How the Sheep Are to Treat Their Shepherd

“How the Sheep Are to Treat Their Shepherd”

(Follow-up sermon I preached at a church looking for a new pastor)

INTRODUCTION:

When I was with you two Sundays ago, my message was entitled, “How the Shepherd Cares for the Sheep.” We looked at what the Bible says about a pastor’s duties toward his flock. Today I am going to turn the table and have us look at what the Scriptures say about the obligations of the sheep toward their shepherd.

First, I want to tell you that I think that being a pastor is the best job in the world. It is both a great joy and a great honour to serve the King of kings, and to take care of the people that He loves. I have been involved in pastoral ministry in one form or another for 43 years. And even with all the stresses and strains of shepherding, I still love this ministry and take it very seriously. I am still in awe of God’s calling on my life to serve Him by shepherding His flock. I want to do my best for Him, to bring Him honour and glory, and to strengthen His Church, which He bought with His own blood.

However, in my years of ministry I have also witnessed some good men get eaten-up by the job. Of course, some have fallen into sin. Power struggles and ego trips have side-tracked some. Some have fallen prey to greed and the desire to make money and live a more luxurious lifestyle. But I have also seen good men leave the ministry with broken hearts. All too often churches have lost good and dedicated pastors because they have felt neglected and unappreciated in one way or another. When pastors give their heart and soul for the church and its people, without feeling anything in return, they will often lose heart and give up.

I learned something early on about working with sheep…SHEEP BITE! Sheep can be mean. They can be vicious if cornered or crossed. In fact, there are churches with the reputation among shepherds for being “pastor-killers.” That is a shame, but it is true. Let me read you an article written by a pastor and published in his church bulletin. It is entitled, “How to Get Rid of a Pastor.”

“Not long ago a well-meaning group of laymen came from a neighbouring church to see me. They wanted me to advise them on some convenient and painless method of getting rid of their pastor. I am afraid, however, that I was not much help to them. At the time, I had not had the occasion to give the matter serious thought. But since then, I have pondered the matter a great deal, and the next time anyone comes for advice on how to get rid of the pastor, here is what I will tell them. “One: look the pastor straight in the eye while he is preaching and say ‘amen’ occasionally, and he will preach himself to death. Two: pat him on the back, brag on his good points, and he will probably work himself to death. Three: rededicate your life to Christ and ask the preacher for some job to do, preferably some lost people you could win to Christ, and he will die of heart failure. Four: get the church to unite in prayer for the preacher, and he will soon become so effective that a larger church will take him off your hands.”

This morning I want us to examine how God expects His sheep to treat His shepherds. You see a pastor’s joy of ministry is linked to the attitude of the sheep toward their shepherd. When God passes the truth through him to you, and you pass the thanks through him to God, that is a tremendous joy. But I will tell you, not every pastor experiences that. The driveways of many churches are blackened with the skid marks from the hasty exits of pastors who have been abused and bashed by a heartless, thankless people. I can truthfully and gratefully say, that has not been my experience, but I have seen it happen to others.

You need to know that when men come out of seminary or Bible College, they are often not prepared for what they will encounter in the local church when they meet real sheep for the first time. They sometimes make the mistake of thinking of sheep as soft cuddly little creatures, because the only sheep they have ever dealt with were stuffed. However, if you have ever worked on a farm with real sheep you know they are stinky, weak, helpless, unorganized, prone to wander, demanding, dirty creatures with sharp little hooves that can cut you to the bone. And like I said a moment ago, “sheep can bite.” And when the Lord was describing us as sheep in the Bible, it was not a compliment, and He was not talking about stuffed animals but about real sheep.

MAIN BODY: 

We begin this morning in 1 Thessalonians 5:12. “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labour among you, and have charge over you in the Lord, and give you instruction.” In this verse we see the threefold responsibility of the shepherds to their sheep. This verse summarizes all those obligations we looked at last Sunday, putting them into three neat categories. According to Paul, first, shepherds are to labour among the sheep. Secondly, they are to exercise authority over the sheep. Thirdly, they are to provide instruction for the sheep.

The first point you see there in verse 12, “Those who diligently labour among you.” Pastors, elders, overseers, shepherds are to labour hard. They are expected to work to the point of exhaustion in a sacrificial life of service alongside the sheep. Total dedication is seen there. That is the humble role of a servant. Secondly, please note also that they “have charge over you in the Lord.” They have authority over the sheep by virtue of the Lord’s calling. For His sake, by His will, for His glory, they are to preside and direct and lead. And then thirdly, at the end of verse 12, they are to “give you instruction.” Teaching is the primary element here. Shepherds are to be skilled teachers, skilled at delineating and disseminating the Word of truth.

