About Being a Shepherd

 When Jesus looked at you, spoke with you, addressed you, or even just glanced at you, you were His whole world, and you felt that you were His whole world. It didn't matter if He was just mentioning something to you, telling a story to a group, verbally chastising you, or just looking in your direction for a brief second. You knew where you stood with Him, and you stood at the center of His world all the time. It was both comforting and overwhelming. It was the safest feeling in the world, and the most vulnerable. He looked at you, and He "knew." It didn't matter what was going on with you, He just "knew," and His expression always bore that out. He could say, "I know. I love you. I feel what you're feeling." with just a glance. When you cried, He cried with you. When you laughed, He laughed with you. Wherever you were at in that moment, He was there with you, without condemnation, without blame, and always wanting you to succeed in following the Way He taught. He was the Shepherd who kept eyes on all of His sheep, knew each of them by name, and knew exactly when one of them wasn't where they were supposed to be, and would move heaven and earth searching for them until they were found and brought home.
       This is the example He left for those of us called to be His assistant shepherds. Like Him, we do it because we love, and are to practice the love He displayed. We do not do it for money. We do not do it for ego. We do it because He trusted us to do it. We do it whether He entrusted us with a flock of thousands, or just one. We do it whether they are all in one pasture, or if we run across one of them lost out in the wild. We embody and channel Him for His sheep, caring for them as He would, treating them kindly, calling them by name, mending their wounds, feeding them with good feed and staying by them as they recover from bad. Just as He would.
     We are not "mentors," we are not "life coaches," and we are not "public speakers." We are not "counselors," or "therapists." We are shepherds, and while our job as shepherds may entail aspects of all of these positions, our primary occupation is concerned with caring for the sheep, and making sure they are healthy, sound, fed, and loved as He loves them. Sometimes this entails milking them to wean the lambs. Sometimes it entails shearing them to make sure their coats don't get too big and harm them. Sometimes it means separating the lambs from their mothers in order to wean them off the milk and get them eating grain, grass, and hay so they can mature properly. Sometimes it means castrating some of the males to keep them from fighting and hurting one another. But all of this is done in order to make sure they're all healthy, and the flock is healthy and sound.
     All too often, shepherds within the church forget what it means to be a shepherd, imitate the Shepherd, and what it means to take care of the Owner's flock.