The New Testament rebukes the believer who is satisfied with milk and flees from serious learning of the things of God by avoiding the difficult digestion of the meat of the Word of God. It is the first responsibility of the pastor to make sure that the sheep under his care are fed, nourished, and nurtured by the whole counsel of the Word of God. Sheep without food soon grow thin, weak, emaciated, and sickly - ultimately perishing. Jesus three times gave the mandate to Peter to feed His sheep - to tend the flock. This was set forth with great emphasis in JesusвЂ™ discourse with Peter after the resurrection, when He inquired of PeterвЂ™s love for his Master. Secondly, the shepherd is responsible to feed the sheep. Some pastors are very effective in leading without that authority simply by the sheer force of their personality or the skills they have inВ leading. From Old Testament times beginning with Moses into the New Testament, those who were called to be elders and deacons were to be placed in a position to give aid and assistance to the shepherd, who was given the authority and responsibility to lead the flock. They have been so fearful that they would lose their jobs by being bold in their preaching and passionate in their concern for the sheep that they keep one eye on the sheep and the other eye on those who hire and fire them. This is one of the reasons why so many pastors have compromised the preaching of the gospel. So that the pastor, in being subordinate to the elder board, always has to keep one eye on his supervisors before he takes the reigns to lead the flock of Christ. For the most part, they are considered hirelings by the governing boards of the local church, whether it be a board of elders, deacons, or a consistory. One of the great tragedies in the church of the twenty-first century, particularly in Protestantism, is that while pastors are given the responsibility for leading their congregations, rarely do they receive a level of authority that matches that responsibility. It is the chief responsibility of the pastor, who is the shepherd, to lead theВ sheep. They are prone to getting lost, getting injured, and being left in a state of vulnerability unless they are cared for by a shepherd. If anyone has observed the behavior of sheep who are left unguided, without the care and constant supervision of a shepherd, he is aware that sheep tend to move willy-nilly in all directions without any order to their movement.

In the first place, to be a shepherd over the flock of sheep means that it is the shepherdвЂ™s responsibility to lead the sheep. But what does it mean to be a shepherd over theВ flock? The metaphor of the shepherd who cares for his flock becomes then the metaphor that defines the work of the local pastor. One of the titles that the New Testament bestows upon Him is that of the Good Shepherd. The supreme paradigm, or model, for pastoral ministry is seen in the work of Jesus Himself. This was a precursor of what Luther had in mind in the sixteenth century when he advocated the doctrine of the вЂњpriesthood of all believers.вЂќ In that doctrine, Luther did not intend to obscure the distinction between laity and clergy but simply intended to point out that all Christians are to be involved in fulfilling the mission of theВ church.ДЄt the same time, the New Testament makes it clear that there are those appointed to be leaders in the local church, and they are called by various names, but in the main we think of the pastor as the leader of the local church. It is obvious from this text in Acts that one of the functions of the leaders of the early church was to equip the laity so that the ministry of the gospel could be effected through their labors. The apostles remained in Jerusalem and were not numbered among those who fled during the great persecution. They were the laity of the first-century church. We notice here that the people described as going everywhere preaching the Word were not the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.вЂќ A little bit later in the text we read these words: вЂњTherefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the wordвЂќ ( Acts 8:4). In Acts 8:1В we read, вЂњAt that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. When we examine life in the early Christian church, we see a remarkable phenomenon recorded for us in the book of Acts.

So sayeth the shepherd