In Your Shepherding, Make It Obvious What the Good Shepherd Is Like
Pastoral Gentleness
We pastors learn gentleness as we ponder carefully, How does anyone actually change? We ourselves have never really changed by being scolded, cornered, pressured, or belittled. That might modify behavior for a while, but we really change—and that’s what the gospel’s about: real, deep, profound personal change. Transformation. The glory entering in.
We change as we’re surprised by grace, mercy, patience, and gentleness coming down upon us from above, and even upon us at our worst. We’ve all experienced that. We revere that grace from above. Well, now it’s our turn. And it’s our privilege to show the same grace to others.
So what we’re doing is that we’re seeing the kind of good shepherd Jesus is, and we’re simply trying, through our leadership, to make it obvious that that’s what the good shepherd is like.
You're Not Crazy
Ray Ortlund, Sam Allberry
In this practical guide, seasoned pastors Ray Ortlund and Sam Allberry help weary leaders renew their love for ministry by equipping them to build a gospel-centered culture into every aspect of their churches.
Peter says in 1 Peter 5 that Jesus is the chief shepherd. We are the very, very, very junior under-shepherds. But we’ve got to be hoping that our leading and shepherding is making it really obvious what the good shepherd is like.
And if we’re being coercive, belittling, or superior, we’re actually obscuring the character of Jesus. We’re defacing him. And if we have to make progress by being pushy, then we have the wrong ends and the wrong means. Let’s go back to gospel ministry.
Ray Ortlund and Sam Allberry are coauthors of You’re Not Crazy: Gospel Sanity for Weary Churches.
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