Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Hope Beyond Religion A Job Description for Shepherds Msg 1417 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Hope Beyond Religion A Job Description for Shepherds Msg 1417 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Of all the preachers who ever lived, Charles Hadden Spurgeon
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Speaker 1: was among the most colorful, and for that matter, among
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Speaker 1: the most prolific, and among the most controversial, and among
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Speaker 1: the most eloquent, And it seems timeless in his work,
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Speaker 1: as you can see, in my opinion, if not the
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Speaker 1: greatest preacher in the history of the church, certainly among
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Speaker 1: the top ten. Anytime the subject of preaching arises, either
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Speaker 1: in a classroom or among a group of pastors, the
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Speaker 1: name Spurgeon will soon surface. He was a man who,
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Speaker 1: it seems, cut new swaths, and to this day it
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Speaker 1: seems as though he has no peer. His works are
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Speaker 1: both helpful and interesting. It's remarkable because he lived over
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Speaker 1: one hundred years years ago. From eighteen thirty four to
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Speaker 1: eighteen ninety two, at the age of twenty, Spurgeon was
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Speaker 1: called to the New Park Street Chapel in London, where
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Speaker 1: he served the Lord until his last sermon was preached
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Speaker 1: on the seventh of June eighteen ninety one, and then
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Speaker 1: he died the following January. During that period of time,
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Speaker 1: it was not uncommon for the congregation to number six thousand.
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Speaker 1: Back one hundred years ago, when there were not the
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Speaker 1: conveniences of travel that there are today. One biographer I
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Speaker 1: read told me that people would stand in the snow
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Speaker 1: waiting for the doors to open to assure themselves of
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Speaker 1: a seat to hear Spurgeon preach during his thirty eight
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Speaker 1: years at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. You see, they had to
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Speaker 1: build a new building after five years when Spurgeon had
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Speaker 1: been there, so it was renamed the a Tabernacle, the
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Speaker 1: Metropolitan Tabernacle. During those thirty eight years he was responsible
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Speaker 1: for the swelling of the membership of the church to
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Speaker 1: fourteen thousand, six hundred and ninety two. Remarkable, remarkable man.
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Speaker 1: Although a Baptist, he was an evangelical Calvinist. He was,
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Speaker 1: as one biographer put it, pre eminently a preacher. His
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Speaker 1: clear voice, his mastery of Anglo Saxon, and his keen
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Speaker 1: sense of humor, alied to a sure grasp of scripture
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Speaker 1: and a deep love for Christ, produced some of the
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Speaker 1: noblest preaching of any age. His sermons have been printed
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Speaker 1: and distributed throughout the world. A great deal of criticism
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Speaker 1: was leveled against him. It seems as though he, like Luther,
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Speaker 1: thrived in the storm. He was a man whom we
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Speaker 1: might call unflappable. He was criticized for two things in
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Speaker 1: his private life and many things in his public life.
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Speaker 1: The two things in his private life were curious. First,
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Speaker 1: he loved a good cigar, and his brothers in the
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Speaker 1: family of God simply could not tolerate such a thought.
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Speaker 1: And he said, when I take this to an extreme,
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Speaker 1: then I will stop. Someone asked, what is an extreme,
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Speaker 1: He said, two cigars at one time. The other private
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Speaker 1: criticism came against him and his wife, who, out of
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Speaker 1: their own funds, enjoyed an extremely large home on a
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Speaker 1: massive amount of acreage. And when the American press came
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Speaker 1: and exaggerated the report of the home, it infuriated Spurgeon.
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Speaker 1: And again he was known for his controversy, and that
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Speaker 1: went on for some time. His lovely home was known
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Speaker 1: as Westwood, And I have in my study one of
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Speaker 1: my prize possessions a full book of the Spurgeon home
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Speaker 1: Westwood and his enormous library. As he was a man
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Speaker 1: who not only read widely, but quoted widely in his sermons,
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Speaker 1: and even that brought an enormous amount of criticism against him.
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Speaker 1: Anyone who enters the ministry owes it to himself or
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Speaker 1: herself to read spurgeon, and to do it at least
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Speaker 1: once a month, to become a good student, especially of
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Speaker 1: his work. Lectures to my students. From that I quote,
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Speaker 1: every workman knows the necessity of keeping his tools in
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Speaker 1: a good state of repair. If the workman lose the edge,
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Speaker 1: he knows that there will be a greater draft upon
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Speaker 1: his energies, or his work will be badly done. Michael Angelo,
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Speaker 1: the elect of the Fine Arts, understood so well the
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Speaker 1: importance of his tools that he always made his own
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Speaker 1: brushes with his own hands. And in this he gives
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Speaker 1: us an illustration of the God of Grace, who, with
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Speaker 1: special care, fashions for himself. All true ministers, we are,
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Speaker 1: in a certain sense our own tools, and therefore must
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Speaker 1: keep ourselves in order. If I want to preach the Gospel,
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Speaker 1: I can only use my own voice. Therefore I must
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Speaker 1: train my vocal powers. I can only think with my
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Speaker 1: own brains and feel with my own heart, and therefore
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Speaker 1: I must educate my intellectual and emotional faculties. I can
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Speaker 1: only weep and agonize for souls with my own renewed nature.
