Friday 29 November 2013

THE ROLES OF A PASTOR IN SPIRITUAL LIFE FORMATION OF THE CHURCH




INTRODUCTION
The term spiritual formation is fairly new among Pentecostal pastors and among evangelical Christians in general. Traditionally, we think of outstanding pastors and Christians as being spiritual. We usually characterize these people by their integrity, love, and mystical experiences with God periodically expressed in spiritual gifts: prophecy, messages in tongues, and interpretation of tongues, perhaps even in miracles. Unfortunately, while we admire their spirituality, we rarely give thought to the journey that nurtured it. But today, faced with a host of alien spiritualities and a creeping professionalization in the ministry, it is urgent that pastors identify and consciously adopt a process of authentic spiritual formation in their lives and ministries.
Thus the researcher in this work defined ministry, shepherding, and spiritual formation in light with the scriptures, he went further to highlight the needs, and benefits of spiritual formation  in the church. The researcher summarized by laying emphasis on the ministry of shepherding in spiritual formation.


DEFINITION OF TERMS:
MINISTRY/MINISTER: The Greek term typically translated as “servant” or “minister” (dikonos) is found extensively throughout the New Testament. According to Brown, “It can be used both subjectively and objectively to describe a person functioning in an intermediary capacity or to describe an act itself (i.e., “a servant” or “a service”). It is also used as a verb to express the act of ministering or serving”. (Brown. 1970, 62). A survey of these uses of “ministry” and “service” (dikonos) in the New Testament reveals several aspects of the biblical nature of ministry. To be more precise, a minister is the person while ministry is the ‘act’.
Luke describes how, at around the age of 30, Jesus began “his ministry.” Paul speaks of how he himself received a ministry from Christ (Acts 20:24). Beyond this, Ephesians 4:12 describes how all the members of the Body of Christ are equipped for service or ministry for the sake of the community. Thus, we cannot escape the fact that ministry is personal and, in some sense, conferred upon people by God.

SHERPERDING/SHEPHERD: Shepherds are people who care or look after sheep. The New Testament mentions shepherds 16 times. They were among the first to visit Jesus at His birth (Luke 2:8-20 ). Some New Testament references used a shepherd and the sheep to illustrate Christ's relationship to His followers who referred to Him as “our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20 ). Jesus spoke of Himself as “the good shepherd” who knew His sheep and would lay down His life for them (John 10:7-18 ). Jesus commissioned Peter to feed His sheep (John 21:1 ). Paul likened the church and its leaders to a flock with shepherds (Acts 20:28 ).  According to Gangel, “The Latin word transliterated “pastor” means shepherd”. With this understanding, shepherd and pastor may be used interchangeably to address the church Leader. (Gangel. 1987, 492).
SPIRITUAL FORMATION: According to Barton, “spiritual formation is defined as the use of prayer, meditation, confession and ascetic practices to discipline the soul.” (Barton. 1992, 239) In other traditions, Clinton explained that “it involves more about experiencing the joy of justification and conversion, along with their consequences for ethics and daily discipleship.” (Clinton. 1988, 639). Johnson in a more précised way asserts that “Spiritual formation can also be described as the process of spiritual growth and development that begins to take place in a human being when that person has encountered the Divine and the Divine begins to impart a new center for the human consciousness (Johnson. 1988, 836). One of the most popular definition of spiritual formation is defined by Mulholland as “the process of being conformed to the image of God for the sake of others”. (Mulholland. 1993, 15). Mulholland’s definition indicates that spiritual formation is not just an occasion or experience but a process (on going action), and it is not just for the sake of the person who experienced the action but also for the sake of others.
When one encounters God (through God's divine initiative) and enters into relationship with him, one is transformed into a "new creature," who continues to be molded and shaped by God. This encounter with God can assume several forms, often dependent upon one's personality and temperament. Once begun, this "molding" and "shaping" continues in a process that takes place from the ongoing deepening of the relationship. As one's relationship with God continues and deepens, one is being continuously spiritually formed.

                           WHY IS SPIRITUAL FORMATION NEEDED?
MAN’S DEPRAVITY: Paul while writing to the church in Rome asserts that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23). The Greek indicates that this sin occurred at the fall of Adam (aorist, passive, indicative). From that point forward man’s status before God is that he comes short of the standard of who God is.
