Yesterday was Good Shepherd Sunday on the liturgical calendar. To summarize the gospel lesson: Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His Life for the sheep (cf. John 10). Jesus does not invent this image in John 10, it is an image he fulfills given in the prophets: In both Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34, Yahweh promised to be the Good Shepherd of his people.
Jesus comes to claim that office. Yahweh has come to be the Good Shepherd-King prophesied in the times of Israel’s exile.
The lesson of ‘the Good Shepherd’ does not end there, however, not quite. In addition to promising to raise-up a Good Shepherd over his people, Yahweh also promised to “set [other] shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing” (Jer. 23:4). The Good Shepherd would also raise-up little good shepherds.
This sheds light on Christ’s injunction to Peter during his restoration, “feed my sheep” (Jn. 21:17). Christ was calling the disciples to follow Him, to be like Him, and to participate with Him in caring for the flock of the Church — which means doing the work of a shepherd or shepherdess.
The word commonly used for the office of ministry in the church is “pastor” —a word that means “shepherd.” We moderns tend to forget this. We think of it merely as an unnecessary metaphorical description. When we move away from the biblical concept of “shepherd” (frequently yoked with kingship in scripture), we often replace it with descriptors that are at best less helpful and are at worst harmful. Pastors are not called primarily to be managers, or CEOs, or entrepreneurs —at least chiefly. We are called to guard, serve, and multiply the flock. We are called to attend as servants of the Good Shepherd Himself to teach, feed, wash, anoint, care, and minister.
The root of many of the collapses of pastors in recent decades stems, in my opinion, not so much from systemic problems concerning the sheer presence of power and authority, as is widely argued. Christ Himself gives power and authority to the apostles (e.g. Lk. 9:1-2, 6; Jn. 20:21; Acts 1:8). Rather it seems that we have stripped the contemporary role of “pastor” of much of what it means to be “shepherd.” We have spent over six decades re-tooling our seminaries to produce executives, and re-tooling our leadership theories to fit neoliberal business practices, and are summarily disappointed when the leaders of the church act like fortune 500 tycoons.
Pastors are anointed for the work of shepherding. Theirs becomes a strange role when we forget this.