Shepherds Training

SHEPHERDS
REFRESHER COURSE
The Chief Shepherd:

Those involved in the shepherding are more like
"under-shepherds." The sheep are not ours. They
belong to the Lord. We need to remember that it is
about Him, not us.
He is the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4) who is
good (Jn. 10:11) and great (Heb. 13:20) and the
guardian of our souls (Heb. 13:20-21).
We are vessels through whom He works. We
simply provide the conditions conducive to growth
and productivity.
The Lord is the One who causes the believer to
grow(1 Cor. 3:7) and to bear fruit (Jn. 15:4-5).
A Discipler Teaches the Sheep to Follow

the Chief Shepherd:
Simply put, a disciple is a learner, a pupil. As Strong's
concordance states, the word "mathetes" means "one who
follows one's teaching." This is why some Bible versions
will translate what is known as the Great Commission in
Matthew 28:19-20 as "Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations" (KJV) while others say "Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations" (NIV). The same root word for
disciple is used in verb form in Matthew 28:19.
The word used for the discipler in the Scripture is
"didaskalos" meaning a teacher. According to
Matthew 28:20, the discipler is to be "teaching them to
obey everything Jesus commanded." Simply put, a
discipler is to teach the sheep to follow Jesus, not
himself/herself. Even when Paul told the Corinthians to
follow his example, it was as he followed "the example of
Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1).
Authority belongs to and comes from

Christ through His Word.
In the verse preceding the command to go
and make disciples, Jesus said "All
authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me." Notice He did not say it has
been given to those who do the discipling.
The authority with which Jesus sent out the
twelve in Luke 9 was "to drive out all
demons and to cure diseases." When it
came to people, they were to "preach." In
preaching they were giving forth the Word
of God. The ultimate is that everything will
be brought under subjection to God
Why would we therefore seek to

bring people into subjection to us in
the way we disciple them? Our role,
even that which is in an area of
responsibility of looking after the
welfare of others, is not for us to
"lord it over" but to help them come
under His Lordship (Mk. 10:42-44).
Jesus exercised His authority through
servanthood. Why would we disciple
using control tactics?
Being true to the original

language, a discipler is a teacher.
The authority of a teacher is only
found in the Word of God, not in
oneself (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The role of a
discipler is therefore to teach people to
become obedient to the Word.
Scripture is that which brings people
into subjection to Christ, not us. We do
not have that kind of power. As
1 Corinthians 3:7 says, "neither he who
plants nor he who waters is anything,
but only God, who makes things grow."
To seek to make people followers of

ourselves or anyone else but Christ
is to bring nothing but trouble. -"You are still worldly. For since there is
jealousy and quarreling among you, are
you not worldly? Are you not acting like
mere men? For when one says, 'I follow
Paul,' and another, 'I follow Apollos,' are
you not mere men? What, after all, is
Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants
through whom you came to believe -- as
the Lord has assigned to each his task"
(1 Cor. 3:3-6).
SHEPERDS PREPARATION
"It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to
be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to
be pastors and teachers to prepare God's
people ..." (Eph. 4:11-12a)
The gifting represented in those God calls to be
the equippers will bring into the process a much
greater perspective and will address different
issues and needs than would solely one shepherd
doing the work of equipping.
Apostles will be pushing us onward, helping us not
get stuck in ministry ruts.
Prophets will tell it like it is, warning us to stay

pure and godly in all we do.
Evangelists will help us not to become in-grown,

reminding us that there is a world out there who
needs Jesus.
Pastors will be sensitive to people and their

needs, keeping the focus on people and not just
our programs.
Teachers will provide systematic instruction,

guiding us to take into account the whole counsel
of the Word of God in all we do.
"to prepare God's people ... so that the body of

Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in
the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God
and become mature, attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ ... we will in all
things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is
Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held
together ..." (Eph. 4:12-13, 15-16)
Jesus is the reason we equip others. Knowing
Jesus and becoming more like Him is the goal we
should have for people, not merely that they can
perform ministry tasks effectively. Jesus is the
substance and the source. It is all about Him and
not us!
EQUIPPING FOR
"to prepareSHEPHERDING
God's people for works of service"
(Eph. 4:12)
katartismos = to prepare, to equip
katartismos = to mend
The Greek word used in Ephesians 4:12 is the same
one used in Matthew 4:21 and Mark 1:19 where the
soon-to-be disciples were mending their nets. To the
fishermen, mending their nets was as necessary of a
work as fishing itself. They realized that the one
wasn't going to be effective without the other. So in
ministry we need that balance of equipping and
ministry. Our nets need to be able to hold the fish.
Mending the nets not only happened when holes
needed to be fixed. Mending nets was multi-faceted
and so must be our equipping ministry:
Repairing - The nets may have holes or snags.

Equipping Efforts: one-on-one confrontation,
counseling, prayer, consultation
Reinforcing - The nets may need strengthening to
hold the weight of the fish.
Equipping Efforts: personal walk with the Lord,
group Bible studies/classes,sermon
Readying - The nets must be in the right place and

order for the next endeavor.
Equipping Efforts: pre-service training
Readjusting - The nets need

maintenance to be most useful like
putting on a few more corks or sinkers.
Equipping Efforts: in-service training,
feedback opportunities
Reassuring - The nets need to be
evaluated to see how good they are.
Equipping Efforts: progress reports,
appreciation

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SHEPHERDS

The Chief Shepherd:

A Discipler Teaches the Sheep to Follow

Authority belongs to and comes from

Why would we therefore seek to

Being true to the original

To seek to make people followers of

Prophets will tell it like it is, warning us to stay

Evangelists will help us not to become in-grown,

Pastors will be sensitive to people and their

Teachers will provide systematic instruction,

"to prepare God's people ... so that the body of

Repairing - The nets may have holes or snags.

Readying - The nets must be in the right place and

Readjusting - The nets need

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