If you are interested in learning more about these qualities of a shepherd, consider listening to the following sermons exposited from the Word of God by Pastor Richard Caldwell:
Shepherds That Preach - Part 1: • Shepherds that Preach ...
Shepherds That Preach - Part 2: • Shepherds that Preach ...
Four Responsibilities for a Faithful Shepherd - Part 1: • Four Responsibilities ...
Four Responsibilities for a Faithful Shepherd - Part 2: • Four Responsibilities ...
Four Responsibilities for a Faithful Shepherd - Part 3: • Four Responsibilities ...
Discernment for Chaotic Times - Part 1: • Discernment For Chaoti...
Discernment for Chaotic Times - Part 2: • Discernment For Chaoti...
The Requirement of Humility: • Richard Caldwell | The...
The Life of True Humility: • The Life of True Humility
The Fidelity to Truth in Our Field of Ministry: • Richard Caldwell | Fid...
The Life of Servants of God - Part 1: • The Life Servants of G...
The Life of Servants of God - Part 2: • The Life of a Servant ...
Humble Servants: • Humble Servants - 2 Co...
On the Straight Truth Podcast this week, Dr. Josh Philpot and Dr. Richard Caldwell continue their discussion on the role of a pastor. Previously podcasts covered what a pastor does in his teaching and preaching role and how it is that a man is gifted and evaluated for the position of elder/pastor. This week their discussion will focus on the role of the pastor as shepherd. Dr. Caldwell has written a book titled Pastoral Preaching. In the book, he hones in on the role of the pastor as a shepherd, and he intently focuses on what the task of shepherding entails. Dr. Philpot asks Dr. Caldwell to talk about this a bit and to help us understand why a pastor is a shepherd and what it communicates to the Church. Dr. Philpot has additional questions he asks throughout the dialogue. His last question for Dr. Caldwell pertains to losing touch with what a shepherd really is since many have never had experience with or seen the visual analogy of shepherding. Is this important? If so, how has it affected the Church and the Lord’s people?
Dr. Caldwell shares the first reason this term is used is that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is the Great Shepherd of the sheep. In the New Testament, the word we translate as pastor is the word for shepherd. Thus, when we speak of pastors as shepherds, it expresses biblical terminology. The terms elder, overseer, shepherd, and pastor are interchangeable terms for the men who lead the Church in the New Testament. Second, regarding the book he wrote, Dr. Caldwell shares that as he went through the Old and New Testaments taking note of the biblical instances where God refers to those preaching His word or leading His people using that analogy. The Scriptures speak of these men like shepherds to a flock. In the New Testament specifically, the Church is compared to a flock, and the leaders are compared to shepherds.
This term/title is significant because it conveys several things. It conveys the humility of the office; shepherds were not highly thought of, not highly exalted. It speaks of the Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd who bought His people with His own blood; they belong to him. Pastors humbly serve the Him who owns the flock; they are under-shepherds of Jesus the Chief Shepherd. Yet, pastors are also sheep at the same time. They serve Christ and His people. In the conversation Jesus has with Peter after His resurrection, He tells Peter three times to take care of His sheep, using the words feed, shepherd, and feed. Dr. Caldwell says that this speaks of the pastor's role and responsibility to feed and guide the people of God. It also speaks of the need for courage as shepherds had to defend flocks from wolves. It speaks of love for the people of God. Shepherds put their lives on the line in the need to watch over and defend the flock. A pastor is to love God’s people, not go about serving them in some superficial way. Pastors' hearts are to be knit together with them. Pastors are brothers and sisters in Christ with them, so we must bear this in mind as we care for them. All these things are wrapped up in the idea of shepherding.
However, says Dr. Caldwell, we must not think of this role by using only one of the analogies that the New Testament gives. Pastors are not just shepherds. They are also called elders. In this word, there is the idea of spiritual maturity; this is the ongoing development of wisdom and maturity over time. Pastors are also overseers, men who are household managers of what belongs to God. There is an oversight management aspect to what pastors do as they facilitate ministry. He says all three terms used by the New Testament refer to the one man, to the one office. All three must be understood as belonging to the office to have a well-rounded, holistic view of what pastors are called to do.