God’s Leaders

11 and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding Jeremiah 3:15

Shepherds – When God gave the people His commandments at Sinai, they all heard His voice and they all proclaimed, “These we will obey.”  Of course, it wasn’t long before they decided that they knew better than God.  Real life got in the way.  God might be great for that pie-in-the-sky stuff, but life on earth is made up of grinding it out.  It’s rough and tumble here.  They clamored for a physical king; a flesh-and-blood leader.  Unfortunately, they got just what they wanted.

Are we so different?  Has our perfect hindsight helped us one whit?  God tells us that He will provide ro’im (shepherds) according to His heart, but the truth is that we don’t want those kinds of leaders.  We don’t recognize them when they show up and we are quick to reject them when we hear what they say.  It’s worth considering why.

The Hebrew word ro’eh (shepherd) comes from the verb ra’ah (to tend, to feed the flock).  It is a typical designation for a king in the ancient Middle Eastern world.  Why?  Because the fundamental purpose of the king is to protect and provide and to act as advocate for those who are without representation.  This is the absolutely consistent character of God’s chosen.  God’s leader is a man or woman who demonstrates what is on God’s heart!  Now Jeremiah applies this word to the teacher.  The Hebrew conception of education is not about facts and information.  It is not about applied knowledge, technological advance, career capability or economic advantage.  It is about knowing and understanding the heart of God.  That’s what a teacher is supposed to help you do.  A teacher is responsible for illuminating God’s agenda and showing you how to accomplish it.  The methodology of the teacher is mentoring.  The tactics of the teacher is choosing apprentices.  In the Hebrew culture, a teacher does, a disciple copies.  Now you know why the apostles said, “Lord, teach us to pray,” not “Lord, teach us a prayer.”

It’s useful to know that the Greek New Testament word for pastor (poimen) is exactly the same concept as ro’eh.  It means “shepherd” in precisely the same way.  The pastor must be one who does the Word of God in order to illuminate for the apprentice what is at the center of the heart of God.  Those who say but do not do are not shepherds of the flock.

God chooses His leaders.  We do not.  Our responsibility is to recognize the ones God has chosen and listen to their message of active obedience.  How do we do that?  Well, it starts by looking away from the contemporary culture’s icons.  God’s leaders generally are characterized by submission, humility, weakness, self-deprecation, reluctance and detachment from cultural expectations.  Furthermore, they have an overriding sense of community, usually at great cost to themselves.  They are half of the motto of the Musketeers: “one for all.”   Plato wanted the world to adopt the philosopher-king.  His vision was based in the primacy of reason, the power of knowledge.  God has a different view.  God’s king is the self-sacrificing servant.  God’s king lives to be obedient, not to demand obedience.

Oh, and by the way, did you know that in God’s kingdom, the teacher chooses the student?

Topical Index:  Leadership