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Speaker 1: Therefore must I watchfully maintain the tenderness which was in
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Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. It will be in vain for me to
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Speaker 1: stalk my library or organize societies or project schemes if
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Speaker 1: I neglect the culture of myself for books and agencies
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Speaker 1: and systems, or only remotely. The instruments of my holy calling,
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Speaker 1: my own spirit, soul, and body are my nearest machinery
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Speaker 1: for sacred service. My spiritual faculties and my inner life
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Speaker 1: are my battle acts and weapons for war. And then,
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Speaker 1: quoting from a letter of McShane, he concludes, remember you
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Speaker 1: are God's sword, his instrument. I trust a chosen vessel
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Speaker 1: unto Him to bear his name in great measure. According
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Speaker 1: to the purity and perfection of the instrument, will be
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Speaker 1: the success. It is not great talent God blesses so
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Speaker 1: much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an
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Speaker 1: awful weapon in the hand of God. I realize my
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Speaker 1: introductory remarks have been a bit longer than usual, perhaps
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Speaker 1: too long, but I wanted you to savor the flavor
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Speaker 1: of a life now gone whose continued ministry is as
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Speaker 1: effective as ever. Some of my most treasured works are
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Speaker 1: the Spurgeon section of my library, and I am continually
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Speaker 1: enlarging it in some cases replacing it because of overuse.
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Speaker 1: The first four verses of First Peter five were among
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Speaker 1: Spurgeon's favorites, and that's what drew my attention to him.
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Speaker 1: For us to get underway in our study today, let
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Speaker 1: me begin with some practical words of exhortation regarding expectations
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Speaker 1: as regarding the ministry for the next few minutes. Let
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Speaker 1: me to clear the air as we get underway in
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Speaker 1: this wonderful passage out of First Peter five. And I
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Speaker 1: want to touch on an area that is clearly one
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Speaker 1: of the most one of the thorniest, and frequently the
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Speaker 1: greatest battlefield in the local church. And it has to
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Speaker 1: do with expectations. It happens on both sides of the pulpit.
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Speaker 1: A young minister comes to a church and has unrealistic
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Speaker 1: expectations of the flock. On the other side, the flock
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Speaker 1: contacts and calls a man to pastor the church, and
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Speaker 1: they also have expectations that are off the graph. This
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Speaker 1: has the makings of madness in the ministry, and so
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Speaker 1: let me begin with some comments regarding the value of
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Speaker 1: clear thinking realism. One of the secrets of a long
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Speaker 1: term pastorate is clear thinking realism on part of both
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Speaker 1: the pastor and the congregation. Let's understand not every church
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Speaker 1: will be a metropolitan tabernacle, and hardly worth mentioning. Most
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Speaker 1: of us will never be a Spurgeon. These are illustrations
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Speaker 1: of the ultimate, but the fact is most of us
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Speaker 1: live far down the scale from that, and we must
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Speaker 1: learn to live with that and even love it. I
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Speaker 1: think if Charles hadden' spurgeon lived today, most churches would
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Speaker 1: not call him to be the pastor of that church.
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Speaker 1: They couldn't get over his style. And I think if
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Speaker 1: most of us knew in depth the story behind the tabernacle,
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Speaker 1: most pastors would not want to be the preacher of
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Speaker 1: that place. It's amazing what one hundred years history will
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Speaker 1: do to enlarge our vision of a church or of
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Speaker 1: a man. The importance of two way tolerance is terribly significant.
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Speaker 1: A pastor needs to be very tolerant of the people
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Speaker 1: he is serving, and the people who are being served
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Speaker 1: by the minister need to be very tolerant of him.
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Speaker 1: We need a lot of wobble room. We need to
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Speaker 1: give people room to be themselves. Reminds me of one
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Speaker 1: of my favorite quotes. It comes from the country be
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Speaker 1: who you is, because if you ain't who you is,
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Speaker 1: then you is who you ain't. And I have found
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Speaker 1: that people who try to be who they ain't are
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Speaker 1: really very frustrated people. I was just thinking, as I
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Speaker 1: sat and watched Howie and Paul and Mel and others
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Speaker 1: involved in this service, how wonderful the harmony is here.
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Speaker 1: You wouldn't know that if you were just dropping in
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Speaker 1: as a visitor, or even as a guest of ours
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Speaker 1: for a number of weeks, you would look at a
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Speaker 1: church this size and think it's probably behind the scenes
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Speaker 1: or rather rather slick operation, and a lot of professional
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Speaker 1: stuff goes on, but not much care for people. And
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Speaker 1: I'm sorry if that is your your false impression. It
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Speaker 1: is an impression, but it's wrong. The magnet that holds
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Speaker 1: us here as a staff and draws you who are
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Speaker 1: faithful in attendance over the years back to this place
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Speaker 1: is the very real bond of love that you just
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Speaker 1: can't get away from it. It can't be bought for
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Speaker 1: any price, it can't be legislated by any power, And
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Speaker 1: if anyone we're in the in the thing of ministry
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Speaker 1: here for the glory that it would ruin at all
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Speaker 1: and I can tell you behind the scenes, there is
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Speaker 1: a sense of oneness and delight. There's an absence of
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Speaker 1: competition within the boards. I have never seen a church
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Speaker 1: work in such harmony, never, never, ever in small churches
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Speaker 1: are large, I have never found a staff quite like ours.
