The Purpose of Leadership: The Call to Transformational Ministry - Part Two

Part Two

By Glenn Daman

If the purpose of our ministry is transformational in nature, the question confronting us is whom we are to transform and how do we go about achieving the process. We have repeated stated and implied that ministry is intrinsically simple, but it is not easy. This is especially true regarding the task of influencing and impacting people’s lives. In ministry we can become so focused upon programs and structures that we loose sight of the real object of our ministry. In many cases we fall prey to the proverbial error of the tail wagging the dog. The reason is because we become muddled in our thinking regarding the focus of our ministry. When this happens ministry becomes confusingly complex and thorny. The result in the small church is that we start trying to duplicate what worked elsewhere. We attempt to become the mini-mega-church. Instead of developing a ministry that is tailored to our specific small church location and environment, we try to force an external model upon the church. The result is not only frustration in the ministry of the pastor and people, but a failure to develop a truly transformational ministry.

Any size church can have a powerful, transformational ministry whether it is small or large. Because the focus of ministry is transformational rather than merely numerical growth, the size of the church is never an indicator of the quality of ministry it might have nor is it a barometer of the influence in can have in changing people’s loves. However, to make a difference for the cause of Christ we need to have a clear understanding of whom we are to influence and how we have a transformational impact upon them.

We are to transform people by being a shepherd.

One of the pictures used to present the pastoral ministry is that of a shepherd (from which the term “pastor” is derived). This term used by Paul in Ephesians 4:11 had its roots in the Old Testament understanding of Biblical leadership in relationship to both God and the human leaders of the people. God was the shepherd who cared for his people, protecting and providing for them (Psalm 68:7; Psalm 23; Isaiah 40:11). This correlation between the leader of the people and the shepherding model finds it parallel throughout the Ancient Near East. With its close ties to an agrarian milieu, both within the language and culture the king was regarded as the shepherd of the people. Thus it was easy for the Old Testament writers to speak not only of God being the shepherd of Israel, but also referring any individual who was designated by God to be the leader of the people of God. This imagery further finds expression in Christ’s own picture of his care of his people. He referred to himself as the good shepherd and his people as his flock. While the terms “Elder” and “overseer” describe the position of leadership within the church it was the term shepherd that served to describe the function of leadership (see 1 Peter 5:1-4; Acts 20:28-29). This picture provides us a clearly perspective of the responsibility we have as pastors. Rather than being leaders who are visionaries, we are shepherds that care. As E. Glenn Wagner points out, “I wonder: If I came to a new church and showed the people that I was a shepherd, that I cared for them-but did not yet have a vision for them-where would that congregation be in a year? Worst case? I might be pasturing a church of forty or fifty people because my abilities and gifts wouldn’t carry me beyond that. But is that so wrong? …Doesn’t that little church deserve a shepherd who models Christ? On the other hand, where would that church be if I came as a leader which great vision but no shepherd’s heart? I think the latter scenario could be more destructive than the former.” (Wagner, Escape from Church, Inc, p.148). While having a vision and being a leader is beneficial to ministry, it is not the core of our ministry. Instead we are called to provide care for the people. A shepherd is one who understands the people and tailors the ministry to minister to the needs of people.

An effective shepherds cares individually for the sheep.

Being effective within the pastoral role involves more than overseeing the spiritual well being of the whole congregation. It also involves providing individual care and guidance for everyone within the congregation. The danger is that we can depersonalize ministry to the point that we are leading the congregation but not ministering to the individuals within the church. However, Christ himself models individual care by giving personal attention to each person within the body of Christ. Christ states that a shepherd is one who “calls his own sheep by name” (John 10:3). This implies a personal relationship in which there is intimate knowledge of the special needs and care necessary to bring healing and health to the each sheep. Furthermore, the word “calls” “expresses personal address rather than general or authoritative invitation” (Westcott, Gospel of St. John, p. 152). This is further highlighted by Christ’s statement in verse 14 and 15 that “I know my sheep and my sheep know me-just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” Just as there is personal interaction and involvement between the Father and the Son, so there is personal interaction between Christ and his followers.

As pastors of small churches we often decry our lack of resources and our limitations within the church and within our own giftedness. What we fail to recognize is that we already possess the greatest asset necessary for effective, transformational ministry: That being a personal knowledge of the people we serve. Because the church is small, everyone within the church has direct access to us, and we have a personal knowledge of what is going on in their lives. We know everyone’s strengths and weakness, we know the struggles and triumphs they face. We know the difficulties that they are confronted with each day. This knowledge becomes the basis for effectiveness in ministry as we can personally encounter them in their daily lives. We can have a personalized ministry, one that ministers specifically and particularly to them. Our ministry is not generically conducted with a “one size fits all” approach. Rather it is custom-made, tailored to the individual. As we interact with people we can apply scripture to specific situations they are facing. This is not done in a “formal counseling” session, but over informal interaction over a cup of coffee or a breakfast at a local diner.

