Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength

[bsteenbock]

In Mark 12:30 Jesus says that the greatest commandment is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." This is the instruction for all of God's people. But it has a unique application for under-shepherds who will be placed over God's people. First, it's necessary because leading God's people necessitates doing what God wants them to do; modeling the kind of orientation, identity, purpose, and priorities that God wants for all of his flock. Second, because shepherding requires a particular investment of the heart, mind, soul, and strength.

On page 27 (Scribd version) of Shepherds After My Own Heart, Laniak writes,
"It is not just ‘heart’, however, but ‘after my own heart’ that matters. A good shepherd is one who sees what the Owner sees and does what the Owner does. He is a follower before he is a leader. He is a leader because he is a follower... Finally, the promised shepherds are those who will lead ‘with knowledge and understanding’. A shepherd needs God’s heart, but also a sharp, godly mind. The challenges of leadership require deep reservoirs of discernment and wisdom."

This is identifying the unique way under-shepherds love God:
With their whole hearts - loving the things God loves and the people God loves the way he loves them. Seeking their good in the same way God seeks their good. There's an extra need, then, to guard the heart against things that would draw it away from an orientation toward God; if we love the things God hates, it will be more difficult to love the people God loves in the way he loves them.
With their whole souls - the active will cannot be allowed to follow its default, because the default will often lead us astray, and in turn lead the sheep astray. Our intentions must be directed toward the good of the sheep, and toward the purposes and kingdom of God.
With their whole minds - as Laniak points out above, there's a need to thoughtful, wise, discerning, and knowledgeable. It's not enough just to want to shepherd and to intend to shepherd; we need to understand the difference between the things God tells us and the things the world tells us, so that we can lead the sheep well. Too many sheep have been led astray by shepherds who weren't interested in taking the time to improve their knowledge and wisdom and understanding of Scripture, and were instead focused on how to appeal to people's interests, or build a better organization. First and foremost our minds need to be oriented toward an understanding of God's Word and his will.
With their whole strength - being an under-shepherd is hard work. In Ezekiel, the shepherds of Israel were condemned for their unwillingness to put forth the effort to shepherd the people appropriately. This sinful weakness turned the whole nation astray. Shepherding is not a clock-punching, get through a day, skate by with the minimal effort kind of career. It's one that requires perseverance and a willingness to press forward through difficulty.

I find myself convicted in all of this. My heart strays and loves my sin, loves the things of the world, loves even good things more than God at times. My soul is not always directed toward God and his will. My mind is cluttered with entertainment and random knowledge that is unhelpful and unfruitful, much of which I've pursued simply out of my own curiosity or boredom. I don't persevere every time the going gets tough.

The under-shepherds need the Good Shepherd too. We need him to lead us. We need him to heal us. We need him to empower us. We need him to give us the heart, soul, mind, and strength he desires in us. It's fruitless to try and produce these things in ourselves; if we could, then we would be the ones shepherding the flock all on our own. But we belong to the Good Shepherd as much as the rest of the flock, because we need him, and he has made us his.
_________________
Brandon Steenbock
"Not all those who wander are lost."