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Speaker 1: Just this week, and I won't name him, a man
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Speaker 1: came into my office and looked me right in the
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Speaker 1: eyes and with tears expressed a love for me that
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Speaker 1: he had just not said for a while, and he
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Speaker 1: wanted to say it. That could sound very self serving,
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Speaker 1: but it's not meant that way. It's a very masculine individual,
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Speaker 1: a person you've all seen many times. But he just,
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Speaker 1: in a very spontaneous way, just decided to walk in,
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Speaker 1: sit down, close the door, look me right in the eye,
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Speaker 1: and tell me how much it means to him to
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Speaker 1: be a part of the team. That's wonderful, isn't it.
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Speaker 1: That's magnificent. That's really what grace can do in a
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Speaker 1: place like ours. And I think that goes on in
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Speaker 1: groups that meet four times of public baptism. And I
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Speaker 1: like that idea of swimming afterwards. I thought that was
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Speaker 1: that was great I heard. I think it was Karl
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Speaker 1: Armadine talk about the first baptism he did in Central America.
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Speaker 1: It was a great story. They had never been to
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Speaker 1: a baptism, probably never had one in that area. He said,
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Speaker 1: I baptized the first one, and he came up out
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Speaker 1: of the water in the river and he stood there
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Speaker 1: and he said in Spanish, of course, is that it?
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Speaker 1: And doctor Armadine said, well yes. He said, well, I
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Speaker 1: think I'll take a swim. So he started swimming around,
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Speaker 1: and then the next one was baptized. He thought, that's
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Speaker 1: what you're supposed to do after baptism, so he said.
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Speaker 1: By the time we finished, about twenty there were guys
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Speaker 1: swimming around, some floating spouting water out of the mouths.
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Speaker 1: It looked like a flotilla out there after we finished
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Speaker 1: the baptism. Very spontaneous, very unpredictable. I love that kind
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Speaker 1: of thing. I hope we never ever lose that. I
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Speaker 1: love it that no service is quite the same as another.
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Speaker 1: I love it that you're free and you're open to that.
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Speaker 1: I like it that we get less and less notes
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Speaker 1: from the congregation that say let's always do such and such,
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Speaker 1: or let's never do so and so there is a
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Speaker 1: sense of let's try something different. Let's do this. This
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Speaker 1: is fresh, this is new. Don't ever lose that, or
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Speaker 1: we will be small again, or we will be small
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Speaker 1: minded though large, and that's not really what we want.
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Speaker 1: Congregations need to allow the minister to be himself, to
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Speaker 1: have his own style. Of course, I'm not referring to
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Speaker 1: his living a lie or promoting sinfulness in his lifestyle.
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Speaker 1: But all of us have quirks, all of us have uniquenesses.
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Speaker 1: And if we're going to live together comfortably over a
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Speaker 1: long period of time, we who have been married quite
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Speaker 1: some time know the value of being tolerant of one
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Speaker 1: another's idiosyncrasies and styles. Now in the passage before us,
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Speaker 1: we have a section of scripture that sort of stands
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Speaker 1: on its own regarding the pastor it may I read
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Speaker 1: these four verses to begin with. Therefore, I exhort the
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Speaker 1: elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of
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Speaker 1: the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the
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Speaker 1: glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of
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Speaker 1: God among you, not under compulsion, but voluntarily according to
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Speaker 1: the will of God, and not for sordid gain, but
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Speaker 1: with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted
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Speaker 1: to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
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Speaker 1: And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
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Speaker 1: unfading crown of glory. I'm so pleased that our source
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Speaker 1: of direction for guidelines in life does not rest in
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Speaker 1: a book one hundred years old, but in the timeless
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Speaker 1: word of the Living God, the inerrant word of God.
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Speaker 1: And from this passage and others related to it, we're
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Speaker 1: able to sort of build some biblical guidelines for all
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Speaker 1: who minister in any era and in any geographical location.
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Speaker 1: I find right off the bat in verses one and
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Speaker 1: two two effective principles for the minister. The first is this,
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Speaker 1: pride of position must be absent. Pride of position must
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Speaker 1: be absent. You will observe that it is Peter, the Apostle,
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Speaker 1: the spokesman for the early Church, the one who saw
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Speaker 1: with his own eyes and literally walked with the Messiah
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Speaker 1: that wrote this letter. It is Peter, and yet he
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Speaker 1: never hints at his own position of authority. Any sense
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Speaker 1: of pride of position is absent. From these opening remarks,
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Speaker 1: he calls himself a fellow elder, a witness of the
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Speaker 1: sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that
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Speaker 1: is to be revealed. I think those words are very
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Speaker 1: humble words. Not a word about apostleship, not a word
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Speaker 1: about the importance of their obedience to his teaching. He
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Speaker 1: simply identifies with the elders as a fellow elder. And
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Speaker 1: if you want to make the word partake her a
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Speaker 1: little bit more under standable, think of the word partner.
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Speaker 1: I'm a partner with you in the same glory that's
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Speaker 1: going to be revealed. Hereafter having taught that for a
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Speaker 1: few moments, let me apply it. The ministry is a
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Speaker 1: wonderful place for the building of a proud life. Unfortunately,
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Speaker 1: that can consume a person in ministry. I've made a
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Speaker 1: list of the reasons why we can become proud. We
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Speaker 1: speak for God. We stand before large groups of people regularly.