So that is the shepherd’s task. But sheep can make life joyless for the shepherd if they fail to follow the path of their own obligations. They can make the shepherd’s life miserable if they are not obedient to the Word of God. So today we are going to look at eight (8) responsibilities of sheep toward their shepherds, according to the Scriptures. The first three are right here in our text in 1 Thessalonians 5. 

Verse 12 says, “We request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labour among you, have charge over you in the Lord, and give you instruction.” 

Responsibility #1: Appreciate Your Shepherds.

This word “appreciate” is oida in Greek; it means, “to know fully.” It is a common word used all over the New Testament for “to know.” But it refers to the kind of knowledge that comes by experience; something you have learned to know, to have come to know by experience. It has the idea of a deep knowledge, and a knowledge that includes in it respect and appreciation; to know and to value is the implication of it here. This implies that you appreciate and value and respect those shepherds who diligently labour among you.

It does not mean to merely know their names; it is not that kind of simplistic knowledge. It does not mean to know just the names of their children, or their wife, or their zip code, or where they live, or whatever school they graduated from, or what kind of car they drive. It means that you have come into a deep and intimate personal acquaintance that leads to appreciation. You know them well enough to care about them. This word for “know” is the word used to refer to the physical act between a man and a woman (“…Adam knew his wife, Eve, and she conceived…”), the deep kind of knowledge, the intimate kind of knowledge, where a man knows a woman, and she becomes the bearer of his child. It conveys the idea of knowing someone and the worth of that person.

It is easy to be unkind, or critical, or indifferent to someone you do not know deeply and intimately. But when you have come to know them by experience, and you understand the passion of their heart, there is a certain respect that is born out of that kind of knowing. And so, it is incumbent upon you that you come to know your leaders. If you are going to respect them, and appreciate them, and admire them, and understand their worth, it means that you are going to have to put out the effort to get to know them. And then when you know them, you will show them that kind of respect.

Now let’s read 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 again – “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labour among you, and have charge over you in the Lord, and give you instruction, ¹³ and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.”

Responsibility #2: Esteem Your Shepherds Very Highly in Love.

Now, this verb “to esteem,” hēgéomai, means “to consider or to regard; to think.” It goes a little deeper than the first duty, because it says you are to esteem them, how? “Very highly.” In Greek, this word literally means, “beyond all measure.” And notice those important words: “in love… because of their work.” Not because of their personality – this is not a personality contest – but because of their work. You are to regard a faithful pastor beyond all measure. The point is there is no limit to the regard you should have for that man, to the love you ought to have for him. Believers are to hold leaders in high regard because of their work. The ministry is a high and holy calling and believers are here exhorted to place proper value on their leaders—esteem them for their work’s sake. For example, regarding Epaphroditus, the Apostle Paul instructed the Philippian believers to “…receive him in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard” (Phil 2:29).

“Esteem him very highly in love.” What does love mean? It means sacrificial service to him. It means affection for him. Not because of his personality, not because he has done favours for you, but because of his work – because he ministers to you the Word of God, because he feeds your needy soul.   

The sheep, then, are to appreciate and esteem their shepherd. Why? Because of his work. God has called him. He has been set apart for a special work, and the people are to appreciate him, and to lovingly acknowledge that work he has been called to do. Listen to Jesus’ words in John 13:20: “Truly, truly I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me. And he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” So, when you receive the shepherd, you are receiving the Great Shepherd who sent him, and the God who lovingly sent the Great Shepherd to be your Saviour. 

So, you are to esteem your shepherds, and that esteem should have no limits. And if you do not, you are in disobedience to these direct words of Scripture. That kind of love means you seek his best. That love means you overlook his weaknesses and frailties. That love means you speak well of him. That love means you encourage him. That love means you lift him up as a man called of God, who has brought the truth to you.

Now let’s read 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 one more time – “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labour among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, ¹³ and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.”

Responsibility #3: Live in Peace with Your Shepherds and with One Another.

There is nothing more grieving, more distracting, more difficult, more painful than discord in the church. This concept of living in peace with one another is a familiar New Testament exhortation. We know about it. It is all over the New Testament, and you can find it in passages like Romans 14:19, in 2 Corinthians 13:11, in Ephesians 4:3, Colossians 3:15, James 3:18, etc. – over and over again, the New Testament calls for peace. But here it is specific. Here it is in this context of the relation between the sheep and the shepherd, and it should be a peaceful one. Submit to your shepherds, is the point. Submit. No strife. Eliminate conflict. Obviously, it presupposes a faithful shepherd. And where a man is faithful in doing the best that he can in the strength of the Spirit of God, you are to submit to that. That is a command of Scripture.

