A good shepherd heals the injured

For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs. “Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock!” Zechariah 11:16-17

That is the model of a bad shepherd…If we invert the qualities, we see a picture of the kind of good shepherd who God will use to lead His people:

3. Heal the injured

Part of pastoral care is having concern for those who are hurt; and there are a lot of hurting people in our congregations and communities. Some leaders feel like they are above helping hurting people, but that attitude has little to do with shepherding.

I’ve heard leaders talk about being ranchers—overseeing a huge sheepfold and making sure that under-shepherds are caring for the sheep. I understand. I’ve worked in ginormous churches. I know the lead pastor can’t (and shouldn’t) serve everyone once a church reaches a certain size. But the systems approach to care has always struck me as a little…impersonal—a little too mechanical.

So how do we truly care for people when our “fold” is over 60 “sheep”?

I think it all starts with an attitude adjustment. I am not the chief shepherd who employs under-shepherds to do the “dirty work”. We are all under-shepherds. And if THE Chief Shepherd regularly stopped His busy schedule to care for the injured (even though He has at least 12 semi-competent full-time under-shepherds surrounding Him) then I should too.

Caring for hurting people (like all aspects of ministry) isn’t taught as much as it’s caught. Unless the primary leader has a heart for it and is doing it, it’s not going to become a part of the congregational culture. And it has to become part of the culture if the duties of a shepherd are to be maintained within the midst of a growing church.

But where a lone pastor is running around taking care of all the needs, or where a group of professional staff alone is multiplying that effort, you have an unhealthy church. As Jerry Cook says in his book Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness, “the church is people, equipped to serve, meeting needs everywhere in Jesus’ name”.

Pastor-shepherds need to take care of sheep because it’s part of their calling, but also because it’s part of their faith. And they need to equip the congregations they serve to learn how to take care of hurting people, too. This way nobody is dependent on the pastor or staff alone to tend to them, but understands that the whole church is empowered to also bring healing to the injured in the power of the Spirit and in Jesus’ name.

Tomorrow: A good shepherd feeds the healthy.