Shepherds and Sheep

Interesting comment in Frank Viola's book: Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity. He talked about the common view of pastors as shepherds of their flocks.

The idea is that the pastor shepherds his flocks and encourages it to grow and flourish.

A couple of problems with this point of view. One is that it puts the pastor in the place of Christ the Good Shepherd. That opens up a whole can of worms regarding the priesthood of all believers and will have to be the subject of another post at another time (or more likely several posts over time).

Anyway, Frank also points out that earthly shepherds are "incapable of breeding their sheep. They also steal their wool and eat them for dinner!"

Is that the picture for you want of the modern pastor?

Rather than being an absurdity, unfortunately, too many times that picture is all too accurate. We only need to read the paper from time to time to see the "falls' that prominent pastors and leaders have made.

Rather than a leadership marked with humility and servanthood there is leadership marked by ego and greed. This runs counter to every picture of leadership in the Bible.

Both Old and New Testament.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of examples of egotistical and greedy leaders in the Bible, but without exception they are held out as examples of how not to behave and pay a price for their misdeeds.

I am beginning to question the need for a professional clergy.

I am not sure that it is a biblical concept.

And that too, will have to be the subject of another post on another day...