An effective shepherd cares for the needs of the sheep.

When people enter the church they do come from a spiritual vacuum where they are untouched by the spiritual perceptions permeating our culture. Nor do they enter into the church spiritually whole. The reality remains that everyone (ourselves included) enters the church spiritually scarred and wounded. They have been damaged by the pains and trials of spiritual battles. They have been marred by the effects of sin in the past. Like Peter, after his denial of Christ, they wonder if God could ever accept and love them again. However, perhaps the greatest tragedy is that often they are not even aware of the spiritual scars that plague their life. The greatest deception of the evil one is the deception that we are not in desperate need of God’s infinite grace and forgiveness. We believe that we are inherently good and acceptable before a righteous God. We have been taught so long that we are to have a healthy self-image that we have forgotten that before we can think rightly about ourselves, we first must think rightly about God. The result is not only spiritual disaster but also emotional upheaval. So people struggle with their personal identity, with depression as they are unable to cope or understand the struggles they face, with anger as the actions of others seem to thwart their own search for personal identity. The apostle Paul summarizes the reality of many when he writes, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Colossians 3:5-8). Paul recognized that there remains often a dichotomy between the way people are to live because of their new life in Christ and the way in which they are currently conducting their lives. He realized that just because we are called to live Christ-like does not mean that we will live Christlike.

It is this discrepancy that challenges the pastor to shepherd his people. We are the avenue through which God often uses to bring his healing suave to the spiritual and emotional wounds of people (see Ephes 4:11-16). To do this, we must “feed the sheep,” that is we must constantly be communicating the truth of God in a manner that addresses and heals the spiritual struggles we face. The way we bring this healing is not through programs but through the proclamation of the word of God. When we are serving small churches, especially in isolated rural areas, we often do not have the counseling resources to which we can refer people for help. While there is a great deal of value to psychology and it is a discipline that we should not hesitate to utilize, we also can have confidence that we have an invaluable resource already in our possession by which we can bring spiritual and emotional health to people.

This is not to say that the use of professional counselors should not be utilized when it is available. In the ongoing debate concerning the value and place of psychology to address the emotional needs of people we often forget that it is not a case of either/or, but an issue of both/and. When psychological services are available we should not hesitate to utilize them. However, even in addressing the emotional needs of people there are also spiritual needs that need to be addressed. This is the role we fulfill as shepherds. A shepherd not only mends the broken but provides oversight in helping people find other resources to address individual needs and then follows up to make sure the person is on the way to emotional and spiritual health. The advantage we have as shepherds of small churches is we can often identify individuals who are in emotional and spiritual stress and we can intervene before the individual comes to a point of severe crisis

An effective shepherd protects the sheep.

Spiritual wolves are the constant threat to the sheep. Consequently the shepherd is to be continually on vigil least these wolves infiltrate the sheep and decimate the flock. Paul warns of this danger in his writing to those who desire to be shepherds of God’s flock (Acts 20:29). The church lives in a hostile area where the battle we face is incessant requireing perpetual vigilance. There remains the relentless threat that individuals and false teaching will infiltrate the church and seek to destroy the health of the church. This warning relates to the false teachers prevalent in a fallen world. These false teachers will corrupt both doctrine and practical living. They will distort the truth of scripture and the understanding of God and his redemptive plan, and they will corrupt godly behavior in order to prevent people from being transformed into the image of Christ. The challenge we face in the church is the challenge of not only doctrinal integrity but Christ-centered consistency in daily practice. One of the strengths of the small church has been its adherence to doctrinal truth. The small church has often remained a stalwart in upholding the doctrinal history of the church. However, in its adherence to correct theology it has often fallen prey to the same error as the church at Ephesus which maintained doctrinal purity and diligent activity, but had lost touch with its daily practice. It had strongly opposed the Nicolaitans and their heretical theology, but lost connection with the daily relationship with God (Revelation 2:1-7). Those in the small church have long upheld the doctrines of the church but overlooked the greater danger of no longer having a biblical worldview that governs all aspects of life. We have become practical schizophrenics who believe one thing, but practice another. As shepherds it is not only our task to correct bad theology, it is also our task to correct corrupt lifestyles. To guard against spiritual wolves is to be vigilant concerning both those who teach heresy and those who practice it. When we become professionals rather than preachers, where we become driven by crowds rather than truth we run the risk of teaching what is popular rather than what is transformational. When this happens we are no longer shepherds but hired hands who abandon the sheep to avoid the trauma of confronting wolves (John 10:11-13).

