“The Heart Of A Shepherd” (Part Three)

This week, we are considering 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20, in which he describes the heart of a shepherd. Monday, he began with the shepherd’s methods. Yesterday, we examined the shepherd’s mindset. Today, we conclude with…

The Shepherd’s Motives (vv.17-20)

Finally, Paul’s gives us a look under the hood of his life to see the engine that drives him. Very simply, he was driven by a desire for them to be all that God desires for them to be. It rings out in his…

A. Strong Affection (v.17)

But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while—in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.

B. Strong Attachment (v.18)

For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us.

C. Strong Appreciation (vv.19-20)

For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.

This is the heartbeat of a shepherd—one that caused Paul to ache for the spiritual growth of his flock, and for the salvation of those outside Christ. And, for all the pain, weariness, opposition, struggle, Paul says there are great rewards! Not money, fame, prestige, respect. Those things are up to the Lord of the church. Paul looks at the Thessalonians and says “You are my reward!” That is the heart of a shepherd.

The two pastors we talked about at the beginning on Monday are fascinating guys. What was most interesting to me was the third episode. DOD brought Nizar and Menno together for a discussion about ministry in the land of the Bible. The impact of their ministries was conditioned by its motivation—to make Christ’s love known to the ancient peoples of the Book. Here’s what they said:

The message of Christ has not changed. The message of love has not changed. Religion does not teach love, it only has to do with rituals.

A wise pastor shared with me two keys to shepherding: preach the Word and love the people. These two middle eastern pastors have got it right. Different peoples, different cities, different congregations. But one truth, one gospel, one power—one Chief Shepherd.

3 Responses to ““The Heart Of A Shepherd” (Part Three)”

1. lakehills101 says:

   February 18, 2010 at 12:33 am

   Thanks for this series, Mr. Crowder. It’s taken me a while to get to this third installment! I particularly like the third motive, “strong appreciation”. As I’ve read these three articles I’ve tried to allow God to search my heart. I recognize that this is an area where I need to grow. It becomes easy to take for granted or slowly expect others to disappoint rather than really seeing them and truly appreciating them, at least in the “difficult” cases! I think this can help lead us into “loving the people.”

   ~ Mike Knapp, church planter
2. Bill Crowder says:

   February 19, 2010 at 8:20 am

   Thanks Mike,
   I appreciate your encouraging words… and am grateful the articles have been helpful to you. As you spoke of disappointment, I thought I would tell you that this week, at an RBC pastors appreciation breakfast in Cleveland OH, I spoke on “Handling Disappointment with people.” The audio file will be posted to the sermon section of RFYM next week if you are interested. It is a free download
   Thanks again,
3. lakehills101 says:

   February 21, 2010 at 8:21 pm

   Thanks, Bill. I’ll check it out!