One of the most common biblical metaphors for leaders is “shepherd.” God’s entrusted leaders are charged with the weighty responsibility of tending to and feeding the people of God as a shepherd would his flock. The act of “shepherding” means more than simply feeding the flock; rather, this choice verb refers to all acts related to the care of the flock.
In this week’s video, we will take a look at the concept of “Leaders as Shepherds” and discover that this is a concept deeply rooted in the OT and sometimes describes the manner in which God cares for Israel. We’ll also discover the metaphor of “shepherds” carried on into the writings of the Dead Sea Scrolls and much of early Christian literature.
Recommended Resources:
- Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible is a rich and careful biblical-theological analysis of the theme of shepherding in Scripture.
- Gospel-Centered Counseling (CO111) is a 7-hour Logos Mobile Ed course taught by Elyse Fitzpatrick.
- Classical Pastoral Care presents in plain English the most indispensable texts of pastoral writers prior to the beginning of the eighteenth century.