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Speaker 1: When you stop and think about it, the minister, in
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Speaker 1: his profession, calling occupation, whatever you may call it, stands
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Speaker 1: before more people than most other executives stand before in
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Speaker 1: their work, and we do it more regularly. We have
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Speaker 1: more people waiting upon our words than most any other calling,
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Speaker 1: perhaps more than any other. We can live a virtue,
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Speaker 1: unaccountable life. We are trusted by most, we are respected
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Speaker 1: by many, and throughout our lifetime we are questioned by
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Speaker 1: very few people. We do our best work away from
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Speaker 1: the public. We are expected to live in the study,
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Speaker 1: which is a place of secrecy, a place with God.
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Speaker 1: All of that is like a minefield of perils and dangers,
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Speaker 1: because because before you know it, you can begin to
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Speaker 1: fall into the trap of believing only what you say
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Speaker 1: and seeing only what you discover. Now, if Peter, one
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Speaker 1: of the original twelve, the earliest spokesman for the church,
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Speaker 1: this anointed servant of God, would not mention his role
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Speaker 1: of importance, I think we can learn a lesson from him.
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Speaker 1: Few things are sadder to behold than a minister whose
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Speaker 1: eyes have fallen upon himself. Let's be careful about that,
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Speaker 1: all of us in ministry today. Now. The second is
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Speaker 1: that a heart of a shepherd must be present shepherd
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Speaker 1: the flock of God which is among you. This is
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Speaker 1: why I've called this a job description for shepherds. The
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Speaker 1: initial imperative in the passage is to shepherd. Your Bible
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Speaker 1: may read to feed the flock of God. The original
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Speaker 1: root word means to act as a shepherd to tend
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Speaker 1: a flock, and don't miss this, they are called deliberately
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Speaker 1: the flock of God. That is why I have never
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Speaker 1: cultivated the habit that I hear among many ministry of
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Speaker 1: referring to their church as my people. You are not
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Speaker 1: my people. I love you as a congregation. We've gotten
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Speaker 1: along relatively well, and God has joined us and bonded
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Speaker 1: us together in this ministry. But I don't believe I
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Speaker 1: have ever thought of you as mine, always as God's.
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Speaker 1: You must ultimately answer to him. You live your life
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Speaker 1: before him. You are to obey him. It is his
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Speaker 1: word that we together follow. So technically speaking, you are
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Speaker 1: the flock of God, and I, as an under shepherd,
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Speaker 1: am responsible to tend his flock, much like David tended
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Speaker 1: his father's flock. One man describes the assignment like this definition.
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Speaker 1: The true elder is the shepherd of the flock in
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Speaker 1: which God has placed him. He bears them on his heart,
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Speaker 1: He seeks them when they stray, He defends them from harm,
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Speaker 1: He comforts them in their pain, and feeds them with
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Speaker 1: the truth. Now I won't go any further before I
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Speaker 1: add that unless you have the heart of a shepherd,
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Speaker 1: you really ought not to be in a pastorate. You
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Speaker 1: might wish to teach in ministry, you might wish to
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Speaker 1: be involved in some other realm of ministry, and there
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Speaker 1: are dozens of possibilities. But don't go into the pastorate
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Speaker 1: if you lack the heart of a shepherd. And if
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Speaker 1: you lack that heart, do the flock of favor and
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Speaker 1: step aside so as to make room for a shepherd.
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Speaker 1: Howie Stevenson, I Ministry of Music has Our Minister of
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Speaker 1: Music has a cute little sign that hangs in his office.
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Speaker 1: It reads, never try to teach a pig to sing.
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Speaker 1: It wastes your time and it annoys the pig. I've
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Speaker 1: heard people say, well, I'll just learn how to be
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Speaker 1: a shepherd. It's got to be in your heart. There
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Speaker 1: isn't a textbook, there isn't a course, there isn't a
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Speaker 1: an assignment that. There isn't some relationship that will make
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Speaker 1: you a shepherd. It is a calling. It is a calling.
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Speaker 1: You are not educated into becoming a shepherd. Seminary is
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Speaker 1: so important in that during your years in seminary you
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Speaker 1: discover if you have such a heart, and if it's
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Speaker 1: there the pastor, it might be your aim. If it
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Speaker 1: is not, do not pursue the pastorate because it requires
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Speaker 1: the heart of a shepherd. I've seen it on many occasions.
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Speaker 1: I've seen angelists filling pulpits, and the church is evangelized,
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Speaker 1: but it isn't shepherded. I've seen teachers, strict, hardcore teachers
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Speaker 1: filling the pulpit, and the church is educated, but it
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Speaker 1: isn't pastored. It isn't shepherded. One must have a shepherd's heart,
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Speaker 1: which certainly includes teaching, and it certainly includes exhortation, but
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Speaker 1: it also includes love and tolerance, patience, understanding, even a
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Speaker 1: little wobble room so as to make room for those
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Speaker 1: who don't measure up. Over the years in the pastorate,
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Speaker 1: I have learned that there a seasoning comes. I look
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Speaker 1: back with a sigh twenty years, twenty five or more
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Speaker 1: years ago, to those early years in ministry, when I
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Speaker 1: had everything so carefully charted. I've often said answers to
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Speaker 1: questions no one was asking. I was so sure of myself.
