Almost every shepherd we see illustrated in books. Magazines, posters and on the internet is depicted as a feminine looking man with long hair and a scarf draped over his head with a little lamb on his shoulder. This is the image that Satan has promoted throughout the centuries. This is the image that we have had etched into our psyche which has led to the feminization of the preacher and the emasculating of the office of Pastor.
Now let’s listen to David as he tells King Saul about the heart and character of a shepherd:
“Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:34-37)
This doesn’t sound like a wimpy little man with a sad little sheep on his shoulder. This sound like the heart of a warrior who knows in whom he has believed.
God thought so highly of the warrior mentality and caring character of the shepherd that he sent his son to us as the ultimate example of a shepherd—one who would fight death, hell and grave to save His sheep (John 10:11).
When David wanted to express the highest level of trust and assurance that anyone could have in another, He wrote:
“The Lord is my shepherd” (Palms 23)
Being a Pastor is not for the weak minded, silly, insecure, indecisive, wimpy little boy that needs his wife to speak for him or his denomination to tell him what to preach.
It is for real men—warriors who are willing to stand and fight to the death for the sake of the Gospel of Christ and His sheep.