The word “sinned” means to miss the mark. Man cannot measure up to God’s righteousness.   All have sinned and fall [keep on falling] short [not to reach] of the glory [who and what God is] of God [flunk God’s standard of perfect righteousness], not only did all sin but they also fell short of God’s standard. No one can measure up to the absolute perfection of God’s righteousness. The glory of God is the standard that God Himself must follow. He cannot be inconsistent with what He is; that would be duplicity on His part.
According to Channing, “The “glory of God” is everything that God represents and for which He stands. His glory is the aggregate of who and what He is. That is why there is universal unobtainability of God’s righteousness”. (Channing. I889, 721). So with this understanding, man need to be saved from his fallen nature, and to be gradually conformed to the standard of righteousness which God expected from us.
CHRISTIAN IMMATURITY/CARNALITY: More of the reasons why the church/Christians need spiritual formation is because of her spiritual immaturity. Thus Paul said to the church in Corinth “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly.” (1 Cor 3:1). The Spirit had brought new birth to the Corinthians whom Paul called “brothers,” but with regard to their spiritual development they were “infants”. The Greek word used by Paul was “nepioswhich could be translated as baby, infant, child; immature; innocent; under age. He also said that they were still “worldly, in other word carnal. The word translated as worldly is  sarkinos this is used to indicate human nature with its frailties physically and morally. To the more mature members of the churches in Galatia, he said, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual(hoi pneumatikoi) should restore him gently” (Galatians 6:1).
 Thus, Elisston asserts; “The contrast between the Corinthian infants and the spiritual believers of Galatia is a sharp reminder that all believers (Church), are to continuously grow in their relationship with Christ”. (Elisston. 1993, 385).
CHRISTIAN IMPERFECTION: because of the imperfection of Christians/church, there is need for spiritual formation so as to achieve a sustained growth in their spiritual life. Paul said to the church in Ephesus “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”. (Eph 4:12-13). This implies that the church is meant to reach the fullness of the knowledge of God, and this could be only achieved through spiritual life formation.
Thus, this implies that this knowledge is revelational and progressive; ones a Christian lives, he needs to be undergoing this process of spiritual formation.
FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR MINIMUM SPIRITUAL FORMATION:
  1. Church leaders (shepherds) aren’t helping people surrender their lives to Jesus. – Hull explained that “Spiritual growth is not driven or determined by activities; it is defined by a growing relationship with Christ”.(Hull. 1988, 485) . So the goal of the pastor should not be to launch people into an assortment of ministry activities; it is to launch them on a quest to embrace and surrender their lives to Jesus.
  2. Shepherds are focused more on Bible teaching than Bible engagement: The most effective strategy for moving people forward in their journey of faith is biblical engagement. Not just getting people into the Bible when they’re in church which we do quite well, but helping them engage the Bible on their own outside of church.
  3. Most church leaders are more concerned about activity than growth: It is important to understand that increased church activity does not necessarily lead to spiritual growth.
  4. Most shepherds/pastors are not challenging people to reflect on Scripture: If they could do only one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow in their relationship with Christ, their choice would be equally clear. They would inspire, encourage, and equip their people to read the Bible specifically, to reflect on Scripture for meaning in their lives.
  5. Most Pastors focused on what people should do rather than who people should become: Unfortunately, churches often make things harder still by obscuring the goal to become more like Christ with a complicated assortment of activities. For instance, encouraging people to: Attend teaching and worship services every week. Meet frequently with small community and Bible study groups (often requiring follow-up communications and homework). Serve the church a couple times a month. Serve those who are under resourced on a regular basis. Invite friends, coworkers, and family to church, special events, support groups, etc. When the church incessantly promotes all the things people should do, it’s very easy for them to lose sight of the real goal which is “who they should become” (disciples).

THE ROLE OF THE SHEPHERD IN SPIRITUAL FORMATION
When Jesus called himself shepherd in johanaine literature, he gave shepherds roles to play in the church and in the spiritual formation process of the church. According to john Jesus asserts
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd”. (John 10:11-16)
If the pastor is the shepherd of the church, his work description has already been listed before the inception of the church thus Bouyer explained that “the roles of a shepherd as can be found in the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament account reveals that Jesus did five things: (1) Jesus built His relationship with His Father, (2) He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, (3) He met the needs of people, (4) He made disciples through the power of the Spirit, and (5) He gave His life as a sacrifice. These are the keys to true biblical ministry.”
