A good shepherd feeds the healthy

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:

4. Feed the Healthy

If we were playing Family Feud, what would the survey say is one of the answers concerning why people leave their church? (cue bell) — Top answer: “I’m just not being fed”.

While that excuse has been misused and abused far too long, it doesn’t mean it’s not ever true. While mature people certainly can and should learn to feed themselves, a shepherd will not just trust that the healthy sheep are eating, but will lead them to places where the food is abundant.

We do need to care for the lost, and seek the young, and heal the injured, but if that is all we are doing, the healthy will get neglected, and because they are in good shape it takes them a while to complain. A good shepherd should be spending the best part of their energy on walking with the healthy into great places, and partnering with them in creating a healthy culture for the rest to get there, too.

Ultimately, a leader who does none of these things I’ve written about this week is one who deserts the flock. A worthless shepherd is leading sheep for their own good. They take all that can be taken from the flock and then move on to fleece the next group.

I don’t every want to be considered a worthless shepherd. And whether you are considered a leader in the church or not, each one of us have been called to the duty of caring for others above ourselves, not just trying to get what we can out of a community or congregation.

As a pastor, I don’t ever go to church for what I can get out of it. I’m always blessed to get something, but that isn’t why I’m there. I think that whatever our calling, if each of us approached our faith community with the heart of a shepherd (after all our hearts are to be emulating THE Good Shepherd) more people than we could ever guess would be cared for, sought out, healed, and fed.