Their profession cultivated a capacity for attentiveness, self-sacrifice, and compassion.” 1 Shepherd leadership involves the use of authority, expressions of compassion, and protection of the flock.Ī “pastoral approach” will often entail sympathy and sensitivity, but the adjective pastoral must not be reduced to these things. Shepherds in the ancient world were “remarkable and broadly capable persons.” As Timothy Laniak observes, “They were known for independence, resourcefulness, adaptability, courage and vigilance. So think about what shepherds are like.Īccording to Psalm 23, a good shepherd feeds, leads, guides, protects, and preserves. So what is a “pastoral approach”? By definition, a shepherd is pastoral. Pastors must be patient and kind, but “pastoral” is not another way of saying “nice guy.” We don’t want to think of “pastoral” as what we do when we avoid being preachy and theological. Seriously, I am all for all of these virtues, and some pastors are sadly lacking in many of them.īut these examples do not exhaust what the Bible means by “pastoral ministry.” We should not let the soft virtues of pastoral care eclipse the hard virtues so that a “pastoral approach” becomes synonymous with inoffensive, therapeutic, and comforting. These are all good examples of being a good pastor. “Pastoral care” means comforting the sick, visiting widows, and lending a shoulder to cry on. If someone is “pastoral,” he is good with people, sensitive, and a calming influence. A “pastoral approach” implies gentleness, patience, and a lot of listening. When I see the adjective pastoral placed in front of a noun, it seems to me the word is almost always meant to convey, in contemporary parlance, a truncated set of virtues. So long as the word means what the Bible means for it to mean. As a local church pastor, I am 100 percent in favor of being “pastoral.” I get to serve the God I love and work with the things our God loves most deeply: His Word and His church.
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