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Peter exhorts those who hold the office of elder in a local church to do one thing. We have one job. Look at 1 Peter 5:2, shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Our job is to shepherd. Not everyone, but those who are “among us.” I take that to mean those who have identified themselves as a part of this flock. In other words, an elder’s job is to shepherd the souls of those who are members in his local church.

Peter continues, saying we shepherd by “exercising oversight.” The author of Hebrews puts it this way in 13:17—“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Elders are called to exercise oversight, to watch over souls, to shepherd souls.

But what does it mean to shepherd souls? Here’s what I said over a year ago when we installed our first group of elders here at PBC.

 

Shepherding souls means we know you.

We can’t shepherd your soul if we don’t know you. This doesn’t mean we’ll all know each member equally well. But it does mean that every member at PBC should be known by one of us. This is one reason why it’s important that we maintain an accurate and up-to-date membership list. It’s also a reminder for you as a member to not get annoyed when your elders check up on you. This is part of what it means for us to shepherd our membership.

The Puritan pastor Richard Baxter put it this way in his classic work, The Reformed Pastor—"It is necessary, that we should know every person that belong[s] to our charge; for how can we take heed to them, if we do not know them? We must labor to be acquainted, not only with their persons, but with the state of all our people, with their inclinations and conversations; what are the sins of which they are most in danger, and what duties they are most apt to neglect, and what temptations they are most liable to; for if we know not their temperament or disease, we are not likely to prove successful physicians."[i]

One way we try to do this practically is to divide the membership up amongst the elders into groups we call Shepherding Groups. This isn’t an attempt to exempt us from caring for everybody, it’s meant to give us individuals towards which we should provide focused care. And every month we’re updated one another on how you’re doing so we can continue to pray for you and lead you as you follow Jesus.

 

Shepherding souls means we teach you.

The most important tool in the shepherd’s toolbelt is the Word of God. We shepherd you by faithfully and consistently feeding you God’s Word. This is why one of the unique qualifications for elders is that they're "able to teach" (1 Timothy 3:2). In his book Church Elders, Jeramie Rinne says we elders have three responsibilities regarding the teaching ministry of the local church.[ii] We must participate in the teaching of God’s Word. This could be preaching, teaching Sunday School, counseling members in need, leading discipleship groups, leading Fellowship Groups, and more. Elders must protect the teaching of God’s Word. Part of our responsibility is to protect the flock from false teachings that creep up in every generation. And elders must perpetuate the teaching of God’s Word. In other words, we’re going to be making disciples who make disciples. We’re going to work together to raise up other elders!

 

Shepherding souls means we pray for you.

Part of shepherding souls means praying regularly for you. A large portion of our weekly meetings are devoted to praying for you by name. Once a month when we update each other on our Shepherding Groups we talk and pray through the entire membership list.

One way you can help us with this is to reach out to your elder regularly and let us know how we can pray for you. You’re not bothering us. We’re not too busy to hear from you, we want to hear from you!

 

Shepherding souls means we lead you.

Shepherds lead. Jesus is our Chief Shepherd and the perfect example of this. Jesus doesn’t let us rule the roost. He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalm 23:3). So too elders must lead. We lead on a macro-level by leading the church corporately in the right direction. We lead on a micro-level by individually assessing where you are in your walk with Jesus and exhorting each member towards greater faithfulness.

 

Shepherding souls means we pursue you. A good shepherd pursues wandering sheep. The hymnwriter rightly says we are "prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love."[iii] And there are lots of ways that sheep (including elders!) can wander. We can wander into theology that contradicts our statement of faith. We can wander away from faithfulness to our church covenant. We can wander into sin. The question is not “will I wander” but “will I have a shepherd to pursue me when I do?” This is one of the hardest jobs for us as elders, but it is an essential part of shepherding. In his book The Minister as Shepherd, Charles Jefferson says this: "The minister who allows one sheep to drop out of his flock without a wound in his heart and without lifting a hand to bring that sheep back, is not a good shepherd."[iv] This is the job of the elder. It’s not glamorous and it’s not easy. But it’s one way that Jesus reveals His love to you. He hasn’t left you like sheep without a shepherd. He’s called elders to the high responsibility of shepherding your soul.

 

[i] Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 90.

[ii] Jeramie Rinne, Church Elders: How to Shepherd God’s People Like Jesus (Wheaton: Crossway, 2014), 48–56.

[iii] Robert Robinson, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” 1758, https://hymnary.org/text/come_thou_fount_of_every_blessing.

[iv] Charles Jefferson, The Minister as Shepherd: The Privileges and Responsibilities of Pastoral Leadership (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1912), 71–72.