One of the most sobering and liberating notions presented in this text was that we are only shepherd leaders to the extent that God calls and equips us to do. This is sobering because it reminds us that while we are responsible for God’s people, we are accountable to God. It is to God that we must ultimately answer and give account of our stewardship because it is God’s flock over which we are watching.
It is simultaneously liberating to understand that we are not called to do this work of our own power or resources, but that God equips, empowers and enables us by his grace. So the work isn’t according to any merit or special ability that we may have but rather by God’s Spirit.
So the real sobering and liberating reality is that we are only qualified as undershepherds to the extent that we remain humble before God, inviting sheep to follow us as we follow God. It is only when we are following God that we can properly lead God’s flock to the pastures that God has prepared. To attempt to shepherd on our own, without submitting to God’s direction and empowerment is submitting to being lost in a wilderness, wandering hopelessly, looking for a promised land that can never be seen until shepherd and sheep choose to go where God is leading.
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