WEBVTT 00:00:00.910 --> 00:00:03.990 Some of you listening grew up around farms or 00:00:03.990 --> 00:00:06.589 livestock. And if you did, you probably know 00:00:06.589 --> 00:00:08.490 exactly the kind of farmer I'm talking about. 00:00:09.070 --> 00:00:11.269 He can be putting out the hay in the field and 00:00:11.269 --> 00:00:13.789 a couple hundred head of cattle scattered across 00:00:13.789 --> 00:00:17.370 it. Look way off in the pasture, 500 yards away, 00:00:17.469 --> 00:00:20.489 and suddenly say, something's not right with 00:00:20.489 --> 00:00:23.730 that one. And everybody else is looking like, 00:00:23.829 --> 00:00:27.329 which one? They all look like cows, four legs, 00:00:27.390 --> 00:00:29.489 standing upright, doing generally cow -related 00:00:29.489 --> 00:00:32.500 activities. Nothing's on fire. Nobody's called 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:34.780 a veterinarian. There isn't a giant flashing 00:00:34.780 --> 00:00:37.240 arrow above one saying, hey, this cow's having 00:00:37.240 --> 00:00:41.100 a difficult Tuesday. But the farmer knows maybe 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:43.600 she didn't come to the hay like she normally 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.320 does. Maybe she's hanging back from the others. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:49.539 Maybe she's just moving a little differently. 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:52.659 Or maybe her head is just hanging enough that 00:00:52.659 --> 00:00:56.820 someone knows that something's off. The farmer 00:00:56.820 --> 00:00:59.500 may not know what's wrong from 500 yards away. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:03.439 But he knows enough to say, that's not normal. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.959 I need to go take a good look. That's different 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:11.079 from counting cattle. And I've got a friend who 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:14.180 grew up raising chickens. And honestly, I'm pretty 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:16.659 sure she speaks better chicken than most chickens 00:01:16.659 --> 00:01:20.519 do. She didn't just know how many chickens were 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:23.599 in the coop. She knew the chickens, their personalities, 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:25.900 their eccentricities, which ones were going to 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:28.480 start something, which ones would get worked 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:32.060 up over absolutely nothing. What they liked, 00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:35.579 what bothered them, how they normally acted, 00:01:35.659 --> 00:01:38.340 and because she knew what normal looked like 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:40.980 for those individual birds, she could usually 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:44.280 tell when something was wrong. Before there was 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:47.719 something giant, obvious, or any problem that 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:51.700 anybody else could see. She knew her flock. And 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:54.219 I keep coming back to that as I read scripture 00:01:54.219 --> 00:01:57.700 and how it talks about leadership in Christ's 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:01.359 church. Because God chose a very particular picture. 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:06.680 Shepherd. Not attendance manager, not event coordinator 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:11.379 or CEO, not religious content creator. Shepherd. 00:02:12.430 --> 00:02:16.129 And a shepherd does more than know how many sheep 00:02:16.129 --> 00:02:19.409 are standing in the pasture. You can count a 00:02:19.409 --> 00:02:23.389 flock without knowing a flock. And maybe one 00:02:23.389 --> 00:02:25.490 of the questions we need to be willing to ask 00:02:25.490 --> 00:02:30.870 is, as our church grows, are we growing our capacity 00:02:30.870 --> 00:02:34.990 to actually know the sheep? Welcome to Grace 00:02:34.990 --> 00:02:36.469 in the Grind, brought to you by Arrow and Roots 00:02:36.469 --> 00:02:38.629 Coffee Company, where faith meets the everyday. 00:02:39.189 --> 00:02:42.629 Here. we take time to notice God's presence in 00:02:42.629 --> 00:02:45.409 the middle of life's busiest moments to find 00:02:45.409 --> 00:02:48.310 encouragement, clarity, and a reminder of His 00:02:48.310 --> 00:02:51.650 grace right in the grind of day to day. So grab 00:02:51.650 --> 00:02:53.810 your coffee and let's take a sip of this cup 00:02:53.810 --> 00:02:56.870 together. Over the last few cups, we've been 00:02:56.870 --> 00:02:59.509 slowly changing the way we picture the church. 00:03:00.069 --> 00:03:03.030 We said the church isn't primarily a place. It's 00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:06.469 a people. It isn't merely a crowd. It's a body. 