With this understanding, the ministry/role of a shepherd in spiritual formation  includes;
1.       HELPING THE CHURCH IN BUILDING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER: Over and over, the Scriptures show us that Jesus placed the highest priority of His life on spending time alone with the Father. According to Foster, “His life reveals an intense passion for the presence of God. His heart longed and hungered to touch the heart of God. One of the things that Jesus did each day was to fill the well of His being with the presence of His Father; He then lived with heaven in mind all day long.” (foster. 1988, 241). He managed His time by moving from being to behaving. His being was about being in union with the Father and experiencing the joy of His Sonship. And His doing was about doing the will of the Father. This made His doing so effective as He received grace and power from the Father. Jesus as the chief shepherd of the sheep expects the shepherd/Pastor to do likewise, and train the church to do likewise. To be more précised, the first step to Christianity is having a relationship with the father, and the shepherd should play his role in leading the sheep to this understanding.
2.       THE SHEPHERD SHOULD TEACH/PREACH THE GOSPEL: The ministry of the Word always leads people to transformed lives. There is power in the Word. The word of God brought this world into existence. The word brought Jesus Christ from the grave. And the Word brings us back to spiritual health and meaningful change.
From an early age, Jesus developed passionate love for the Scriptures. He learned them and taught them with power and authority (Luke 2:46–50). His love for the Father motivated Him to read His Book and learn about His will. The pastor should always lead people to a better understanding of the Word of God. It is only through this that the church can produce Christians that cannot be tossed around by the false teachings of the time.
3.       MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE: Often the Bible says that Jesus, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). Jesus loved people. He knew that lost people matter to God, therefore, lost people mattered to Him.
Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, “Follow Me.
Depree explained that “Christ’s method builds relationships and meets needs. The first thing Jesus did was to mingle with people, desiring their good. By doing so, He touched their hearts. The second thing Jesus did was to show sympathy for them. The way He did this was that He met them at their daily vocations and manifested an interest in their secular affairs.” (DePree. 1992, 503). And the shepherd in order to meet the demand for spiritual life formation must also meet the immediate need of the people just as a shepherd who leads the sheep.
4.       MAKING DISCIPLES: As soon as He began His public ministry, Jesus began to call disciples. He called and empowered twelve men to be His disciples— twelve men who would champion His evangelistic cause. As Johnson says in “His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow. . . . Men were to be His method of winning the world to God.” (Johnson. 1995, 297). The wisdom of His method centered in the fundamental principle of concentration upon those men whom He intended to use to transform the world, not programs, and not the masses.
The contemporary shepherds are now driven by masses, and programs and pays less attention on discipleship making. The role of a shepherd in spiritual formation is making disciples, raising men who are like Christ. The need to build disciples is so fundamental that Jesus spent three and a half years in full-time discipleship formation. In fact, if Jesus had not built His disciples, there would not be a church today.
5.       SERVICE/SACRIFICIAL LEADERSHIP: There are two important truths about Christ. First, He was a Servant Leader. Any study of Christian leadership is incomplete unless we study the servant sacrificial life of Christ. “‘The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve’ ” (Mark 10:45, MLB). “ ‘I am among you as one who serves’ ” (Luke 22:27, MLB). The King of the whole universe was not into self-glorification, self-satisfaction, power, or control. He was into service and ministry.
The second truth about Jesus is that He gave His life as a living sacrifice; to redeem us, Jesus lived and suffered and died., “ ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost’ ” (Luke 19:10). Lost people matter to God. Thus, if I am to be a genuine pastor and disciple of Jesus Christ, then lost people will matter to me as well. The pastor’s/Shepherd’s  role is to instill this value in the heart of their congregation.
This sacrificial life manifests itself on at least two levels. The first level is to live a life of giving—of time, of resources, and of life. The second level is to render selfless service to God. God calls us to live the life Jesus lived. Pastoral ministry is not about us, but about Him—about knowing and serving Him.
If the shepherds/pastors should play this five roles or minister in these five dimension taught by Christ through his life, ministry, and teachings; spiritual life formation of the church will be guaranteed and the church will achieve her purpose as desired by Christ.
