Shepherding requires touch

[adamkipp]

I wonder how many times I’ve said, or muttered to myself, “If I could just preach on Sundays and not have to worry about the drama, administration, politics, emails, and countless meetings with people during the week, everything would be so much simpler.� And I supposed it would be, I could just close my door, read my Bible, write out my sermons, and emerge on Sunday morning to deliver it.

But something would be missing, the messages would fall flat, they wouldn’t connect the way they should, because as I was reminded in this day’s devotions shepherding requires touch. There’s no such thing as a hands off shepherd who can just stand back and tell his flock where to go expecting them to listen and continue to thrive. It just doesn’t work that way. Shepherding requires touch. Being among the flock, checking on them, getting to know them, understanding where they are hurting and why, it’s only then that a Shepherd can do what he has been called to do.

And the same is true for me. Dealing with people, and administration, and navigating church politics, and answering countless emails, and meeting with people and going to meetings, these are all connecting points with my flock, ways to check in on them and see how they are doing, and for them to connect with me. They aren’t always fun, or easy, and don’t always fit into a neat nice schedule but they allow me to touch my congregation, and the type of shepherding that we do requires touch.