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:09.930 In the last cup, We talked about the gathering 00:03:09.930 --> 00:03:13.370 itself. That we're not an audience watching ministry 00:03:13.370 --> 00:03:17.729 happen from our seats. Now, I want to press that 00:03:17.729 --> 00:03:20.849 one step further. Because bodies aren't merely 00:03:20.849 --> 00:03:23.870 assembled. And people aren't merely gathered. 00:03:24.229 --> 00:03:27.330 Christ's people are cared for. They are taught, 00:03:27.490 --> 00:03:31.430 protected, encouraged, discipled, and sometimes 00:03:31.430 --> 00:03:36.129 corrected. And scripture gives particular leaders 00:03:36.129 --> 00:03:39.479 responsibility to shepherd that flock. So today, 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:42.500 we're sitting with a question that can get uncomfortable 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:46.280 pretty quick. What happens when the number of 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:49.979 sheep grows faster than our capacity to actually 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:53.719 shepherd them? And I want to put some guardrails 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:57.300 on this conversation immediately. This isn't 00:03:57.300 --> 00:03:59.659 an episode arguing that large churches are inherently 00:03:59.659 --> 00:04:03.219 bad. Scripture never gives us a maximum attendance 00:04:03.219 --> 00:04:06.460 number, and I'm certainly not going to invent 00:04:06.460 --> 00:04:09.439 one. The book of Acts repeatedly celebrates people 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:11.840 coming to Christ and being added to the church. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.439 Numerical growth can be a tremendous gift from 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:20.100 God. At the same time, small doesn't automatically 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:24.480 mean healthy. You can have 75 people in a church 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:26.879 and still have people who are completely unknown. 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:31.139 So we're not playing the simple game of big church 00:04:31.139 --> 00:04:35.160 bad, small church good. That's easy. It's also 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:39.259 just not biblical. The harder, deeper question 00:04:39.259 --> 00:04:42.920 is this. Whatever size our congregation becomes, 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:47.040 does our structure still allow us to obey what 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:49.339 scripture says about caring for Christ's people? 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.920 That's where we're going today. When Peter writes 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.620 his first letter to the early church, he doesn't 00:04:56.620 --> 00:04:59.360 use organizational jargon or corporate leadership 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.480 speak. He looks right at the elders and tells 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:05.449 them, to shepherd the flock of God that is right 00:05:05.449 --> 00:05:08.709 among them. And then, just a few verses later, 00:05:08.930 --> 00:05:12.569 he reminds those shepherds that one day the chief 00:05:12.569 --> 00:05:15.170 shepherd will appear. That changes everything, 00:05:15.350 --> 00:05:18.029 because the flock doesn't belong to the pastor 00:05:18.029 --> 00:05:22.290 or the elders. It belongs to Jesus. The pastor 00:05:22.290 --> 00:05:25.470 didn't purchase the sheep. The elders didn't 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:29.069 redeem them. Christ did. So biblical leadership 00:05:29.069 --> 00:05:33.899 is never ownership. It's stewardship. Notice 00:05:33.899 --> 00:05:37.220 that relational phrasing Peter uses. The flock 00:05:37.220 --> 00:05:41.360 of God that is among you. That's not an abstract 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:44.699 demographic. Not a mailing list. Not a customer 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.620 base. Not everybody who clicked follow on the 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:51.319 church Facebook page. A flock. People actually 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:54.899 among them. People whose souls have been entrusted 00:05:54.899 --> 00:05:59.439 to their care. Acts 20 gives us the exact same 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.240 picture from another angle. Paul meets with the 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:13.779 elders. Why? Because danger will come. False 00:06:13.779 --> 00:06:16.319 teaching will pop up. People will need protection. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:20.160 The shepherds have to stay alert. They need to 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.620 know enough about their flock to recognize when 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:24.740 something dangerous begins to move through the 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:29.189 room. Hebrews 13 pushes it even further. describing 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:31.970 leaders as people who keep watch over souls, 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:36.009 as those who will give an account. That's heavy. 