CONCLUSION/OBSERVATION: the issue of spiritual formation cannot for overlooked any longer by the modern churches and leaders. Although today's pastor is concerned about a variety of ministry tasks, such as church growth, counseling therapy, management and administration, the pastor should focus on the business of spiritual formation because it is from this foundational task that pastoral and church ministry can flow.
Though modern ministers pays attention to multitude and other projects and even charismatic gifts, Paul explains that certain gifts were given to the leaders and teachers in the church. In Ephesians 12-16, we are told the purpose for which these gifts are given. Church members are to be equipped and prepared by the called and gifted leaders of the church to minister to others. The church, the body of Christ, is to be built up in an ongoing spiritual formation project. The equipping and building up is to continue toward the goal of unity and maturity, the full stature of Christ.
This process of equipping and building up the members of the church will lead the church into greater internal stability as it helps the members to grow more into the form and pattern of Jesus. As the church members are enabled to replicate the ministry of Jesus, they will grow in their loving relationship and service to God and their fellow humans.
We see that writers of the New Testament point to the need for the pastor to focus on the business of spiritual formation. As spiritual formation takes place, ministry (e.g., evangelism, outreach, social activism, spiritual therapy, etc.) flows out as a result of the Christ-likeness being formed.




REFERENCE LIST
Barton, Stephen C .1992. The Spirituality of the Gospels. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Bouyer, Louis. 1982. A History of Christian Spirituality. 3 vols. New York: Seabury
Brightman, Edgar S. 1942. The Spiritual Life. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury
Brown, Raymond E. 1970. The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI. New York: Doubleday
Clinton, J. Robert. 1988. The Making of a Leader. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress
DePree, Max. Leadership Is an Art. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Elliston, Edgar J. and J. Timothy Kauffman. 1993. Developing Leaders for Urban Ministries. New York: Peter Lang
Elliston, Edgar J. 1998. Home Grown Leaders. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library
Foster, Richard. 1998. Celebration of Discipline. 2nd ed. San Francisco: HarperCollins
Gangel, Kenneth O. 1989. Feeding and Leading. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books
Hull, Bill. 1988. The Disciple Making Pastor. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Johnson, Ben Campbell. 1988. Pastoral Spirituality. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster
Johnson, Reginald. 1995. Your Personality and the Spiritual Life. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books





INTRODUCTION
The term spiritual formation is fairly new among Pentecostal pastors and among evangelical Christians in general. Traditionally, we think of outstanding pastors and Christians as being spiritual. We usually characterize these people by their integrity, love, and mystical experiences with God periodically expressed in spiritual gifts: prophecy, messages in tongues, and interpretation of tongues, perhaps even in miracles. Unfortunately, while we admire their spirituality, we rarely give thought to the journey that nurtured it. But today, faced with a host of alien spiritualities and a creeping professionalization in the ministry, it is urgent that pastors identify and consciously adopt a process of authentic spiritual formation in their lives and ministries.
Thus the researcher in this work defined ministry, shepherding, and spiritual formation in light with the scriptures, he went further to highlight the needs, and benefits of spiritual formation  in the church. The researcher summarized by laying emphasis on the ministry of shepherding in spiritual formation.





                                                        DEFINITION OF TERMS:
MINISTRY/MINISTER: The Greek term typically translated as “servant” or “minister” (dikonos) is found extensively throughout the New Testament. According to Brown, “It can be used both subjectively and objectively to describe a person functioning in an intermediary capacity or to describe an act itself (i.e., “a servant” or “a service”). It is also used as a verb to express the act of ministering or serving”. (Brown. 1970, 62). A survey of these uses of “ministry” and “service” (dikonos) in the New Testament reveals several aspects of the biblical nature of ministry. To be more precise, a minister is the person while ministry is the ‘act’.
Luke describes how, at around the age of 30, Jesus began “his ministry.” Paul speaks of how he himself received a ministry from Christ (Acts 20:24). Beyond this, Ephesians 4:12 describes how all the members of the Body of Christ are equipped for service or ministry for the sake of the community. Thus, we cannot escape the fact that ministry is personal and, in some sense, conferred upon people by God.
