How healthy is your flock? It likely depends on the health of YOU, the shepherd…

 

As a pastor, a key role you play is “shepherd”. You are called to care for and protect your congregation, your flock. You are called to nourish them, to help them grow spiritually, to help them be healthy, and to help them embrace the “abundant life” that God has promised us all through Christ Jesus. I can think of no higher or more worthy calling. My guess is that this is very likely a key reason you felt called to ministry in the first place!

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If we focus for a moment on the inter-relationship between the shepherd and the flock – both in the literal and the pastoral setting – several interesting truths become apparent. First, the flock is only as healthy as the shepherd. In a literal interpretation, sheep are not safe from predators if the shepherd is not sufficiently healthy or well to provide adequate constant protection. Moreover, the flock takes its cues from the shepherd.  If the shepherd is anxious, unsettled, or ungrounded, the sheep will sense and reflect that nervous state in their own behavior.

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In a church setting, it works very similarly. The congregation (flock) will reflect the health of the shepherd (i.e., the pastor). At a minimum, if the pastor is not investing in his or her own wellness and self-care sufficiently, they will not have the energy, stamina and persistence to truly shepherd as they are called to. Moreover, if the shepherd is not exemplifying behaviors that are consistent with long-term health and wellness (e.g., workaholism, a need to control, lack of self-care), the congregation’s ability and willingness to address their own similar issues or challenges is likely significantly diminished.   Finally, the shepherd needs to ensure he or she is healthy enough themselves to be able to come alongside others in a healthy way.

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The fact is this: pastoral self-care isn’t just for the benefit of the pastor. An investment in pastoral self-care is also an investment in the health of your flock. In short -- healthy shepherd, healthy flock.

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The same is true from a leadership standpoint:  the health and strength of a pastor’s leadership skills have a direct impact on the health of the congregation. Consider how your flock interacts with each other. Is it healthy or not? How consistently healthy is it? Now consider how you interact with them as the shepherd. Are your conflict management and influence skills sufficiently developed to help shepherd your flock to “greener pastures” of collaboration and cooperation, or could you use some additional growth in that area? How actively and effectively are you personally investing in developing lay leaders within your flock, to help “shepherd” and lead alongside you (and increasingly independently from you)? Finally, is your flock relying primarily on you, as the shepherd, to determine the vision and direction for the church, or are they ideally pushing you to expand your vision in key areas of your collective ministry?

 

You see, there is another critical truth: the flock will not develop or grow in the key areas of leadership, conflict resolution, developing vision, and others unless the shepherd’s leadership skills are sufficiently strong to encourage, empower and enable this type of growth. In fact, in many cases, a rate limiting factor may be the ability of the shepherd to lead, empower, and develop others. Investing time and energy in further developing key areas of your leadership and management style is not just an investment for you—it can be an important investment for your congregation. Consider asking an experienced leadership or management mentor or an experienced colleague to walk alongside you as you focus on strengthening a few key skills that will help your flock to find even greener pastures moving forward.