00:06:36.470 --> 00:06:40.050 And while we'll spend more time later this season 00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:43.290 talking about the office of a shepherd, there's 00:06:43.290 --> 00:06:46.629 a simple foundation we can't miss today. Biblical 00:06:46.629 --> 00:06:50.509 shepherding requires attention. You cannot watch 00:06:50.509 --> 00:06:53.910 what you've never seen. You cannot meaningfully 00:06:53.910 --> 00:06:57.920 guard people you know nothing about. You cannot 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:01.180 recognize spiritual drift if the only piece of 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:03.540 information you have is whether someone's name 00:07:03.540 --> 00:07:07.660 showed up on an attendance sheet. I think this 00:07:07.660 --> 00:07:10.199 is where we sometimes mix up a few different 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:14.480 ways of knowing people. First, we can count people. 00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:18.680 We had 312 on Sunday. Great, that's useful information. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:21.220 Now, counting people isn't automatically wrong. 00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:25.329 Scripture itself records numbers and... There 00:07:25.329 --> 00:07:27.769 are places where God commands his people to count. 00:07:27.990 --> 00:07:30.250 Numbers can help us steward real responsibility. 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:33.610 If 300 people are coming, it matters whether 00:07:33.610 --> 00:07:37.389 we prepared communion for 80. It matters whether 00:07:37.389 --> 00:07:40.689 we have enough seats, enough parking, and definitely 00:07:40.689 --> 00:07:43.990 enough bathrooms. But scripture also gives us 00:07:43.990 --> 00:07:47.829 a warning. In 2 Samuel 24, David orders a census. 00:07:48.329 --> 00:07:51.209 And what looks on the surface like simply counting 00:07:51.209 --> 00:07:54.939 people becomes an act. He later confesses his 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:59.180 sin. The passage should make us careful about 00:07:59.180 --> 00:08:02.620 pretending numbers are spiritually neutral. The 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:05.279 question isn't only, are we counting? The question 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:08.199 is, what are we asking the numbers to tell us? 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:12.240 Then we move up to recognizing people. Oh yeah, 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:15.819 I know them. That couple always sits over there 00:08:15.819 --> 00:08:18.100 on the left side. They've been here for four 00:08:18.100 --> 00:08:21.339 or five years. She serves in the children's ministry, 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:24.449 I think. Kids are in the youth. That's more personal. 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:28.250 But even that isn't the same thing as being known. 00:08:29.629 --> 00:08:32.549 Because someone can sit in that exact same seat 00:08:32.549 --> 00:08:35.909 every single Sunday while their marriage is silently 00:08:35.909 --> 00:08:38.830 coming apart at the seams. Someone can serve 00:08:38.830 --> 00:08:41.450 in the children's ministry every week and quietly 00:08:41.450 --> 00:08:44.250 burn out into deep exhaustion and bitterness. 00:08:44.990 --> 00:08:49.070 Someone can sing every worship song while privately 00:08:49.070 --> 00:08:51.370 wondering if they even believe the words anymore. 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:55.460 Or a teenager can smile, shake your hand, and 00:08:55.460 --> 00:08:58.360 answer every question with a monosyllabic, good, 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:01.340 because teenage boys seem to have signed some 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:04.500 international treaty saying no sentence may exceed 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:08.720 one syllable. Inside, he's wrestling with heavy 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:12.639 questions nobody knows he's asking. Someone can 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:16.519 arrive early, stay late, serve faithfully, and 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:20.240 tell everybody, doing great, while quietly collapsing 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:24.559 inside. Visibility is not the same thing as being 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.279 known. An attendance sheet can tell you who was 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:31.879 absent. It can't tell you who was present and 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.399 desperately needing someone to notice them. Now, 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:37.519 let's put some guardrails on the other side of 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.220 this because this idea can turn unhealthy really 00:09:41.220 --> 00:09:44.580 fast. Biblical shepherding is not spiritual surveillance. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.159 Your elders aren't the Christian CIA. Nobody 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:51.500 needs a laminated dossier documenting why you 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:54.179 went to Walmart at 9pm on Tuesday and bought 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:58.139 two pints of ice cream. Shepherds aren't omniscient. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:01.519 Only God is. There are things about every person's 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:04.000 life that leaders simply won't and shouldn't 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.600 know. People have legitimate privacy. Boundaries 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.580 matter. And there's a massive line between biblical 00:10:10.580 --> 00:10:14.740 care and controlling someone's life. So when 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:18.100 I say the flock should be known, I'm not saying 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:21.220 a pastor needs complete access to every detail 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:24.399 of your daily calendar. That's impossible and 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:27.759 unhelpful. I'm talking about something much simpler 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.500 and more human. You don't have to know everything 00:10:31.500 --> 00:10:35.299 about what's happening in someone's life to know 00:10:35.299 --> 00:10:37.779 them well enough to notice when something's changed. 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:42.450 Go back to that farmer in the field. He doesn't 00:10:42.450 --> 00:10:45.269 look across 500 yards and instantly diagnose 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:49.909 a complex disease. He just says, that's not normal 00:10:49.909 --> 00:10:53.590 for her. And he starts walking over. That's the 00:10:53.590 --> 00:10:57.169 point. He notices something has shifted. A pastor 00:10:57.169 --> 00:11:00.710 looks and goes, you know, he's withdrawing. She's 00:11:00.710 --> 00:11:04.549 unusually quiet. That marriage feels strained. 00:11:05.429 --> 00:11:08.250 That believer who used to ask honest questions 00:11:08.250 --> 00:11:12.080 has completely gone silent. It's not, I know 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:15.500 exactly what's going on. It's just, something 00:11:15.500 --> 00:11:19.340 seems a little off. Let me go check. That is 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:22.200 a fundamentally different kind of knowing than 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.700 counting heads. To make sense of this, we have 00:11:26.700 --> 00:11:28.820 to acknowledge a simple truth about being human. 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:32.779 We are finite. We can only be in so many places, 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.480 have so many meaningful conversations, and carry 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.740 so many deep relationships at once. That's not 00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:42.860 a moral failure. That's just human limitation. 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:46.259 You've probably heard sociologists talk about 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:49.500 relational layers, how we tend to have very small 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:53.139 inner circles and somewhat larger groups of close 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:56.399 relationships, a broader group we know meaningfully, 00:11:56.539 --> 00:12:00.340 and then a much wider social network. Now, I 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:02.600 don't want to turn sociological research into 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:05.320 a biblical commandment. The practical point is 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:09.679 much simpler. Relational depth costs time. attention 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:14.639 presence and shared life and the deeper the responsibility 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:19.159 the more those human limits matter you even see 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:21.899 different levels of relationships in jesus earthly 00:12:21.899 --> 00:12:25.820 ministry jesus ministered to the crowds of thousands 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:29.360 he taught them fed them had compassion on them 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:32.759 but he also called twelve into a much closer 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:37.029 walk and even within the twelve There were moments 00:12:37.029 --> 00:12:39.370 