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Speaker 1: There were hundreds of truths I would die for. I'm
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Speaker 1: not nearly so quick to die for so many things,
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Speaker 1: though the few things I now would die for I
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Speaker 1: think I would die immediately for them if necessary. But
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Speaker 1: the longer I live, the longer becomes the tether. And
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Speaker 1: I think the greater my understanding of the struggler. Maybe
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Speaker 1: that goes with shepherding a flock over the years. Following
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Speaker 1: these two effective principles, which I hope you won't forget,
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Speaker 1: something must be absent, the pride, the proud attitude that
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Speaker 1: often is seen among those in public places. And something
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Speaker 1: must be present, and that is the heart of a shepherd.
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Speaker 1: Don't forget those things. Following those, we have three all
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Speaker 1: important attitudes set fourth in verses two and three that
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Speaker 1: have been worked over I'm sure in most churches, so
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Speaker 1: there's no reason to linger here needlessly. Let me have
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Speaker 1: you notice if you were studying on your own, that
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Speaker 1: you'd be able to point them out. Each begins with
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Speaker 1: a negative as regarding the attitude shepherd the flock of
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Speaker 1: God among you, number one not but number two into
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Speaker 1: verse two, not but and number three verse three nor
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Speaker 1: but see the phrases as they appear in the text.
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Speaker 1: It's very simple for you to observe that. And those
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Speaker 1: are red flags. Those are signals that go off in
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Speaker 1: my mind when I'm reading through the scriptures and looking
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Speaker 1: for a sort of a guideline or for a chart,
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Speaker 1: or for an outline. Let's take them in that order.
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Speaker 1: Shepherd the flock of God among you with these three attitudes.
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Speaker 1: Attitude number one is an attitude of willingness, not under compulsion,
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Speaker 1: but voluntarily. Compulsion simply means to be compelled by force.
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Speaker 1: Like you have to get your teenager out of bed
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Speaker 1: early in the morning to go to school. That is compulsion.
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Speaker 1: The kid wakes up and has to get breakfast and
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Speaker 1: has to get off to school, perhaps by seven point
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Speaker 1: fifteen or catches the bus by seven point thirty, and
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Speaker 1: you've got to work at getting him out of bed.
27:36
Speaker 1: I heard a cute joke not long ago. It was
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Speaker 1: a young man sleeping in It happened to be Sunday morning.
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Speaker 1: His mother came in said, wake up, and you've got
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Speaker 1: to get up. Time's getting past us, and you got
27:51
Speaker 1: to get out of bed. And he said, will you
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Speaker 1: give me three good reasons why I have to get up?
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Speaker 1: And she said, well, first of all, it's Sunday morning,
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Speaker 1: and it's only right that we be in church. And second,
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Speaker 1: because it's only forty minutes until church starts, so we
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Speaker 1: don't have much time. And third, you're the pastor, and
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Speaker 1: you ought to be there. Paul writes in his Swan
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Speaker 1: Song to be ready in season and out of season,
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Speaker 1: to stay at it in season and out of season.
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Speaker 1: One of the things that characterizes burnout in ministry is
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Speaker 1: a lack of eagerness. That's why I encourage our staff
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Speaker 1: every week to take a day off, if possible, a
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Speaker 1: day and a half or two days if possible, to
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Speaker 1: replenish your soul, to refresh your spirit, and never ever
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Speaker 1: to miss taking your vacation time to get away, to
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Speaker 1: get away with your mate, spend time in refreshment and
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Speaker 1: romance and enjoyment of one another and of life, and
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Speaker 1: of nature and of God's beautiful handiwork all around us.
29:12
Speaker 1: I see many a frowning face when I go to
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Speaker 1: these pastors' conferences, and I think of all the groups
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Speaker 1: that I minister to, none is more depressed than a
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Speaker 1: group of pastors. They are overworked, usually underpaid, and almost
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Speaker 1: without exception, underappreciated. Though some of them are doing a
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Speaker 1: remarkable piece of work, there are mild depressions that also
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Speaker 1: come that keep us from this sense of willingness. You
29:43
Speaker 1: can't explain some of those depressions. Spurgeon writes of many reasons.
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Speaker 1: I was reading to Cynthia the other day. She was
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Speaker 1: in the kitchen working on some things, and I walked
29:52
Speaker 1: over and I said, you've got to hear this, and
29:54
Speaker 1: I read her about three pages of lectures to my students,
29:57
Speaker 1: and he described some of the reasons for what we
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Speaker 1: would call burnout in ministry. He even admitted to depression
30:04
Speaker 1: in his own life, often before a great success, often
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Speaker 1: after a great success, often because of a note or
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Speaker 1: a letter from someone, often because of something he couldn't explain.
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Speaker 1: He couldn't even find out reasons why. He calls this
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Speaker 1: chapter the Minister's fainting fits, And if you would indulge
30:27
Speaker 1: me another paragraph, fits of depression come over the most
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Speaker 1: of us, Usually cheerful as we may be, we must
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Speaker 1: at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous,
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Speaker 1: the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous,
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Speaker 1: and the joyous not always happy. There may be here
30:48
Speaker 1: and there men of iron, but surely the rust frets
30:53
Speaker 1: even these men of iron. But still rust must fret them.