Grammatically speaking, the words “one another” refer in first place to the shepherd and sheep being at peace with one another. But secondarily, it means that the sheep should also live in peace with each other—sheep to sheep relations. The same rules apply to sheep getting along with other sheep. Mutual love, mutual esteem, mutual appreciation, and mutual honour make for a happy and peaceful flock, as well as a happy shepherd.

Jeremiah certainly understood this concept. Jeremiah had a ministry without joy because there was so much conflict going on all around him. He was in pain constantly, because the people rebelled and refused to submit to the things he said, even though they were the words of God. In chapter 9 he says, “Oh that my head were waters, my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. Oh, that I had in the desert a wayfarer’s lodging place; that I might leave my people and go from them.” In other words, I would get out of this place and leave these stubborn, rebellious, obstinate, hard-hearted people if I could get away. “For all of them are adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. ‘They bend their tongue like their bow; lies and not truth prevail in the land; they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me,’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah was the weeping prophet because he had a bunch of disobedient, backbiting, vicious sheep. Jesus had the same experience: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft I would have gathered you as a hen gathereth her brood; you would not, you would not,” and the Scriptures tell us that He wept. He wept!

And so, the congregation is to live in peace with its leadership. You do not cultivate strife, you do not cultivate conflict, you submit, and you obey. They must give the account to God, not you, for what they do. And if you follow their lead faithfully, dutifully, they have misled you somehow, made unwise decisions, they will give an account to God, but you will be blessed for being obedient to the Word.

The next two responsibilities are given in Hebrews 13:17 – “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

Responsibility #4: Obey Your Shepherds.

The Greek word here translated as obey means “to be persuaded, or to listen to.” It speaks of an obedience that is the result of confidence. It is not speaking of a mindless allegiance to a man simply because of his position, but rather of obedience that stems from confidence in a man’s ability to lead in the right direction. Leaders are accountable to God for how they lead His sheep. To the extent that they love God and lead an exemplary life they should be followed.

Now look at Hebrews 13:17 one more time – “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

Responsibility #5: Submit to Your Shepherds.

Of course, submission and obedience go hand in hand. Full obedience requires submission of the heart. Submit means “to yield under or surrender.” In Greek it is a military term that means “to line up behind.” Believers are called to cheerfully rank themselves under their leaders because of the serious responsibility to watch over souls. To “keep watch” is also a military term and means “to keep oneself awake while on duty.” It implies that leaders are always watching and guarding. In Acts 20:28 the apostle Paul’s exhortation to the elders in Ephesus was to... “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock.” Leaders stand in a watchtower position—always alert for soul-dangers. Like the Coast Guard watches for storms, or an air traffic controller for potential jet collisions, church leaders need to be aware of the subtle errors that sneak into the church so they can warn God’s people of potential danger. This type of watchfulness demands tireless effort. The church body is to submit to leadership for their own spiritual welfare. When this takes place, shepherding is a joy.

But you may say, “Well, I think the pastors might be wrong.” Fine, obey them, and submit to them anyway. They must give the account, not you. Do not ever think that you can bypass your leadership; they give the account. Unless they ask you to do something unbiblical, unscriptural, ungodly, and sinful, you are to follow them. Shepherds have a sobering duty. We give account to the Lord; you follow the leadership. “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.”

That is a strong statement, and a very formidable one for a person in spiritual leadership, like me or any other pastor or elder. We have a sobering duty. We will give an account before God. And in the local church we who are the leaders are accountable to God for what we decide, as we seek the wisdom of the Spirit. That is why a leadership team should never move ahead without oneness of heart and mind as elders, because we want to be sure we know the mind of God as we lead you, because we have to give an account to Him for what we have done.

Paul says, “Obey.” Look again at verse 17: “Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” Stubborn, self-willed people will steal the joy of their pastors, and give them grief. You want a miserable church? Have a miserable pastor. You want a miserable pastor? Do not submit, and you will take his joy away, and he will be a miserable man, and you will be a miserable people. Stubborn, self-willed people steal the joy of their leaders, and give themselves nothing but pain. “That is unprofitable for you,” Paul says. It is not going to help you. That is not going to work for you, to have a grieving, joyless shepherd.

