Pastoring is NOT Pampering

It's NOT pampering in any sense. Pastoring is leading the flock home after letting it stroll out the pen for a while. Period. No more, no less. That's according to Jesus, our Master. It's definitely not how a lot of pastors do it today, which is pampering. They find out what their church members want or need and carefully make sure they give it to them. So ministry is need-driven (and member-centered), not anymore Spirit-led and Christ-centered. Photo above by Conscious Design on Unsplash.

Jesus is the Shepherd and we are appointed as shepherds [1 Peter 5]. And the principle of shepherding in John 10 is that the sheep listen to his voice, not the other way around (it's not Jesus listening to our voice and following us). Neither is it the pastor listening to his members' needs. Pastoring is about minding God's interests alone, not ours or the church members'. Pastors should focus on this. We feed and care for the flock by teaching them to hear and obey HIS Word. They should lead the flocks assigned to them towards this end alone. They do not need to know the needs of their church members.

Because once we seek God's Kingdom and his righteousness first, everything else will be added, all the members' wants and needs included. But once we seek people's needs first, we lose it. Yeah, we may build mega churches out of that and big church income, but it's nothing but a big assembly of immature people who claim to be followers of Jesus--and a church turned into a bank.

Pastoring is Simple

Today, they expect a lot from the pastor. They say he's supposed to be a "servant" so they expect him to serve them all, like how household helps serve their master or how employees serve their boss. He's supposed to know all the individual needs of his members (my goodness!) and aptly address them. They expect him to make them all happy (perhaps like a clown or an entertainer) and "spiritual" (and blame him if a member goes astray or backslides into sin).

But Jesus never did any of these things. Visit members and know their individual needs? Jesus never did this. The disciples pursued him and he fed them with God's Word--whatever the Father decided he should teach them. That was it. So where did the church get all these ideas? He did wash the disciples feet as a gesture of his servanthood, but nonetheless, the disciples were never his boss (and they didn't pay his salary). Instead, they followed him and obeyed him. He issued instructions which they did, not the other way around. He told them what they should do. 

The servanthood he demonstrated in washing their feet was to show them how they should relate with each other in life and ministry--in meekness and love--not desiring to be in bossy positions or getting bossy titles. And how being honored with a high position means getting the lowest and least conspicuous seat. Second, the demo had to do with connecting his servanthood to his death on the cross, giving his life as a ransom for many. Somewhere, Jesus said:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Pastoring is serving GOD (first and foremost) and the church, not in the way that employees do to their bosses, but in how Jesus served his disciples, emptying himself and not counting his real standing in the Kingdom as something to be grasped. Imagine the KING lowering himself to wash your feet! Imagine being willing to be the "gate" for the sheep, when in fact, he is the Lord of lords and King of kings!

Jesus described pastoring simply thus: 

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

This is true of Jesus and his pastors--because Jesus lives 100 percent in them. Jesus modelled this pastoring principle and his pastors should follow suit. There is no other pastoring model. Jesus used this model first and shepherds after him ought to use it, too. First, a pastor should have entered through the Gate (Jesus). A pastor is a genuine servant of God who had the real born-again experience and have surrendered his life totally to Him. He entered through the Gate.

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved, said Jesus.

The gatekeeper (the Father) opens the gate (Jesus) for the pastor to access the sheep. Thus, to access the sheep, there's only one way possible--through the Gate the Gatekeeper opens for the shepherd (the pastor). Jesus warns that, "anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber." Meaning, you have access only when Jesus and the Father give you access to the sheep. Also, this means you cannot do church ministry except through Jesus' way--how Jesus did it in the Gospel. If you don't (and use man's ways) you're one who "climbs in by some other way (and) is a thief and robber."

Entry to the Sheep Pen Via the Gate and the Gatekeeper Alone

As a pastor, you cannot access the pen on your own--even if you have devised the grandest evangelism and discipleship plan in the entire universe. And accessing them on your own means you're a thief. As mentioned earlier, accessing them "any other way" except through the Gate that the Gatekeeper opens is illegal. Ministry is not through your own effort or decisions or your denomination's church planting strategies. You wait for God to grant you access.