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Speaker 1: I'm back to my comment on tolerance. Be very tolerant
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Speaker 1: with your pastor, be very understanding. Try your best not
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Speaker 1: to be too demanding. Multiply your request by however many
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Speaker 1: there are in your ministry, and you'll have long patience
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Speaker 1: with the shepherd of the flock. Be very understanding. Remember
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Speaker 1: that if you write a letter that would bring your
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Speaker 1: spirit down, there probably are dozens of others doing the same.
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Speaker 1: Think before you write such a letter, because he will tend,
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Speaker 1: being a shepherd, to take it seriously, and he will
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Speaker 1: be able to quote that letter a year later, long
31:43
Speaker 1: after you even forgot that you wrote it. Be a
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Speaker 1: reason that the man is able to shepherd the flock,
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Speaker 1: not under compulsion, but voluntarily according to the will of God.
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Speaker 1: Now look at the second an attitude of eagerness, not
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Speaker 1: just willingness, But the next phrase describes an attitude of
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Speaker 1: enthusiastic eagerness. Look how he words it, not for sordid gain,
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Speaker 1: but with eagerness. The old King James Bible called it
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Speaker 1: filthy lucre. That's not a bad word, is it. Be
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Speaker 1: sure that your ministry is not motivated from the external
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Speaker 1: benefits of the money. I challenge many preachers, and I
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Speaker 1: have done it through the years, not to do a
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Speaker 1: wedding because you get fifty dollars to do a wedding
32:38
Speaker 1: or whatever you may get. Not to do a conference
32:41
Speaker 1: because they give you an honorarium of a couple or
32:43
Speaker 1: three hundred dollars. That's not a good reason. Don't be
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Speaker 1: in ministry and changed because the next place will pay
32:53
Speaker 1: you more money, and that is really the reason you're
32:55
Speaker 1: changing churches. Watch out for the most. When I was
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Speaker 1: in seminary, my sister made me a small sign. It
33:05
Speaker 1: was about eight and a half by five, and I
33:10
Speaker 1: put it up in front of my desk where I studied.
33:12
Speaker 1: I've lost the sign. I wish I had it. I'd
33:14
Speaker 1: love to set it up on my desk to this day.
33:19
Speaker 1: It simply read, what's your motive? You know it's a
33:25
Speaker 1: searching question, and every shepherd needs to ask that question
33:29
Speaker 1: on a weekly basis. What is my motive? Motive must
33:35
Speaker 1: forever be examined. The positive side of this is that
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Speaker 1: there is nothing quite as exciting and delightful to be
33:42
Speaker 1: around as a shepherd with enthusiasm. I'm sort of overworking
33:48
Speaker 1: the Spurgeon quotes today, but I must add one more.
33:51
Speaker 1: Someone asked him about enthusiasm, and he was always surprised
33:55
Speaker 1: that someone would struggle with enthusiasm because he had such
33:58
Speaker 1: a zeal. All you've got to do is pour a caress,
34:02
Speaker 1: a bucket of kerosene over yourself and set fire, and
34:04
Speaker 1: people come what you burn a I mean, if this
34:07
Speaker 1: thing is gotten into your soul, there's something incredibly zealous
34:11
Speaker 1: about the declaration of it, and your zeal is contagious.
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Speaker 1: Your love for the scriptures becomes the flocks love for
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Speaker 1: the scriptures. Your zest for life becomes the congregations zest
34:25
Speaker 1: for life. Your commitment to leisure and enjoyment of life
34:30
Speaker 1: becomes their commitment to leisure and enjoyment of life, along
34:33
Speaker 1: with commitment to obeying God. They go together, and there
34:38
Speaker 1: must be balance or there will be a breakdown. My
34:42
Speaker 1: heart saddens when I find a person who is nothing
34:45
Speaker 1: but intense, intense about everything, everything, expecting full commitment. I
34:52
Speaker 1: worry about fellas like that. That's not eagerness, that's an
34:58
Speaker 1: intensity that is too extreme. Now there's a third attitude,
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Speaker 1: and it's what I'll call an attitude of meekness, nor
35:05
Speaker 1: yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge,
35:09
Speaker 1: but proving to be examples to the flock, lording it
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Speaker 1: over those allotted to your charge. It's the idea of
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Speaker 1: exercising undue authority over others. We, as shepherds, must learn
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Speaker 1: to hold our congregations loosely, hold them loosely. We must
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Speaker 1: watch our tendency of gaining dominion over them, thinking of
35:43
Speaker 1: them as underlings. No, think of yourself as a servant,
35:48
Speaker 1: not as sovereign. Give the flock room to disagree. Assure
35:55
Speaker 1: them that they are to think on their own, and
35:57
Speaker 1: to become personally convinced of the convictions that you perhaps have,
36:03
Speaker 1: but guard against forsting and requiring your opinion from them.
36:10
Speaker 1: I've just finished listening to a tape because one of
36:12
Speaker 1: our staff told me this is something that I really
36:14
Speaker 1: should take the time to listen to. And while I
36:17
Speaker 1: listened to this dear man who has been in ministry
36:20
Speaker 1: for years, I heard another Jim Jones as he preached,
36:27
Speaker 1: and I ached for that church. Here is a man
36:31
Speaker 1: who has gained the mastery over the flock. And they
36:36
Speaker 1: remind me of little trained dogs who follow in his steps,
36:41
Speaker 1: and at his snapping of fingers they jump into line. Friend,
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Speaker 1: that is not the flock of God. That is the
36:51
Speaker 1: manipulation of a man the pastor. It brings an enormous
36:57
Speaker 1: amount of authority, and not even elders, as powerful as
37:02
Speaker 1: they may be, can take your place in the pulpit.
