I’m working my way through How To Break Growth Barriers, Revise Your Role, Release Your People, and Capture Overlooked Opportunities for Your Church, by Carl F. George and Warren Bird (which may be the longest book title I’ve ever seen.), and wanted to pass along the key question from the book: Are you thinking like a shepherd or a rancher when it comes to your leadership? The point of the question is shepherds think in terms of individual “sheep” reached, while ranchers organize groups of other cowboys to systematically herd the “cows.”
When we respond as shepherds as leaders, we think that we are the ones who must make all the pastoral visits, teach all the classes, preach all the sermons, and in short do the ministry. This has been a common model for pastoral leadership in America for centuries, which may be the best explanation for the average church in America having less than 100 people. After all, if the pastor is the shepherd of all the people, then he or she can only handle caring for 50-100 people. There are exceptions, when a pastor is particularly gifted, or possesses uncommon stamina, but over time leading people and caring for people is both a time intensive and energy intensive endeavor. At some point the pastor who thinks and serve as a shepherd will either burn out or throw in the towel on doing what the church was created to do: make disciples of all the nations.
I am not saying that every church ought to be a mega church. I am simply agreeing with George and Bird’s assessment that the shepherd model of ministry has inherent limitations, because one shepherd can only care for so many sheep. Without adding or multiplying the impact of one’s leadership one will hit an inevitable lid with regard to caring for people in Jesus’ name, and extending God’s Kingdom through making disciples.
The rancher model, on the other hand recognizes that the task is to care for the most people possible. The methods may change from one rancher to the next, but the key is the rancher sees the goal of reaching the most possible people with the Good News of Jesus, helping them become disciples (through other people in addition to himself or herself), and then helping the to care for one another and make other disciples. The rancher’s mentality, according to George and Bird, is that of a medical team who comes on the scened of a massive natural disaster and must decide how to care best for the multitude of people impacted by it. They can each start to treat one person at a time, which will certainly save some, and will give the medics a sense of accomplishment until the drop from exhaustion. On the other hand the medics could help those who are already in the best condition, train them to help care for those who are hurting, and equip some to address the infrastructure that will keep disease from spreading, such as the water and sewer systems, and in general work from the big picture back to the individual.
Ranchers see the big picture, while shepherds tend to be so caught up in caring they may never see it. Again, I’m not saying more or bigger is better, except in so far as reaching more people makes more sense if the goal is to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations. We must be strategic if that is our goal, because the world is big and the population is multiplying. While it’s true that no single church or leader is going to reach the whole world, each church can live within the realities of its context and determine the best way to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission most effectively.
So, which are you as a church leader a shepherd or a rancher? Is your tendency to move from one person’s crisis to another putting out the fires and keeping as many plates spinning as possible? Are you more strategic in that you recognize when you equip more people in every area of church ministry according to their giftedness and skills the body will be healthier and healthy things tend to grow? As I have so often written, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” while the statement isn’t biblical, it has helped me over and over again through the years to stop and take stock of where I am, of the methods I’m using, and of the bigger picture. When I do those things, I can recall my mission, which never changes, but can change my methods and my own focus in order to make the greatest possible impact for God’s Kingdom.
Here’s to leading better, by determining whether to lead as a shepherd or a rancher and than taking steps to lead boldly in that direction–today!