Who Shepherds the Shepherd: No Shepherd; No Sheep

I do not like the metaphor of sheep and shepherds when it is used with the church and ministers. I have seen ministers assume that the metaphor gives them the power in the relationship. I have seen congregants and ministers fight over this power and I have seen it get very nasty, dirty, and very dangerous. I heard a pastor preach one time that "there is only one shepherd in this church and I am it."

But what if there were no shepherds or sheep?

A good friend, replying to my last post, suggested that we use texts like Ezekiel 34 and "help others realize the call isn't to be just sheep but shepherds themselves according to their gifts as we are all created in the image of the God, the great shepherd." (He's more baptist then he wants to admit sometimes.)

I like his theory and his understanding of Ezekiel 34 but what if we moved past those terms? What if we stopped referring to one another as either shepherds or sheep? What if we start to see ourselves as something different and leave the shepherd/sheep imagery to the one who is the Good Shepherd?

Ezekiel 34 refers to God's destruction of all the "shepherds" who abandoned the "sheep" and fed only themselves and did not take care of the "sheep" as they were entrusted to do. God then says that God will be the shepherd and that God will search out the sheep and lead them home. I believe God says that about 25 times starting in verse 11. So what if we left that imagery to God/Jesus?

It is hard for a minister to see themselves on the same level as a congregant. After all, they've been ordained, set apart from the congregation, from the church. But so were the deacons/elders who were elected/ordained by the church to help lead the church. Are they not to be considered shepherds of the church? What about those who serve as committee chairs? What about Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, preschool directors, etc? Are they not to be considered shepherds of the church?

And if they are and we are all shepherds then who are the sheep? Those who do not serve in a "authoritative" position? Are they the sheep?

Again I ask: What if there were no shepherds or sheep?


My friend adds: "We must realize that for the church to survive and for our own health things need to change. The relational aspects that both bond and separate us from our communities need to be seriously reexamined."

I believe this reexamination begins through the idea of ministers as spiritual guides. As I think about our calling and the struggle we have to over-function and believe the future of the church rests on our shoulders, the more I see this as a better way to function in ministry. Because the truth is we have been set a part from the congregation but we are not above our congregations.


For some reason ministers believe they are solely responsible for the church's survival. That reason of course comes from the tradition that if a church gets the right minister/pastor then all the folks in town will show up. The minister becomes the center of the church and when scandal, controversy, conflict, or struggles come the center starts to shake and the minister is not strong enough to hold it in place. When the minister crumbles under the weight, the church removes him/her and begins to find someone else who is stronger, more charismatic, more "committed" to rebuild the center and hold it in place. Until it crumbles on top of them.

We do need to reexamine the relationship between minister and congregant. We need to reexamine and see that we may be "set apart" in our ordination and in our call but we are not called to hold up the center. The center is held up by the Shepherd, the one true Shepherd, the Good Shepherd. Something no minister or congregant could ever be.

So, what if there were no shepherds or sheep?

What if there is only you and me? What if there is only church and we're just people doing our best to figure out how to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love our neighbor as ourselves in a world that doesn't work right?

Would we see ministers staying in ministry?

Would we see ministers not experiencing burn out?

Would we see better relationships between ministers, deacons, church leaders, and the congregation?

In time I believe we would.