Baptizing and Making Disciples
We’ve looked extensively into who the apostles and the sheep were, and are, but there is another critical group to fulfilling the Great Commission: the shepherds. Paul writes, “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers…” (1 Cor. 12). According to the Greek, “prophet” here means one who has a primary function of proclaiming God’s truth, exposing sin, and revealing His purposes which can include predictions of future events. So, it is reasonable to categorize prophets and teachers together with the exception of the future-telling element. This defines the role of Elder in the church. In Philippians 1 he also includes overseers and deacons in this group, with similar demands for holiness in word and deed.
Shepherds exist to fulfill their Great Commission mandate within the confines of the body as the sheep do and share their platform. They arise from the sheep, not called as apostles, but rather those who have taken seriously “devoting themselves to the apostle’s teachings” and thus risen to these positions of leadership. To understand their role, we need only look to the book I now call “the book of shepherds:” Titus.
Paul begins by instructing Titus, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city…” What would Paul mean here by setting in order the things that remain other than to indicate he, as the apostle, had fulfilled his responsibilities under the Great Commission, but had to keep moving on into all the earth proclaiming the truth. What remained was for Titus to continually set in order what he had begun as one who “makes disciples.” To do that he would need to make sure there were overseers in every church planted through Paul’s efforts. He then goes on to talk about who will and will not be qualified for such an honor.
This instruction to disciplers continues: “But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (Tit. 2)…in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine…These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you…Remind them…” He finishes by telling Titus to “diligently help” traveling apostles so that none of their needs would be lacking. In doing so, he establishes a clear dividing line between them and the apostles they are to help. Peter teaches basically the same concepts, that shepherds are to “shepherd the flock, exercise oversight, and prove themselves worthy examples” (1 Pet. 5).
These are all instructions from those “going into all the world” converting the sheep to those “making disciples” of them. These men fulfilled the qualifications stated in Titus, requiring no certificates from human institutions that made theologians of formerly Spirit-filled followers. They arose from the flock and were acknowledged by them as displaying, both in spirit and in flesh, worthiness to lead.
You will see the differences between apostles and shepherds on display in Paul’s epistles to Titus and his letters to apostles: the books of Timothy. While his instructions to Titus focused upon tending the flock to Timothy, his hand-picked apprentice and apostle, he “solemnly charges” him to preach the word, being ready in and out of season. The he says, “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4). This is something you never see Paul saying to the sheep or the shepherds. In Hebrews 5-6, the writer speaks of babes and the mature, then goes on to identify what would mark the maturity of those who arise from the sheep, “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” The work and love of ministering to the saints within the body of Christ!
One final point: notice that in all these verses Paul and others overwhelmingly employ the words “we, I” to identify the apostles and “you” to identify the others. This is very apparent in those passages where Paul refers to preaching, among them, “Whether then it was I or they [speaking of other apostles], so we preach and so you believed” (1 Cor. 15), and “But with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you, so as to preach the gospel” (2 Cor. 10).
When it comes to the Great Commission there is only one, small, exclusive, trained and anointed of these groups tasked with proactively going into all the world evangelizing. The other two work within the body to “make and be disciples,” presenting to the world an authentic community that naturally draws those who see it in. There they fulfill their part in spreading the Gospel reactively, but just as powerfully and efficiently, as the apostles.
The Cross-trainers
Before we leave this discussion of shepherds, we need to examine three—the “big three”—who alone were the ones invited to the mount of transfiguration and were acknowledged as the shepherds among the apostles: Peter, James, and John. They had a cross-purpose of sorts in that they were among those commissioned with going into all the world, yet not without an equal or even greater calling to shepherd the sheep.
Beginning with Peter, who was given a very specific calling by Jesus shortly after His resurrection that was repeated three times, leaving no room for ambiguity or question. It came as Jesus said to him, “Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep—tend my lambs.” The Book of Acts reveals Peter doing just that, going into the body to do his evangelism instead of to the world. Paul acknowledges this separation in Galatians 2, where he says, “But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised…” In Acts 8 we find Peter and John being sent to an already evangelized Samaria, in Acts 9 we see them doing likewise in Judea and Galilee, and in Acts 15 we see him shepherding the converted Jews. Peter no doubt did some evangelizing to the Gentiles, most notably Cornelius and his family in Acts 10. So, there you have it: cross-training!
Then there was John, the only apostle to live to a ripe old age and die of natural causes on the Island of Patmos where he recorded the most famous revelations from God in the Bible. I believe this was for two reasons: first, he was also given a specific ministry by Jesus as He hung on the cross and said, “John, behold your mother [speaking of Mary], woman behold your son.” John was to take care of the most famous “widow” ever and could not be globetrotting around the world fulfilling that part of the Great Commission. But more importantly, John had to be preserved to get to Patmos and deliver the Revelations. History records had he gone out like the rest of them chances were slim and none that he would have lived long enough to do that. Other than teaming up with Peter early on in Acts to minister to those already evangelized little is said of him. Finally, when it came to fulfilling his greatest commission on Patmos, we find it all beginning with Jesus addressing the body in the form of the seven churches. This was a vision of the Great Commission already fulfilled, there was no more evangelism, the teams had been chosen, and all who were left on the wrong side we find totally unrepentant and cursing God.
Finally, to the one they called James the Great who was revered a peer to Peter himself when it came to shepherding the body. In reading his epistle we find the necessity for endurance, faith, humility, good works, mastering our tongue, a warning to all shepherds, conduct in the body, the danger of riches, the danger of making vows, healing through the body, and finally the rewards for discipling a lost brother back to restoration. Do you know what we don’t see? Not one reference to “coming to Christ!” We find Jesus’ name mentioned only twice, and those refer to honoring Him from a redeemed position. No evangelical message at all.
Finally, in Acts 15 we see perhaps the largest meeting of leaders and elders in the early church brought together in Jerusalem to resolve a dispute concerning what parts of the law the gentile believers should observe. They were all there: Peter, Paul, and Barnabas along with many others. James was already in Jerusalem presiding over this esteemed group, and after Paul had stated his case and Peter had responded, they all looked to James for the final word and rolled with his decision. We find a similar gathering where Paul, Luke [author of the Book of Acts], and others go up to Jerusalem to meet with James and this esteemed council of elders, and that is the last we see of the first martyred saint of the early church. James was a shepherd—the ultimate shepherd who held the position in the Great Commission of “making disciples” like no other!
If the big three were as much shepherds as apostles, then how could we say they were any less important to God in His grand scheme?