“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you…”
When Al Gore invented the internet* a new opportunity for “pastoring” was also invented. With a few strokes on my keyboard and a click of the mouse I can sit under teaching from all around the world. I can be “pastored” by a guy that I’ve never met and live in a “community” filled with people I’ve never actually seen.
I believe God inspired Peter to add those little words, “that is among you”, for a reason. You cannot rightly “exercise oversight” if you’ve never actually sat across from a person. That is why Peter exhorts the elders to shepherd the flock that God has placed before them…not some other dudes flock, and not the one that is in your imaginary dream world. The flock that actually exists, right under your nose.
1 Peter 5:2 is an important word for those of us that have an online writing ministry. Our audience (oh, how I dislike that word), is not our flock. We aren’t their shepherd. They are not our sheep to tend. As much as I love the people that read this blog and appreciate their readership I have to remember that unless they are also members of FB Jasper, I’m not their primary under-shepherd.
Why do people seek online shepherds?
There are three major reasons that I believe people are drawn to an online “pastor” and community instead of the real thing.
The first reason is that there really are bad shepherds out there that are starving their sheep. Not everybody can just move to a new church—as some may not have a biblical shepherd for hundreds of miles. Hungry sheep desire food and so they go to the internet to be satiated.
Secondly, some sheep are discontented and shouldn’t be. Their pastor won’t be speaking at any conferences, writing any books, or much else that would make him a Christian celebrity. He loves Jesus, is as faithful as he knows how to be, but Joe Pewsitter isn’t satisfied with him or his teaching so he goes to the internet to listen to his favorite celebrity. He’d likes the way that Pastor Superstar preaches and teaches so he’ll follow him instead.
Lastly, it’s easier to hide. You can get what you want online. You don’t have to deal with the messy of actual relationships. If you don’t like what somebody says just click on another link. If you don’t want to be confronted on sin then don’t type your sin into a search engine. Just follow the speakers that you like, read the articles that agree with you, and keep yourself safe. You can’t do that in a real community.
What 1 Peter encourages me to do in response
As one of those online writers I feel that I have responsibility. If someone is following me because he/she is surrounded by unfaithful shepherds then I’m truly thankful to the Lord for using me to feed His sheep. At the same time I readily acknowledge that I’m not the ideal pastor for this person. I will encourage him/her to pray that God would give him/her a faithful shepherd. Either through changing the hear to the current pastor(s) or bringing new ones. I’m thankful that God uses me in the interim but I have to remember that is exactly what it is.
If somebody is following me simply because they are discontent with their pastor I need to be careful. That can really stroke my ego. I can go off thinking that I’m doing a better job than Pastor X at shepherding his flock. Even if that were true (and it probably isn’t) God has called someone else to be their shepherd. My responsibility is to help them love the shepherd(s) that God has given them.
I also need to be aware that people like the comfort of an online community and pastor over the real thing. This will help me to encourage people that I “counsel” online to actually pursue a local church.
If you have an online writing ministry you need to make certain that you keep it in it’s proper place. You are not a replacement pastor. You are a supplement, a help, a voice, to encourage people to love Jesus more. And as such you know that one of the best ways that people grow in loving Jesus more is by growing in their love for the under-shepherd(s) that God has already given to them.
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*I’m sorry, I can’t stop making that joke no matter how old it gets.
I have been a Southern Baptist for 50+ years, but only had one pastor. Now that doesn’t mean that some man served in the church I attended for 50 years; I’ve sat under several ministers during my long journey. Not everyone who fills a pulpit is a “pastor”. There are preachers, teachers, evangelists and even hybrids such as teacher/pastor. I suppose it’s how you define “pastor”. To me, a pastor (e.g., the only one I’ve ever had) knew me … he knew all his congregation. His calling was office of pastor (but also one of the best preachers I have ever known, I might add). He spent long hours visiting in homes, hospital rooms, and jail cells. He maintained a little black book of prayer requests, starting and completing each day on his knees. He closed each service with an invitation, searching the gathering with tears in his eyes for some poor struggling seaman. He was not beyond picking up a hammer to help a neighbor or work with other churches outside of his denomination to reach his community with the precious message of Christ. He knew the names of our children and our pets. He looked us in the eye and told it like it was. He loved us. Shepherds like that are easy to follow. Pastoring like that is hard to do online.
Thanks you, you are very right about people and online pastors, i.e. look how many people are following me. I have several friends that think there post and how large the audiance are important and they think it validates there life. It is refreshing to read writings of someone looking honestly at there ministry. I hope and pray Christians would use these sites to help grow so they can be a better help and worker in there local church
Thank you for this post. As a young pastor with a blog, I feel the temptation to “pastor online.” There’s just more people to minister to, and you know those people are actually listening to you, or at least want to hear what you have to say.
Here are a few things that have helped me navigate through this temptation.
1). Write for your congregations benefit–I write for the local paper once a week and most of my writing will expand into a sermon eventually. I also write about neat things that happen at my church. This keeps me from writing for some invisible audience somewhere in space.
2) I space out my posts. I’m sure others do this, but I space out my posts, and try not to pressure myself to post every day.
3). I only stay in my office to write and study. This one is self explanatory. I do a better job with this some weeks rather than others.
For what it’s worth, that’s my take. Hope it helps.
There is a use for online communication just as–at least this used to be helpful in the past but needs to be re-“thunk” now–yellow page ads served a useful function before the Intewebz. But these techniques can’t and ought not replace face-to-face gatherings of the local body. As much as I sigh when I see two young men on bicycles in white shirts and ties, and as much as I know that the reasons they do that are in SOME ways for the wrong reasons, I admire the relationships they build doing that. It really is a good squeezin’ of the old orange to set yourself to a task with another like that and to perform it “religiously” (which used to mean with consistency and faithfulness before a portion of our culture turned that word into a curse.) You’ll see what comes out and what the fruit is: is it ripe? is it rancid? is it sweet? is it watery? Now add to that the direct involvement, guidance, and inspiration of the Holy Spirit–promised to each of us as a seal of our relationship with Jesus Christ–and imagine the fruit that can be produced through faithfulness and imagine the innovation that we can be led to! I worry that to some extent or another our online interaction fails to permit us to make the same kind of commitments and to keep them whether it is through influencing our attention span (deflected mostly downward while repeating any form of unconscious, habitual behavior…which our “religious” behavior is just as affected by when it gets “shortcut” in the interest of “time efficiency”.) Now I’ll note that is what the traditional stated objection is to online interaction, and most of us wisely deflected it. We did so for a very clear reason: we’re not “human doings”, we’re human beings. And we need outlets for thought and consideration as well as outlets for action. There is room for both and both must remain in some form of balance (or at least both must be practiced in moderation among a series of OTHER priorities at least for most of us.) I’ve seen churches attempt online Adult Bible Study (previously known as Sunday School, but I digress) classes. I didn’t get the stats on that, and I tried participated in several of those classes from time to time. They, indeed, allow a person to remain hidden. But… Read more »