where only Peter, James, and John were invited 00:12:39.370 --> 00:12:43.350 in. Again, that's not a church growth spreadsheet 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:46.570 formula. It's simply a reminder of what we already 00:12:46.570 --> 00:12:50.330 know. Not every relationship operates at the 00:12:50.330 --> 00:12:53.549 same depth. And we should be very careful about 00:12:53.549 --> 00:12:56.809 building church structures that quietly expect 00:12:56.809 --> 00:13:00.309 one or two pastors to maintain deep, shepherding 00:13:00.309 --> 00:13:02.809 -level knowledge with an unlimited number of 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:06.970 people. This conversation is deeply personal 00:13:06.970 --> 00:13:10.789 for me. I grew up in a small church in the Ozarks. 00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:14.610 Let me be clear right away. It was far from perfect. 00:13:15.149 --> 00:13:18.370 Small churches don't possess some mystical immunity 00:13:18.370 --> 00:13:21.629 to drama or dysfunction. Sometimes small just 00:13:21.629 --> 00:13:23.889 means everybody knows every detail of your dysfunction. 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:29.350 There aren't really secrets, just things everyone 00:13:29.350 --> 00:13:31.870 has politely agreed not to bring up during the 00:13:31.870 --> 00:13:36.860 potluck. I experienced there was truly being 00:13:36.860 --> 00:13:40.860 known. People knew my family. They noticed when 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:43.600 I wasn't there. They knew what I cared about, 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:47.360 where I was going, when I was off track, and 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.879 where I needed a little correction. And usually, 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.220 they saw that last one before I saw it coming. 00:13:54.740 --> 00:13:58.559 That environment shaped me. Fast forward to today. 00:13:59.539 --> 00:14:02.159 For more than 12 years, my wife and I have been 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:05.009 part of a congregation. That we genuinely love. 00:14:05.990 --> 00:14:09.049 We were plugged in to this church before we were 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:12.070 even dating. Before we got married and before 00:14:12.070 --> 00:14:15.669 our boys came along. This church has walked us 00:14:15.669 --> 00:14:19.850 through huge seasons of life. And over those 00:14:19.850 --> 00:14:23.750 12 years, our church has grown numerically. I 00:14:23.750 --> 00:14:26.750 don't say that with any regret. There are families 00:14:26.750 --> 00:14:29.409 worshiping with us today who were there decades 00:14:29.409 --> 00:14:34.409 ago. And I'm so grateful for them. There are 00:14:34.409 --> 00:14:37.269 ones who weren't there decades ago, who were 00:14:37.269 --> 00:14:40.889 just joining us weeks ago. I'm grateful for them 00:14:40.889 --> 00:14:44.990 as well. God has done incredible work. People 00:14:44.990 --> 00:14:48.389 have been reached. Believers have matured. Lives 00:14:48.389 --> 00:14:51.289 have been changed. Growth is a beautiful thing. 00:14:51.950 --> 00:14:55.090 But real growth brings real heavy questions. 00:14:56.009 --> 00:14:59.149 How many shepherds do we actually need? How do 00:14:59.149 --> 00:15:01.149 we ensure people don't fall through the cracks? 00:15:02.730 --> 00:15:05.190 Which ministries get prioritized in the budget? 00:15:06.029 --> 00:15:08.590 At what point does an organizational structure 00:15:08.590 --> 00:15:12.169 that worked well when we were smaller need to 00:15:12.169 --> 00:15:16.289 adapt because the flock has changed? And naturally, 00:15:16.470 --> 00:15:18.789 people don't always see eye to eye on these answers. 00:15:19.830 --> 00:15:23.690 Some see an urgent need for more elders. Others 00:15:23.690 --> 00:15:27.590 believe other ministries need priority. Budgets 00:15:27.590 --> 00:15:30.940 get debated. Plans get questioned. Leadership 00:15:30.940 --> 00:15:34.720 decisions get analyzed. Those conversations can 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:38.240 feel tense, but difficulty doesn't necessarily 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.919 mean something has broken down. Healthy churches 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:45.019 sometimes have to wrestle with hard questions. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:48.860 As long as scripture sets the rules for the conversation, 00:15:49.100 --> 00:15:52.840 not popularity, not what makes the most people 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:56.299 happy, not what have we always done, and not 00:15:56.299 --> 00:15:58.600 even what can we afford without making anyone 00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:02.320 uncomfortable. The core question always has to 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:05.620 be, what has Christ actually called his church 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:08.799 to be? And if scripture commands shepherds to 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.679 watch over a flock, we have to care whether our 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:17.500 actual structure makes that possible. This is 00:16:17.500 --> 00:16:19.440 where the book of Acts becomes such a helpful 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:22.879 guide. Acts doesn't have a cynical or negative 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.419 view of numerical growth. Quite the opposite. 