The next two responsibilities are found in 1 Timothy chapter 5. First let’s read verses 17-18 – “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,’ and, ‘The labourer is worthy of his wages.’” 

Responsibility #6: Support Your Shepherds Well Financially.

Now, I need to say something here that your pastor will probably never tell you. This kind of appreciation that we have been discussing has some implications regarding financial support. But it is important for you to know that the connection in the text implies that this matter of appreciation involves giving generous financial support. To show you that, you need only to look at 1 Timothy 5:17, there where it says, “Let the elders who rule well” – meaning those who do it with excellence – “be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”

Now, here we see elders ruling, and they are worthy men. Their worthiness calls for “double honour,” timē, in Greek. But what does that mean? Well, the word can mean respect or high regard. But the context here shows that it includes pay, financial remuneration. Just prior to this, in verses 3-16, Paul discussed the support of widows; now he discusses the support of pastors. And he is saying that if they rule well, they are worthy of “double timē.” On several occasions in the New Testament (e.g. Matthew 27:6, 9 and 1 Corinthians 6:20) the word timē is associated with money. And so, Paul is saying in this context, “give them respect and remuneration, and make it double: double honour, double respect, and generous pay.” Why? Because you are rewarding the well-ruling elders, those that are diligent and faithful. They are worthy. They deserve it.

Every faithful shepherd is to be appreciated, respected, admired, honoured, and supported. But hard-working and excellent elders who major in preaching and teaching are particularly worthy of respect and remuneration. There is a remarkably simple direct verse that states this. This principle is found in 1 Corinthians 9:14. “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the Gospel to get their living from the Gospel.” That means if you spend your life preaching the Gospel, you are to be supported financially in the doing of it. 

The apostle makes it crystal clear, “the labourer is worthy of his wages.” The “double honour” that teaching-shepherds are worthy of includes honour (respect) and financial remuneration. When a church does not adequately care for the material needs of the pastor and his family his freedom to minister most effectively is hindered. Like the ox that was not to be muzzled while it was threshing grain, so pastors must be free to “get their living from the Gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).

Two more responsibilities of the sheep to the shepherd are found in the book of Hebrews. Let’s read Hebrews 13:7 – “Remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”

Responsibility #7: Remember Your Shepherds.

Church members must remember their leaders. The Greek word means, “to call to mind, to recollect, or to be mindful.” It is a present imperative, meaning it is a command the body is to constantly fulfil on an ongoing basis. Believers are to constantly call their leaders to mind. One of the best ways to fulfil this command is through prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:25 Paul pleads with the believers at Thessalonica, “Pray for us.” Perhaps there is no greater way for church members to love their leaders and remember them than to keep them before God’s throne of grace so that they may receive grace and mercy for their every need (Hebrews 4:15)! Satan has targeted church leaders. If he can take down the shepherd, then he can scatter the sheep. So, pray for your shepherds. But also, be generous with words of affirmation, which are so beneficial to the health of a local church. It requires a great amount of courage to stand for sound doctrine and to faithfully preach the Word of God week after week. Believers need to remember their leaders by means of encouraging words and expressions of appreciation for their ministry.

Now look once more at Hebrews 13:7 – “Remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”

Responsibility #8: Imitate Your Shepherds.

Another responsibility of the congregation toward their leaders is to mimic them. This word that the writer of Hebrews uses is from the Greek verb miméomai, meaning “to mimic or imitate.” It is from this word that we get the English word, mime. He is telling us to follow the faith of our leaders. That is why God has given qualifications for those in leadership. It is not that God does not want all believers to strive for these virtues. He does. However, leaders must meet these qualifications because people need visible role models. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” Paul was not being arrogant or bossy. He was just confident that he was doing his best to follow the Lord for his own life, and could, therefore, tell people to follow his example. When God’s people imitate the lives of godly leaders, they become imitators of the Gospel and its power is manifested before a watching world (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-7).

CONCLUSION:

So, in closing I want to urge you to be the kind of church that will gladden the heart of whoever God sends to be your next pastor. Determine before the Lord that you will do everything in your power to make his pastorate here to be a joyful experience, and not one of sorrow and regrets. Decide now, before he comes, that you will be one who will appreciate him, esteem him, and submit to his leadership. Commit yourself to live in peace with him and to obey him. Determine that you will support him and his family emotionally, spiritually, and financially. Promise that you will befriend him and his wife, and do your best to get to know them, and stand by them through thick and thin. Remember to pray for your pastor daily because he will come under attack. If you will do these things the Lord will bless you, will bless your pastor, and will bless this congregation.