Increasing the Flock

In biblical times, the Jews were very familiar with sheep and shepherds. Throughout the Bible, writers use the analogy of sheep to refer to God's children. David wrote, "The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23:1a)." Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep" (John 10:14a).

Today, many Christians are concerned about how fast many churches are losing members and even pastors. I recently heard an alarming statistic. Across the Christian denominations, nearly 1,100 pastors are leaving the ministry each month. The numbers of those people no longer interested in attending church are even worse. How do we stop such trends and start growing the body of Christ again? Pastors are to shepherd their flocks, but they can't do it alone.

Of course, we need to turn to God and let Him guide us. But we can also look to sheep for answers. One glaring, obvious fact in nature is that the shepherd isn't able to produce sheep on his own. Only sheep produce sheep. Is your congregation focused on bringing more sheep into the fold? Do they follow Jesus' Great Commission and tell others about the Gospel message wherever they go? Or are they more like the people Isaiah spoke of when he said "... we like sheep we have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6a). We all need to get serious with being about the Lord's business and following Him.

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