SHERPERDING/SHEPHERD: Shepherd are people who care or look after sheep. The New Testament mentions shepherds 16 times. They were among the first to visit Jesus at His birth (Luke 2:8-20 ). Some New Testament references used a shepherd and the sheep to illustrate Christ's relationship to His followers who referred to Him as “our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20 ). Jesus spoke of Himself as “the good shepherd” who knew His sheep and would lay down His life for them (John 10:7-18 ). Jesus commissioned Peter to feed His sheep (John 21:1 ). Paul likened the church and its leaders to a flock with shepherds (Acts 20:28 ).  According to Gangel, “The Latin word transliterated “pastor” means shepherd”. With this understanding, shepherd and pastor may be used interchangeably to address the church Leader. (Gangel. 1987, 492).
SPIRITUAL FORMATION: According to Barton, “spiritual formation is defined as the use of prayer, meditation, confession and ascetic practices to discipline the soul.” (Barton. 1992, 239) In other traditions, Clinton explained that “it involves more about experiencing the joy of justification and conversion, along with their consequences for ethics and daily discipleship.” (Clinton. 1988, 639). Johnson in a more précised way asserts that “Spiritual formation can also be described as the process of spiritual growth and development that begins to take place in a human being when that person has encountered the Divine and the Divine begins to impart a new center for the human consciousness (Johnson. 1988, 836). One of the most popular definition of spiritual formation is defined by Mulholland as “the process of being conformed to the image of God for the sake of others”. (Mulholland. 1993, 15). Mulholland’s definition indicates that spiritual formation is not just an occasion or experience but a process (on going action), and it is not just for the sake of the person who experienced the action but also for the sake of others.
When one encounters God (through God's divine initiative) and enters into relationship with him, one is transformed into a "new creature," who continues to be molded and shaped by God. This encounter with God can assume several forms, often dependent upon one's personality and temperament. Once begun, this "molding" and "shaping" continues in a process that takes place from the ongoing deepening of the relationship. As one's relationship with God continues and deepens, one is being continuously spiritually formed.

WHY IS SPIRITUAL FORMATION NEEDED?
MAN’S DEPRAVITY: Paul while writing to the church in Rome asserts that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23). The Greek indicates that this sin occurred at the fall of Adam (aorist, passive, indicative). From that point forward man’s status before God is that he comes short of the standard of who God is.
The word “sinned” means to miss the mark. Man cannot measure up to God’s righteousness.   All have sinned and fall [keep on falling] short [not to reach] of the glory [who and what God is] of God [flunk God’s standard of perfect righteousness], not only did all sin but they also fell short of God’s standard. No one can measure up to the absolute perfection of God’s righteousness. The glory of God is the standard that God Himself must follow. He cannot be inconsistent with what He is; that would be duplicity on His part.
According to Channing, “The “glory of God” is everything that God represents and for which He stands. His glory is the aggregate of who and what He is. That is why there is universal unobtainability of God’s righteousness”. (Channing. I889, 721). So with this understanding, man need to be saved from his fallen nature, and to be gradually conformed to the standard of righteousness which God expected from us.
CHRISTIAN IMMATURITY/CARNALITY: More of the reasons why the church/Christians need spiritual formation is because of her spiritual immaturity. Thus Paul said to the church in Corinth “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly.” (1 Cor 3:1). The Spirit had brought new birth to the Corinthians whom Paul called “brothers,” but with regard to their spiritual development they were “infants”. The Greek word used by Paul was “nepioswhich could be translated as baby, infant, child; immature; innocent; under age. He also said that they were still “worldly, in other word carnal. The word translated as worldly is  sarkinos this is used to indicate human nature with its frailties physically and morally. To the more mature members of the churches in Galatia, he said, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual(hoi pneumatikoi) should restore him gently” (Galatians 6:1).
 Thus, Elisston asserts; “The contrast between the Corinthian infants and the spiritual believers of Galatia is a sharp reminder that all believers (Church), are to continuously grow in their relationship with Christ”. (Elisston. 1993, 385).
CHRISTIAN IMPERFECTION: because of the imperfection of Christians/church, there is need for spiritual formation so as to achieve a sustained growth in their spiritual life. Paul said to the church in Ephesus “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”. (Eph 4:12-13). This implies that the church is meant to reach the fullness of the knowledge of God, and this could be only achieved through spiritual life formation.
Thus, this implies that this knowledge is revelational and progressive; ones a Christian lives, he needs to be undergoing this process of spiritual formation.
FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR MINIMUM SPIRITUAL FORMATION:
  1. Church leaders (shepherds) aren’t helping people surrender their lives to Jesus. – Hull explained that “Spiritual growth is not driven or determined by activities; it is defined by a growing relationship with Christ”.(Hull. 1988, 485) . So the goal of the pastor should not be to launch people into an assortment of ministry activities; it is to launch them on a quest to embrace and surrender their lives to Jesus.
  2. Shepherds are focused more on Bible teaching than Bible engagement: The most effective strategy for moving people forward in their journey of faith is biblical engagement. Not just getting people into the Bible when they’re in church which we do quite well, but helping them engage the Bible on their own outside of church.
  3. Most church leaders are more concerned about activity than growth: It is important to understand that increased church activity does not necessarily lead to spiritual growth.
  4. Most shepherds/pastors are not challenging people to reflect on Scripture: If they could do only one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow in their relationship with Christ, their choice would be equally clear. They would inspire, encourage, and equip their people to read the Bible specifically, to reflect on Scripture for meaning in their lives.
  5. Most Pastors focused on what people should do rather than who people should become: Unfortunately, churches often make things harder still by obscuring the goal to become more like Christ with a complicated assortment of activities. For instance, encouraging people to: Attend teaching and worship services every week. Meet frequently with small community and Bible study groups (often requiring follow-up communications and homework). Serve the church a couple times a month. Serve those who are under resourced on a regular basis. Invite friends, coworkers, and family to church, special events, support groups, etc. When the church incessantly promotes all the things people should do, it’s very easy for them to lose sight of the real goal which is “who they should become” (disciples).

THE ROLE OF THE SHEPHERD IN SPIRITUAL FORMATION
When Jesus called himself shepherd in johanaine literature, he gave shepherds roles to play in the church and in the spiritual formation process of the church. According to john Jesus asserts
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd”. (John 10:11-16)
If the pastor is the shepherd of the church, his work description has already been listed before the inception of the church thus Bouyer explained that “the roles of a shepherd as can be found in the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament account reveals that Jesus did five things: (1) Jesus built His relationship with His Father, (2) He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, (3) He met the needs of people, (4) He made disciples through the power of the Spirit, and (5) He gave His life as a sacrifice. These are the keys to true biblical ministry.”
With this understanding, the ministry/role of a shepherd in spiritual formation  includes;
1.       HELPING THE CHURCH IN BUILDING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER: Over and over, the Scriptures show us that Jesus placed the highest priority of His life on spending time alone with the Father. According to Foster, “His life reveals an intense passion for the presence of God. His heart longed and hungered to touch the heart of God. One of the things that Jesus did each day was to fill the well of His being with the presence of His Father; He then lived with heaven in mind all day long.” (foster. 1988, 241). He managed His time by moving from being to behaving. His being was about being in union with the Father and experiencing the joy of His Sonship. And His doing was about doing the will of the Father. This made His doing so effective as He received grace and power from the Father. Jesus as the chief shepherd of the sheep expects the shepherd/Pastor to do likewise, and train the church to do likewise. To be more précised, the first step to Christianity is having a relationship with the father, and the shepherd should play his role in leading the sheep to this understanding.
2.       THE SHEPHERD SHOULD TEACH/PREACH THE GOSPEL: The ministry of the Word always leads people to transformed lives. There is power in the Word. The word of God brought this world into existence. The word brought Jesus Christ from the grave. And the Word brings us back to spiritual health and meaningful change.
From an early age, Jesus developed passionate love for the Scriptures. He learned them and taught them with power and authority (Luke 2:46–50). His love for the Father motivated Him to read His Book and learn about His will. The pastor should always lead people to a better understanding of the Word of God. It is only through this that the church can produce Christians that cannot be tossed around by the false teachings of the time.
3.       MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE: Often the Bible says that Jesus, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). Jesus loved people. He knew that lost people matter to God, therefore, lost people mattered to Him.
Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, “Follow Me.
Depree explained that “Christ’s method builds relationships and meets needs. The first thing Jesus did was to mingle with people, desiring their good. By doing so, He touched their hearts. The second thing Jesus did was to show sympathy for them. The way He did this was that He met them at their daily vocations and manifested an interest in their secular affairs.” (DePree. 1992, 503). And the shepherd in order to meet the demand for spiritual life formation must also meet the immediate need of the people just as a shepherd who leads the sheep.
