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Preaching as a Shepherd: Feeding the Flock Through Pastoral Teaching

By Jared Bumpers

John Owen was one of the most prominent English theologians of the 17th century. A profound thinker and prolific author, Owen also served as a pastor and stands as a model pastor-theologian. In The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government, Owen boldly asserted, “The first and principal duty of a pastor, is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the word . . . This work and duty, therefore, as was said, is essential unto the office of a pastor. A man is a pastor unto them whom he feeds by pastoral teaching, and to no more. And he that doth not so feed, is no pastor.” Owen emphasized the centrality of preaching in pastoral ministry—shepherds must feed their flock! A failure to preach the Word was a dereliction of duty for the pastor, and the only way pastors would be able to “give a comfortable account of the pastoral office at the last day,” in Owen’s words, was to pursue the preaching of God’s Word with relentless effort.

Yet Owen’s point was not merely that pastors should prioritize preaching God’s Word but that pastors should feed their flock “by pastoral teaching.” Owen’s conception of preaching is tied to the model of the pastor as a shepherd who faithfully feeds the flock of God. What is involved in pastoral teaching, or what I would call “preaching as a shepherd”? How should pastors who are resolved to follow Peter’s exhortation to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” approach the task of preaching? Let me suggest five requirements for “pastoral teaching,” drawn from and expanding on Owen’s work.

  1. Demonstrate Spiritual Maturity and Insight into the Mysteries of the Gospel

The first requirement of the pastor who desires to shepherd through preaching is a certain degree of spiritual maturity and insight into the mysteries of the gospel. Owen warned against pastors “who do not have some degree of eminency” in spiritual insight, concluding that these pastors “cannot be useful to lead them (their congregation) on to perfection.” However, pastors who are spiritually mature and have spiritual insight are able to declare “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) and to preach the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8) to their flock. Declaring “the whole counsel of God” ensures the breadth of the preacher’s pulpit ministry, while preaching “the unsearchable riches of Christ” ensures the depth of the preacher’s pulpit ministry. Therefore, pastors who wish to feed their flock via pastoral teaching must pursue spiritual maturity and insight into the mysteries of the gospel. They must love God’s Word deeply, study God’s Word faithfully, and obey God’s Word consistently, which leads to the second requirement of pastoral teaching.

  1. Embody Your Message to Your Congregation

Second, pastors should shepherd the flock by embodying the message they preach. The shepherd not only teaches with his words, but he also teaches with his actions. His life is a lesson, or example, to the flock. This is why, in the Pastoral Epistles, Paul repeatedly emphasizes the conduct of the man of God in close proximity to the faithful teaching ministry of the man of God (cf. 1 Tim. 4:11–16; 5:17–25; 6:2b–16; 2 Tim. 2:22–26; Titus 2:7–8). However, to embody the message, the faithful shepherd must preach to himself and seek to obey the teachings of Scripture in his own life before preaching these truths to his congregation. As Owen put it, “A man preacheth that sermon only well unto others which preacheth itself in his own soul.” Indeed, the pastor’s life will either reinforce the truth of the sermon or undermine the truth of the sermon. Thus, pastors who wish to shepherd their flock through pastoral preaching must seek to live out the message in their own lives.

  1. Possess the Skills Necessary to Rightly Interpret God’s Word

The third requirement for pastoral teaching is the ability to rightly interpret God’s Word. Owen cited 2 Timothy 2:15 as proof that shepherds need “skill to divide the word aright.” The ability to divide the Word rightly is connected to the requirements for pastoral office. A man who does not possess the skill to interpret God’s Word rightly is not “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2) or “give instruction in sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9), which means he is not qualified to be a pastor. Conversely, the man who possesses the skill to divide the Word rightly is able to teach faithfully and may be qualified to be a pastor if he meets the other requirements outlined in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

Yet Owen was not merely concerned with accuracy in pastoral teaching; he was concerned with priority in pastoral teaching. Shepherds should strive to “find out what is real, substantial, and meet food for the souls of the hearers” when studying God’s Word so they can prepare spiritually beneficial meals for their listeners. This requires what I call “prioritization” in preaching. While the preacher could say many things about the text, he is selective in what he says, focusing on the central truths of the text and those spiritual realities that impact his listeners most directly. The skill to interpret the Word rightly and prioritize the main truths of the text for the spiritual benefits of the listeners is a key requirement of pastoral teaching.

  1. Speak to the Pressing Issues in Your Congregation

Fourth, pastoral teaching requires the shepherd to speak to his congregation and address the issues that are facing them. Owen chided pastors who do not consider their congregation when preparing and delivering sermons, humorously commenting that they “preach at random, uncertainly fighting, like those that beat at the air.” He encouraged pastors instead to preach “as near as may be with respect unto all the individual members of the church.” This requirement is at the heart of pastoral preaching. The shepherd does not preach to people in general; he preaches to specific people—those in his flock. He knows their names and faces. He knows their strengths and weaknesses, their struggles and temptations, and their spiritual growth or decline. However, the shepherd must spend time with his flock if he desires to preach this way. Through weddings, funerals, hospital visits, anniversary celebrations, birthday parties, counseling sessions, pre- and post-church conversations, and a host of other interactions, the shepherd gets to know his flock and is able to preach in a distinctly pastoral way.

  1. Preach With Evident Passion for God’s Glory and an Evident Love for your Flock

The final requirement of pastoral preaching is to preach with a passion for God’s glory and a love for God’s people. Long before John Piper wrote The Supremacy of God in Preaching, John Owen declared that pastoral preaching should be “constantly accompanied with the evidence of zeal for the glory of God.” A pastor should not expect his congregation to be zealous for God’s glory if he himself is not zealous for God’s glory, but a pastor who delights in God’s glory and passionately preaches of God’s glory will cultivate a desire for God’s glory in the lives of his listeners. Moreover, the pastor must possess and demonstrate a love for his congregation; his preaching should be motivated by God’s glory and a love for God’s people. The pastor should strive to be able to say the same thing to his congregation that Paul said to the Thessalonian believers: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thess. 2:8).

Conclusion

Pastors are shepherds who are called to feed their flocks via pastoral teaching. This requires pastors to demonstrate spiritual maturity, embody their messages, rightly handle God’s Word, speak to their congregations, and preach with zeal for God’s glory and love for God’s people, which should cause us to ask, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16). Thankfully, God does not leave us on our own. He equips and enables those He calls to shepherd His flock. So let these requirements “stir up all ministers unto fervent prayer for supplies of divine aids and assistance,” as Owen wrote, and encourage God-called men to shepherd God’s flock through pastoral teaching.

Jared Bumpers | Assistant Professor of Preaching and Evangelism, For the Church Cohorts Faculty Coordinator

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