This agrees with what John says about how Jesus did his ministry:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them...This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them. [John 6.44 and 65].

Not even Jesus could force or make a way or invent strategies for people to join him. It was all decided by the Father. Jesus merely obeyed. Jesus revealed in John 5.19: "...the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." This is how pastors should do it.

Then, what should pastors do after accessing the sheep pen? Nothing except teach them how to listen to his voice. Because his voice is the Shepherd's voice, too. A true servant of God does nothing but echoes or mouths Jesus' Word. They familiarize the sheep with the Shepherd's voice. And the sheep has no other business or concern but to hear the voice of the Shepherd in the shepherd's voice and follow.

Then the pastor calls his own sheep by name. It's not the church members who "call us by name" (trains us or leads us or tames us or tells us what to do), but it's we, the pastors, who do that. We call them and they follow as we "go on ahead of them." The sheep's only business is to follow the Christ in us. And when should they follow us? When "he leads them out."

The shepherd and the sheep all go out. They enjoy the sheep pen but they also go out. In fact, Jesus said they will go in and out. To do what? To find pasture. The sheep is fed by going in and out. The actual experience we have with Jesus and his Word as we go out is our food. Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish it." So here you have the second reason for going out. Jesus said he had other sheep "not of this pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." 

They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 

That in a nutshell is what pastoring is all about. It has nothing to do with pampering members with what they or an individual want or need or what they look for in a church. It's not about surveying them on what they think should be done or what they expect from the pastor or what programs make them happy and interested. Or for pastors to think of nice plans and programs and gimmicks to keep the flock interested and coming back each Sunday. A lot of pastors fear losing their members to other churches, so they add a lot of pampering and entertainment to ministry.

Members' Duty to Grow in Christ

Pastors cannot make church members grow in Christ. It's not their job. Their only job is simply feed them God's Word (this includes encouraging them), and pray for them, so they can listen and obey the Shepherd Jesus--not make their flesh or ego feel good. Growing is the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer and believers must desperately pursue after it (growing in Christ). The pastor cannot pursue it for them. Believers must (desperately) seek the understanding of the Word wholeheartedly by seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and relating deeply with Him. This is supernatural, and pastors should teach them how through Scriptures and through the example of their own pursuit of Jesus.

Hence, if a church member loses interest or sins or stops going to church, pastors are not obligated to pamper them or pursue after them. Jesus never did this. He never "followed up" or "visited" Judas Iscariot for counselling. All he told him was, "Whatever it is you have to do, do it quickly." The prodigal son was not sought by his father. The lost son went back on his own after "coming to his senses." The lost sheep was sought by the shepherd, but we're talking of "sheep" here, and the genuine sheep "listens to his voice." 

"...his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice."

Lost sheep wander around but they go back at the beck and call of the shepherd. In fact, biologically, true sons, though "dead," go back to their fathers on their own. What more of spiritual sons and daughters of God who have God's Spirit in them. This shows they have the Holy Spirit convicting them. Shepherds may "leave the 99 others" for this lost sheep because it's sheep, not goat. It's not the same for those who readily follow other voices out there but barely (or refuse to) hear the voice of their Shepherd. Jesus did mention about wolves in sheep's clothing. Who knows, this person may be a false prophet in the making or weed planted by the enemy in the field God gave you.

End Goal of True Pastoring

The goal of true pastoring is not to serve the goals of a local or denominational church but God's. God wants everyone to know Jesus as the one Shepherd and to be in his one flock. See that? There's only one flock. So don't start your own. Most denominations today are like other flocks presenting the Shepherd in differing doctrines. Worse, others are presenting different "Gates" and "Shepherds."

It's easy to identify who they are. If their pastors resort to pampering instead of pastoring as Jesus did it, they're hired hands.

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