4.       MAKING DISCIPLES: As soon as He began His public ministry, Jesus began to call disciples. He called and empowered twelve men to be His disciples— twelve men who would champion His evangelistic cause. As Johnson says in “His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow. . . . Men were to be His method of winning the world to God.” (Johnson. 1995, 297). The wisdom of His method centered in the fundamental principle of concentration upon those men whom He intended to use to transform the world, not programs, and not the masses.
The contemporary shepherds are now driven by masses, and programs and pays less attention on discipleship making. The role of a shepherd in spiritual formation is making disciples, raising men who are like Christ. The need to build disciples is so fundamental that Jesus spent three and a half years in full-time discipleship formation. In fact, if Jesus had not built His disciples, there would not be a church today.
5.       SERVICE/SACRIFICIAL LEADERSHIP: There are two important truths about Christ. First, He was a Servant Leader. Any study of Christian leadership is incomplete unless we study the servant sacrificial life of Christ. “‘The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve’ ” (Mark 10:45, MLB). “ ‘I am among you as one who serves’ ” (Luke 22:27, MLB). The King of the whole universe was not into self-glorification, self-satisfaction, power, or control. He was into service and ministry.
The second truth about Jesus is that He gave His life as a living sacrifice; to redeem us, Jesus lived and suffered and died., “ ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost’ ” (Luke 19:10). Lost people matter to God. Thus, if I am to be a genuine pastor and disciple of Jesus Christ, then lost people will matter to me as well. The pastor’s/Shepherd’s  role is to instill this value in the heart of their congregation.
This sacrificial life manifests itself on at least two levels. The first level is to live a life of giving—of time, of resources, and of life. The second level is to render selfless service to God. God calls us to live the life Jesus lived. Pastoral ministry is not about us, but about Him—about knowing and serving Him.
If the shepherds/pastors should play this five roles or minister in these five dimension taught by Christ through his life, ministry, and teachings; spiritual life formation of the church will be guaranteed and the church will achieve her purpose as desired by Christ.
CONCLUSION/OBSERVATION: the issue of spiritual formation cannot for overlooked any longer by the modern churches and leaders. Although today's pastor is concerned about a variety of ministry tasks, such as church growth, counseling therapy, management and administration, the pastor should focus on the business of spiritual formation because it is from this foundational task that pastoral and church ministry can flow.
Though modern ministers pays attention to multitude and other projects and even charismatic gifts, Paul explains that certain gifts were given to the leaders and teachers in the church. In Ephesians 12-16, we are told the purpose for which these gifts are given. Church members are to be equipped and prepared by the called and gifted leaders of the church to minister to others. The church, the body of Christ, is to be built up in an ongoing spiritual formation project. The equipping and building up is to continue toward the goal of unity and maturity, the full stature of Christ.
This process of equipping and building up the members of the church will lead the church into greater internal stability as it helps the members to grow more into the form and pattern of Jesus. As the church members are enabled to replicate the ministry of Jesus, they will grow in their loving relationship and service to God and their fellow humans.
We see that writers of the New Testament point to the need for the pastor to focus on the business of spiritual formation. As spiritual formation takes place, ministry (e.g., evangelism, outreach, social activism, spiritual therapy, etc.) flows out as a result of the Christ-likeness being formed.




REFERENCE LIST
Barton, Stephen C .1992. The Spirituality of the Gospels. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Bouyer, Louis. 1982. A History of Christian Spirituality. 3 vols. New York: Seabury
Brightman, Edgar S. 1942. The Spiritual Life. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury
Brown, Raymond E. 1970. The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI. New York: Doubleday
Clinton, J. Robert. 1988. The Making of a Leader. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress
DePree, Max. Leadership Is an Art. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Elliston, Edgar J. and J. Timothy Kauffman. 1993. Developing Leaders for Urban Ministries. New York: Peter Lang
Elliston, Edgar J. 1998. Home Grown Leaders. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library
Foster, Richard. 1998. Celebration of Discipline. 2nd ed. San Francisco: HarperCollins
Gangel, Kenneth O. 1989. Feeding and Leading. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books
Hull, Bill. 1988. The Disciple Making Pastor. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Johnson, Ben Campbell. 1988. Pastoral Spirituality. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster
Johnson, Reginald. 1995. Your Personality and the Spiritual Life. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books