What it means to be a shepherd...

So I was reading a blog today from Glen Packiam on "Recovering the Pastoral Vocation" and as I left a comment, I felt I learned a little about myself and the things Annette & I have been processing lately.

Let me know what you think...

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Not that you need my 2 cents but this is something I'm learning daily. I've been frustrated with feeling like I AM being the shepherd I'm called to be but to sheep who don't necessarily want to listen or be led where I feel from God we should go.

Then I've been learning/remembering a few things lately...

1. they're not my sheep. They belong to God, I'm called to tend in obedience, not direct and lead in my own wisdom and strength. I'm not called to think for them or change their minds. Only the Good Shepherd can do that.

2. they've been under a different shepherd's care-or no care at all, wondering around by themselves for a long time before I got here...a good shepherd keeps tending until we both get it right...me the tending, they the trusting.

3. I'm still a sheep...my leading and tending as a shepherd is only as good as my learning and following...

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None of these things excuse me from obeying and teaching, leading and following, but they do take the pressure off me to "perform" in some way using mere numbers as a sign of disciple-revelation.

The other thing that I recognize is that in every "herd" there is always some level of INDIVIDUAL growth, whether the WHOLE herd grows at the same level or not. And I have to be honest, Annette and I have had more than one occasion lately where we've been blessed enough to see or hear of absolute, definite growth from several individuals. I realize that it's not often we may hear a definitive "I have grown in this way because of what I'm being taught", but God has blessed us lately with a few of those moments...and in the cyclical motion of discipleship, it's yet again another reminder that I should start again with lesson one above and continue.