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Speaker 1: It is a place where you can wield incredible authority.
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Speaker 1: Don't abuse it. It is a great tendency to do that. Well,
37:17
Speaker 1: then you say, how do I get the authority that
37:19
Speaker 1: I ought to have as a minister of the gospel, Well,
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Speaker 1: you've already forgotten. Maybe what we just read proving to
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Speaker 1: be examples to the flock. There is something convincing about
37:32
Speaker 1: a model. Just model the truth, just live the life,
37:41
Speaker 1: and you may remember Moses, at the end of his
37:43
Speaker 1: life was said to have been the meekest man on
37:46
Speaker 1: the face of the earth. Here is a man who pastored,
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Speaker 1: may I use that word millions of people, But he
37:54
Speaker 1: despised the fame. He cared nothing for the applause of
38:00
Speaker 1: the public. He refused to manipulate the people. In fact,
38:06
Speaker 1: broken hearted before God, he even said, just take me
38:10
Speaker 1: out of the way. This wonderful section of Scripture is
38:16
Speaker 1: a good reminder that as important as it is to
38:19
Speaker 1: be an authority, it is never appropriate for us to
38:23
Speaker 1: lord it over those allotted to your charge. No extra
38:27
Speaker 1: charge for this little comment. But it's been my observation
38:30
Speaker 1: that is a mark of insecurity. Those who must have
38:35
Speaker 1: full agreement from everyone are terribly insecure people. In ministry,
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Speaker 1: the simplest teacher, who lives out his lessons in daily
38:46
Speaker 1: life becomes a mighty power. Isn't it interesting that Christ
38:51
Speaker 1: Jesus never demanded his disciples to write anything down, never
38:56
Speaker 1: once exhorted him to memorize one thing. What he told
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Speaker 1: him most of all was do not be afraid. That
39:05
Speaker 1: was his most frequent command, do not be afraid. And
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Speaker 1: the other was given by implication, watch me and follow
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Speaker 1: my model. And no one has ever had the authority
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Speaker 1: over a flock like Christ. There is one eternal reward.
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Speaker 1: You can read it for yourself in verse four. When
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Speaker 1: the chief shepherd appears, this beautiful When the chief Shepherd appears,
39:32
Speaker 1: you will receive the unfading crown of glory. I've talked
39:38
Speaker 1: about crowns before, but I've not mentioned this crown because
39:43
Speaker 1: I knew we would get to this before long. And
39:46
Speaker 1: this is an exclusive crown. The crown of life is
39:50
Speaker 1: for those who suffer. There are other crowns that anyone
39:54
Speaker 1: may receive in the day when we stand before the
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Speaker 1: judgment seat of Christ, but only those who minister before
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Speaker 1: a flock are able to receive the unfading crown of glory. Notice,
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Speaker 1: when Christ appears as a result of fulfilling these examples,
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Speaker 1: these attitudes shepherding the flock, there will be available. There
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Speaker 1: will be made available to you the crown of glory.
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Speaker 1: Let me wrap up my comments by speaking very very
40:30
Speaker 1: briefly to two different groups of us. First, those who
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Speaker 1: are engaged in ministry that is an occupational Christian service
40:40
Speaker 1: vocational Christian service. And then those who are being led
40:43
Speaker 1: are ministered to by those in such positions. My word
40:49
Speaker 1: to those of us engaged in ministry is keep a
40:52
Speaker 1: healthy balance. Keep a healthy balance each also remain a
41:02
Speaker 1: good student, be teachable, read, listen, learn, observe, be ready
41:11
Speaker 1: to change and change, admit wrong where you were wrong,
41:17
Speaker 1: stand firm where you know you were right. Since you
41:21
Speaker 1: were called to be a leader, follow, Well, we're back
41:26
Speaker 1: to that comment about servanthood. When you lead, put yourself
41:30
Speaker 1: in the follower's shoes and think about what it would
41:32
Speaker 1: be if you were sitting there listening to you say
41:35
Speaker 1: those things. Neither underestimate your importance or exaggerate your role.
41:43
Speaker 1: You are called of God. You represent him, his message,
41:47
Speaker 1: his vision. You can become whipped by a congregation. It
41:51
Speaker 1: happened to me once. It will never but the grace
41:54
Speaker 1: of God happen to me again. If you fall under
41:59
Speaker 1: the sway of a strong board, you will find that
42:02
Speaker 1: the blow is taken from your voice. Something tragic happens
42:06
Speaker 1: to a leader who has lost his drive and his determination. Yeah,
42:13
Speaker 1: but you cannot do it all, So delegate you need.
42:16
Speaker 1: You have a big job to do. Let others help
42:18
Speaker 1: you do it, and when they do it, well, give
42:20
Speaker 1: them credit. You have a serious work, So keep a
42:24
Speaker 1: good sense of humor. I often say, take God seriously,
42:29
Speaker 1: but don't take yourself too seriously. Laugh often, and don't
42:35
Speaker 1: be afraid even to laugh at things you once said.
