During the summer’s ChurchWorks series, Dan mentioned the process we have for recognizing, developing, and appointing gifted leaders within the church. If this has you thinking thoughts like “Is God moving me toward a shepherding role within the church?” or “How would I know if I have the skill and desire to be a pastor?” or “How can I personally develop as a shepherd and pastor to those God has put in my path?” then I commend an excellent resource to you titled They Smell Like Sheep: Spiritual Leadership for the 21st Century by Lynn Anderson.

Ken gave me this book when I was in the process to become an elder. He claimed it was the best book he knew of as far as capturing what being an elder is all about. I am just as enthusiastic about the message Anderson passes on through this relatively short work, and I recommend it to anyone who leads and shepherds people (or aspires to) at any level within the church.

Anderson starts out the book by giving some background on sheep and shepherds–not pastors and congregants, but literal sheep and literal shepherds. Because shepherding was a common vocation in the Ancient Near East, this all would have been common knowledge to the folks that heard Jesus, and the writers of Scripture use all sorts of shepherding metaphors. This background brings out some of the richness that we would tend to miss in passages like John 10 where Jesus uses an extended sheep and shepherd metaphor and talks about things like the sheep knowing their shepherd’s voice.

The key element from actual shepherding that Anderson highlights, and becomes the thesis of the book, is that shepherds smell like their sheep. This is because they spend so much time in the sheep pen caring for the sheep. The rest of the book works through what that looks like.

Part I of the book looks at what spiritual leaders do. They shepherd, mentor, and equip. Shepherding is about care and relationship. The shepherding elder will ensure that the congregation has all of the infrastructure it needs to create lots of time for the shepherd to be with his sheep. Mentoring is like teaching but happens up close, one-on-one. The authenticity and example of the shepherd is as important as his words. The equipping elder realizes that his primary job is to equip the sheep for ministry more than it is to do all of the ministering himself.

Part II of the book looks at what spiritual leaders are like. They are men of experience, character, and vision. This section of the book also has a wonderful section contrasting authority that comes from a title or an office with authority that comes from a concept Anderson calls moral suasion. He argues that Biblical shepherding takes place not when leaders exercise power derived from ecclesiastical office. It takes place when shepherds influence their sheep through the moral authority shown through their lives in the way they live as well as how they shepherd, mentor, and equip the church.

Biblical shepherding is a high calling. If you see eldership primarily as making decisions and running things and not first and foremost about caring for and investing in people, this book will challenge you. Even if you do not have aspirations of being an elder, I recommend this book. It will help you as a small group leader, class teacher, friend, or parent. We all, whether men or women, should be growing in our impact for Christ as shepherd, mentor, and equip those God puts within our influence.