Pastor People

Ezekiel 34 (NIV)
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.

I’m not teaching specifically from the above scripture today but I am referring to it to present the fact that God has always been concerned about Shepherds properly handling the Flock. This of course is His choice metaphor which references Pastors and Congregations.

I was going for my evening prayer walk a few weeks ago and I was discussing ministry strategy with the Lord. I told Him about all of the potential plans and possible programs as I sought direction.

The Lord spoke something very simple to me on that night. So simple that I almost missed it. He said, “Pastor People.” In that moment, I thought of the millions of people who attend Churches worldwide and I felt the heart of God… Though Churches are full of people, many are not being “pastored.” Hearing a sermon, even a good sermon once or twice a week does not mean that someone is being pastored. The more I considered what God was saying, the more I realized even that just because someone is in a discipleship group or program does not necessarily mean that they are being pastored. All of the organization and all of our efforts, if they lack love, genuine relationship and caring for the basic human & spiritual needs of people cannot be considered pastoring or shepherding people.

A more challenging way to think about it but really the way I believe God is challenging me is that true Pastoral Ministry is the ministry that does not lack godly compassion or the human touch. A Shepherd willingly lays down his life for the sheep.

Needless to say, I was cut to the heart and challenged in a tremendous way. In my 80+ hours of work a week, how much pastoring of the people am I really doing? I was reminded of a conversation that I once had with a friend of mine, Pst Dave Kenney who truly “Pastor’s” a great congregation in Jakarta, Indonesia, “IES” or “International English Service.” In a nutshell, he told me that the key to the growth of IES is that they take care of their people and other people see that they take care of their people and other people then want to become their people. Not an exact quote but I think a good way to say it… J Keep up the good work Dave!

Here in Manila, I have been very impressed with another congregation that is absolutely known for their quick response to the needs of their people and anyone else they can touch. Within hours that someone is admitted to a hospital, the norm for this Church is that dozens of people will visit. It’s important to them and it happens so naturally because they are a Church of Shepherds. Powerful! I use them as an example of how responsive I want our congregation to become. It takes constant nurturing and teaching to develop this kind of a culture.

As a pastor, one of the things I have figured out through the years is that people will likely not remember my sermons, but they will remember when I visit them not only in their time of need but even at random times as led by God’s Spirit. Or call them, E-mail, text, chat with them after service, etc. But the most impacting element is the personal visit.

And so I sounded the alarm in the Church. Noting the fact that God wants us to Pastor People among other things the Lord had laid on my heart including a call to double in finances and in numbers of attendees in the next 6 weeks. On a side note, next week is six weeks and the finances have almost doubled and the numbers of attendees has increased as well, going into a major evangelistic event next week. God is good and we are positioned! It’s time to double!

It is amazing how the people who need pastoring have come out of the wood work and how the people of the Church have risen to the call. Maybe we didn’t notice so much before? I would estimate that the number of home visits and prayer calls have increased 500%, maybe even more. It is resulting in amazing testimonies and Kingdom growth.

So my encouragement is this. When you need to organize a program or set up a structure, do it. Preach good sermons, raise up disciples and more. But don’t lose focus of the very basic fact that we must not fail to be Shepherd’s to the Flock of God. Love people, visit them, listen to them, offer an ear, a shoulder, care for them and care about them. My favorite life quote is this and I believe it with all my heart. “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

As a final point, I must balance this with a warning not to sacrifice your family, your work or job, personal devotion time, physical fitness time, rest time and more. Do not burn out. But I would say to find time that you can sacrifice. We all have some “fat” that can be “cut out” of our lives, I’m sure. And it’s not about a few visits that take you hours each. It’s about being consistent with short visits. My average visit these days is well under an hour. I simply don’t have time to stay for 2-3 hours each visit and people appreciate the 30 minute visits too. May God bless you as you organize your life to be a further blessing to others. Pastor People.