However, error not only infiltrates the church from a secular culture bent on rebelling against God, it also comes from those who are within the church. Paul goes on to warn, “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). These are individual who are more concerned about position and their own standing within the church rather than the health of the congregation. They promote their own agenda rather than prayerfully seeking God’s direction for the church. They reduce the church to a political struggle for power and authority within the congregation. While in the small church the “tribal chief” is often one who has a deep love for God and a passion for the well-being of the church, and the wise pastor learns to work with them, there are times when their position within the church and their desire to maintain their authority becomes more important than what is best for the church. Sometimes some of the most difficult tasks we face in the small church is confronting the tribal chief and loosening authority from them. While this should always be done carefully and under girded with prayer, there are times that it must be done even at the risk of our position within the church. To be godly shepherds requires that we protect the congregation from those who are within the church who lead the church away from the truth and hamstring the ministry. While this is never easy and sometimes extremely painful, it may be necessary to be faithful to our calling to be shepherds.

An effective shepherd sacrifices for the sheep.

When we entered ministry we did so with optimism and a sense of excitement. We had an idealistic view where people would be thrilled by our messages and excited about our programs. With the command of Jesus to “feed my lambs” in our mind, we entered with a serene pastoral image of a shepherd lovingly watching over the flock as the little lambs frolic at his feet. It does not take long for this idealistic view to be shattered in the pain of rejection, discouragement and disappointment. Instead of a flock of sheep, we often wonder if we were given a herd of stubborn mules, who have the furiousness of wolves, the spiritual sensitivity of a baboon and the speed of a turtle.

Not only are we confronted with the pain of dealing with broken people, but also we ourselves are often broken by our own inadequacies and failures. The demands of ministry always exceed our capabilities and resources. We face the difficulties of trying to heal conflicts, deal with emotionally disturbed people (some of whom may even be on the board), and free people caught in the snares of sinful behaviors. We are confronted with our inadequacies as we counsel couples who have deep-rooted bitterness towards one another, assist parents whose child is rejecting every value and ethos they treasure, and help someone through the trauma of terminal cancer. In all this we are painfully aware of our own sinfulness and weaknesses. At times we stand in the pulpit knowing full well that we are not practicing the very message we are preaching. In our despair we blame our education and complain that the seminary or college did not adequately train us for the problems we face. But the reality is that the failure is not the seminary or college, for no matter how much training we received we could never be fully prepared for the trials we face.

What we failed to realize as we enter ministry is that to be a shepherd and transform people there would be an incredible cost that we would have to pay. When Jeremiah complained to God about the wickedness of the people and the treatment he received, God reminded him, “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan” (Jeremiah 12:5). In other words, “If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” What we forget is that when God called us to transform people there was a sacrifice that had to be made. Christ realized this when he stated, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). What distinguishes the genuine shepherd from the hired hand is the degree that the shepherd places the welfare and well-being of the sheep above his own. The genuine shepherd is willing to pay the price in protecting the sheep. Paul recognized the cost when he described the trials and struggles he faced in ministry (2 Corinthians 4:7-12). His motivation was that “All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God” (verse 15).

If we desire to change people and transform individuals into disciples for Christ, then we must be willing to sacrifice our time, energies and talents so that others may realize the grace of God operating in their lives. It requires that we sacrifice our dreams of “success” (i.e. serving larger churches or growing churches in highly visible locations) to minister to a small congregation in isolated communities. It means that we recognize that the church of thirty is just as valuable to God as the church of 3000 five blocks down the street. God is just as concerned about the growth of the individual as he is the growth of the whole. In our market driven, mega-size society, what we often fail to understand is that God values each individual and that he sacrificed himself not just for the masses of people who would become the church, but also for each individual who would become part of the church. Since we are to follow him and pattern our ministry after his, we should do no less. The power to transform people corresponds to the amount we are willing to sacrifice for them. God did not call us to a life of ease, but to a life of pain, sorrow, and difficulty in order that in the end he might receive the glory.

An Effective shepherd searches for the sheep.

The picture Christ desires to present of his own ministry is not that of a shepherd who oversees the well-being of the 99, but the shepherd who leaves the 99 in order to search diligently for the wayward one (Matthew 18:12-14). While this statement makes for a wonderful picture of a shepherd carrying his lamb back to the flock, what we often overlook is that the context is not of someone who got lost, but someone who has become ensnared in sin and is rebellion against God (verses 15-20). This is not a lamb that lost his way, but one that deliberately went his own way. Perhaps even more troubling is God’s condemnation of the shepherds in Ezekiel 34:1-10. His chief indictment against them was that “you have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost” (verse 4). To care for people means that we are diligent in our care even of those who are in rebellion against God and causing us the most difficulties in ministry. We are not satisfied merely to look at the number of people we have in our pews or how many new individuals have come in the front door. We are also deeply concerned about the people who are leaving the church, who are no longer attending and we go out of our way to bring them back into fellowship. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:28-29, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” To be effective as a shepherd requires that we are not content when people leave the church, not because we have “lost a costumer,” but because the person has stepped outside of fellowship with God. Consequently we are willing to go and diligently and lovingly seek to bring them back into a right relationship with God.