42:40
Speaker 1: I do that once a year. You see, tapes are
42:45
Speaker 1: made of all my messages, which is a sort of
42:51
Speaker 1: a frightening thought to begin with, isn't it. And at
42:54
Speaker 1: the end of the year, those who produce our tapes
42:57
Speaker 1: and do our work of putting them in on the radio,
43:02
Speaker 1: give me a cassette. And on the cassette are all
43:07
Speaker 1: the things they took out during the year start of
43:12
Speaker 1: a Christmas gift, and some have even had the audacity
43:17
Speaker 1: to play this tape at a Christmas party for hundreds
43:22
Speaker 1: to hear and enjoy. I cannot believe the dumb things
43:27
Speaker 1: I have said in that given year. It is enough
43:30
Speaker 1: to really reduce one to the size of an ant's remarkable.
43:37
Speaker 1: If that could be done for every minister, it would
43:40
Speaker 1: be a wonderful thing. For your pride, I'll tell you,
43:43
Speaker 1: or maybe I'll just say for your humility. It is
43:46
Speaker 1: remarkable what the ear forgives through the year. And if
43:51
Speaker 1: I haven't said it recently, I need to say it today.
43:54
Speaker 1: Thank you for understanding those times that I have made
43:59
Speaker 1: massive mistakes. Not long ago, on a Sunday morning, I
44:02
Speaker 1: made the comment. And this is the last time that
44:07
Speaker 1: man is recorded in all of scripture. Now, let's look
44:10
Speaker 1: at chapter seven. So we turn to chapter seven, and
44:12
Speaker 1: the same man speaks in chapter seven. I mean, I
44:20
Speaker 1: just want to go, well, you know, good night, swindle.
44:24
Speaker 1: You just read where you've got it in there. Not
44:28
Speaker 1: a soul wrote me, not a person said you dummy.
44:32
Speaker 1: You just read that was the last time. Learn to
44:36
Speaker 1: laugh at yourself. If they wanted a perfect man. That
44:41
Speaker 1: have to call back the Son of God because he's
44:44
Speaker 1: the only one that qualifies, and anyone else who thinks
44:48
Speaker 1: he's in that category is disqualified. So that means we're
44:52
Speaker 1: all in the category of sinners and people who fail.
45:03
Speaker 1: Now second to those of you being led, May I
45:07
Speaker 1: encourage you to be a reason for rejoicing what an assignment?
45:12
Speaker 1: Listen to this Hebrews thirteen seventeen. Obey your leaders, submit
45:18
Speaker 1: to them, or they keep watch over your souls. And
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Speaker 1: those who will give an account. As those who will
45:26
Speaker 1: give an account, let them do this with joy and
45:30
Speaker 1: not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
45:36
Speaker 1: If you are being led in a ministry, be a
45:39
Speaker 1: reason for rejoicing. Think of ways to encourage the leader.
45:43
Speaker 1: Pray often for him, model gratitude and love. Defend the
45:49
Speaker 1: leader whenever possible, And when you can't tell him to
45:54
Speaker 1: his face and no one else your concern, do it brief, graciously,
46:01
Speaker 1: and forgive quickly. Try to imagine being in the shoes
46:06
Speaker 1: of the one who lives with the burden of the
46:08
Speaker 1: whole flock and never is free of that. And finally,
46:15
Speaker 1: think of how it would be if everyone else in
46:17
Speaker 1: the flock were just like you. I think it would
46:23
Speaker 1: do a lot to help us with our tolerance for
46:28
Speaker 1: the Shepherd. For the next few moments, I would like
46:34
Speaker 1: us to bow our heads and close our eyes and
46:40
Speaker 1: prepare ourselves for a time of personal worship. This is
46:47
Speaker 1: an occasion for us to reflect on our ways, to
46:53
Speaker 1: check our lives, to be certain that we claim Christ
46:58
Speaker 1: as Lord, that we are indeed a part of the family.
47:05
Speaker 1: This is a perfect opportunity for any who do not
47:08
Speaker 1: know the Lord to pause and give him your heart.
47:21
Speaker 1: Our Father enables us in these next few moments to
47:24
Speaker 1: be removed from the cares and the intensities of our lives,
47:30
Speaker 1: and take us back to the cross where our salvation
47:37
Speaker 1: was effected, where the payment was paid, where the Savior died,
47:47
Speaker 1: and having brought us there, show us again the agony
47:52
Speaker 1: and the cost of his obedience. And Lord, as we
48:00
Speaker 1: search our hearts, revealed to us any area that may
48:03
Speaker 1: be displeasing to you, an area of recurring weakness, where
48:08
Speaker 1: there must be repentance, There must be confession, cleanse us,
48:18
Speaker 1: refresh us, bring us to the cross, our Father, and
48:24
Speaker 1: for these moments meet us there. I pray in Jesus
48:32
Speaker 1: name Amen. The preceding message Hope Beyond Religion. A job
48:41
Speaker 1: description for shepherds was copyrighted in nineteen eighty nine, nineteen ninety,
48:46
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six, two thousand and six, twenty eleven, and
48:50
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
48:53
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three by Charles Arswindahl, Inc. All rights are
48:58
Speaker 1: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
49:03
Speaker 1: strictly prohibited