What is the gift of pastoring or shepherding?

Question 4085

The gift of pastoring is the Spirit-given ability to care for, feed, lead and protect a body of God’s people in the way a shepherd tends a flock of sheep. The word translated pastor in Ephesians 4:11 is simply the ordinary word for shepherd, and the picture it carries runs right through Scripture, from the shepherd kings of Israel to the Lord Jesus who calls Himself the good shepherd in John 10. To carry this gift is to be given a shepherd’s heart for a particular group of the Lord’s people.

It is a gift that the risen Jesus gives to His church for its building up. When Paul lists what the ascended Lord has given His people in Ephesians 4:11, he names pastors and teachers together, and the joining of those two words tells us that the shepherd’s first work is to feed. A shepherd who does not lead the sheep to pasture has failed at the heart of the task, and the pasture of the flock of God is His Word.

Where the gift of pastoring is found in Scripture

The clearest single text is Ephesians 4:11, where the gift of pastoring appears in the list of those Jesus gives to equip the saints for the work of ministry. The Greek noun is poimen, shepherd, the same word used for the literal shepherds who watched their flocks by night in Luke 2. By choosing this image rather than a word for ruler or official, the New Testament tells us at once what kind of leadership it has in mind. It is the leadership of one who lives with the sheep, knows them by name, and is willing to spend himself for them.

The same picture governs Peter’s charge to the elders in 1 Peter 5:2, where he tells them to shepherd the flock of God that is among them, exercising oversight willingly and eagerly rather than for shameful gain. Paul uses it again in Acts 20:28, urging the Ephesian elders to care for the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers. The gift of pastoring, then, is closely tied to the work of the elder, even though the gift itself is a grace of the Spirit and not simply an office a man steps into.

What the gift of pastoring involves

Shepherding in Scripture gathers up several duties that belong together. The shepherd feeds, leading the sheep to good pasture so that they are nourished and strong. He protects, standing between the flock and the wolf, guarding sound doctrine against those who would scatter the sheep with error. He leads, going ahead of the flock so that they follow into safe ways. He seeks the straggler, going after the one that wanders, as the Lord describes in His parable of the lost sheep.

A believer with the gift of pastoring feels these things instinctively. He notices the one who has slipped away from the gathering. He grieves when the flock is exposed to false teaching. He wants the people in his care to be fed, and he is willing to be inconvenienced for their good. This is not the same as natural sociability or a liking for being in charge. It is a Spirit-given care that puts the welfare of the sheep above the comfort of the shepherd, modelled on the one who laid down His life for the sheep.

Because feeding is so central, the gift of pastoring overlaps closely with the gift of teaching. Many who shepherd also teach, and the joining of the two words in Ephesians 4 suggests that in the local church the shepherd is usually a man who can open the Scriptures to the people. The two gifts are not identical, since a person may teach well in a classroom setting without carrying a shepherd’s heart, yet in the leadership of a congregation they are meant to travel together.

The gift of pastoring and the office of elder

It is worth being clear about the relationship between the gift and the office. The New Testament uses three terms for the same leaders. They are called elders, which speaks of maturity, overseers, which speaks of the work of watching over, and shepherds or pastors, which speaks of the care they give. A man recognised as an elder is expected to shepherd, and the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 describe the kind of character such a man must have.

Yet the gift of pastoring is wider than the office. A grandmother who watches over the spiritual welfare of a family, a mature believer who quietly cares for a handful of younger Christians, a small group leader who tends the people entrusted to him, all of these may exercise something of the shepherd’s care within the order that Scripture sets. The gift is given by the Spirit as He wills, and it shows itself wherever someone takes loving, watchful responsibility for the spiritual good of others. Caring for people in this way lies near the heart of what discipleship means.

The cost and the comfort of shepherding

Shepherding is costly. Jesus contrasts the good shepherd with the hireling, who runs when the wolf comes because the sheep are not his own (John 10:12). A true shepherd stays. He carries the burdens of the flock, he weeps with those who weep, he is woken at night by the troubles of his people, and he keeps loving those who are hard to love. Peter knew this, having been restored by the Lord with the threefold charge to feed and tend the sheep after his own failure.

The comfort is that the under-shepherd serves the chief Shepherd, who promises that when He appears those who have shepherded faithfully will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4). No shepherd carries the flock alone, for the Lord Himself walks with His people through the valley, and the gift He gives He also sustains. Those who shepherd are kept by the very God whose sheep they tend, which is part of the wider truth of the believer’s eternal security.

Recognising the gift of pastoring

How does a person know whether the Spirit has given them the gift of pastoring rather than simply a kind heart? The surest sign is fruit over time. Where the gift is present, people are actually cared for and grow under that care. The straying are sought and brought back, the weak are strengthened, the troubled are comforted, and the flock as a whole becomes more settled and more mature. A shepherd is known by the state of the sheep, and the gift shows itself in the steady spiritual health of those who are tended.

There is also an inward mark. The one with the gift of pastoring finds that the cares of other believers weigh on them in a way that will not be put down. Paul speaks of the daily pressure of his anxiety for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:28), and something of that burden rests on every true shepherd. It is not a crushing weight but a holy concern, a love that cannot stand idly by while a brother or sister wanders or suffers. Where that concern is paired with the wisdom to act on it well, the Spirit has given the gift.

The gift of pastoring is recognised and confirmed within the body. The New Testament never has a man simply announce himself a shepherd. Elders are appointed by the recognition of the church and the laying on of hands, and the gift is tested before it is trusted with oversight. A believer who senses this gift should make it known, serve where invited, and let mature leaders weigh whether the marks of a shepherd are truly present. The church that confirms the gift then has the joy of being well tended. Confirmed and exercised in this way, the gift of pastoring becomes a lasting blessing both to the one who carries it and to the flock the Lord has placed in his care.

So, now what?

If the Spirit has given you the gift of pastoring, do not bury it. Take responsibility for the spiritual good of those near you, feed them from the Word, watch over them, and pray for them by name. Offer yourself to your local church, where mature believers can recognise and confirm the gift and help you grow into it within the bounds Scripture sets.

If you are part of a flock, honour those who shepherd you. Pray for them, encourage them, and make their work a joy rather than a burden, as Hebrews 13:17 puts it. The gift of pastoring is one of the Lord’s kindest provisions for His people, a sign that He has not left His sheep without care, and the right response to a faithful shepherd is a grateful and teachable heart.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight.” 1 Peter 5:1-2