Shepherding the Church

This morning I am reading from Acts 20:28-31 NIV:
[28]. "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. [29] I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. [30] Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. [31] So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears."

This is an excerpt from David Guzik's commentary:
a. Paul's counsel to the elders is plain: Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock. The godly leader knows that effective leadership flows from a life, not just knowledge.

i. Also important to leaders is the principle that the church belongs to God, because He purchased [it] with His own blood. The people don't belong to the pastor; they belong to the Lord. As long as they choose to remain under the care and leadership of that pastor, he has a responsibility before God to feed and lead them; but they never belong to him.

b. Take heed . . . to all the flock . . . to shepherd the church of God . . . therefore watch: Taking care of God's people basically amounts to two things. First, being a shepherd to the flock; secondly, watching over them, protecting them from danger.

i. The first idea behind being a shepherd is feeding God's people. "They are to be shepherds of God's church, poimanino meaning in general to tend a flock and in particular to lead a flock to pasture and so to feed it. This is the first duty of shepherds." (Stott)

ii. But it isn't enough to feed; the shepherd must also protect the sheep. Watch applies both to savage wolves that come in from the outside and to those who rise up from among yourselves.

iii. It is often easier for pastors to deal with the wolves that come from the outside - obviously false teachings and goofy winds of doctrine. But it is very difficult to deal with those who rise up from among yourselves, because you don't want to believe that they are in fact speaking perverse things and trying to draw away the disciples after themselves. But Paul insisted that such people were real, and that pastors would have to deal with them!

That is such a good perspective and great advice. Paul, in speaking a last message to the Ephesian leaders is once again calling to mind the basics and examining the foundation of the Church. Leadership of a church is instituted by the Holy Spirit, and should be a great sense of responsibility, for the Lord has entrusted the care and feeding and protecting of a certain group to those He calls as shepherds. The people are His, the church is His, we are purely stewards of His flocks. Historically, most shepherds, didn't own the sheep they shepherded, rather they cared for sheep that were owned by someone else. The quality of the job they did was evident in the condition of the flock that was in their care. If they all present and were healthy strong and reproducing, then the owner knew the shepherd was doing a good job.

Lord, help those who are in shepherding positions to listen to Paul's encouragement and charge and look at their ministry and make adjustments as they need. We want to raise up a healthy and strong church for Your Glory.