulpit on a Sunday morning, tell funny stories, get the congregation motivated, share a little bit of Scripture, get a couple of pictures, post them on social media, and call it a day. Folks, that is NOT a shepherd. A shepherd lives to FEED his sheep on God’s Word day-by-day. Not simply play around with them to make them feel good for a moment and then leave them to fend for themselves after he gets bored. A shepherd feeds his flock TRUTH that nourishes them for a lifetime, not motivation that gets them through the day.
So, next time you sit in your pews. Listen to the words your pastor is giving you. Are his words driven by truth from WITHIN the Scriptures? Or are they mere words of encouragement? If you seek motivation to get you through your week, I would suggest going to the self-help section at Barnes & Noble. However, if you seek Truth that you can stand firm on for a lifetime through the roughest of waters, demand the truth, folks. For it is the Truth that will set us free.