Taking care of sheep can be a difficult and thankless job. Sheep stray into danger, get sick, thirsty and hungry. Sheep need a shepherd. To care for them requires incarnational presence, careful attention and self-sacrificial involvement. You don’t have to be paid to do it, but you do have to love sheep. Not one person in the church can do it all. The healthy church will have persons with pastoral instincts to share in care for the flock. Be the Good Shepherd’s helper, learn all you can, be His Under-Shepherd.
“He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’” John 21:17 (NRSV)