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:29.100 Luke writes with joy as people believe, get baptized, 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:32.659 and are added to the church. But then we turn 00:16:32.659 --> 00:16:35.299 to Acts chapter 6 and a major friction point 00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:38.679 appears. Luke tells us straight out, the number 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:41.899 of disciples was increasing. That's fantastic 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:45.779 news. And in the same setting, a complaint arises 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:49.259 because a group of Greek -speaking widows was 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:52.740 being overlooked in the daily distribution. The 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:55.019 church grew. and real people started getting 00:16:55.019 --> 00:16:58.559 missed. Notice that Luke doesn't frame the growth 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:01.799 as a mistake. But as the number of disciples 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:05.960 increased, the existing way of caring, that ministry, 00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:09.240 was no longer keeping everyone from being overlooked. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:13.000 The early church wasn't immune to practical strain 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:15.799 simply because the apostles were leading it. 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:19.900 The need was real. And eventually, vulnerable 00:17:19.900 --> 00:17:24.269 people were being neglected. Now, We're going 00:17:24.269 --> 00:17:26.890 to dive much deeper into how the apostles handled 00:17:26.890 --> 00:17:30.309 this in our extra shot. Because their response 00:17:30.309 --> 00:17:33.150 teaches us something vital about leadership, 00:17:33.309 --> 00:17:36.109 service, and who is actually called to do the 00:17:36.109 --> 00:17:39.609 work of ministry. But for today, look at the 00:17:39.609 --> 00:17:43.329 underlying attitude. Acts never treats overlooked 00:17:43.329 --> 00:17:46.390 people as acceptable collateral damage for a 00:17:46.390 --> 00:17:49.589 growing movement. Nobody stood up and said, well, 00:17:49.730 --> 00:17:52.730 that's just the tax you pay for being a megachurch. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.259 Nobody said, look, we're reaching thousands here. 00:17:57.420 --> 00:17:59.839 You're bound to lose a few widows along the way. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:03.039 Nobody pulled up a line graph and said, sure, 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:06.440 care is dropping, but look at these baptism stats. 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:10.960 The widows mattered. The care mattered. Growth 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:14.380 was never accepted as an excuse for neglect. 00:18:15.539 --> 00:18:18.579 That's where we have to stay vigilant. Numbers 00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:21.369 can be useful. But scripture teaches us to pay 00:18:21.369 --> 00:18:25.349 attention to what our hearts do with them. There 00:18:25.349 --> 00:18:27.269 is a difference between counting for stewardship 00:18:27.269 --> 00:18:31.609 and counting for security. If 300 people are 00:18:31.609 --> 00:18:34.869 gathering, we need enough chairs, and suddenly 00:18:34.869 --> 00:18:37.589 that bathroom count becomes a really big deal. 00:18:38.170 --> 00:18:41.569 But something changes when the numbers stop helping 00:18:41.569 --> 00:18:44.529 us care for people and start telling us whether 00:18:44.529 --> 00:18:48.410 we're successful. Or when we begin thinking, 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:52.119 We have to keep attendance above this level because 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:54.539 we need this much giving to support the building, 00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:58.400 the staff, the programs, and everything else 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:01.880 we've committed ourselves to. At that point, 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:05.819 we've moved from counting people so we can faithfully 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:09.279 care for them to needing people so we can sustain 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:13.039 the structure we've built. And that's a dangerous 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:16.359 reversal. The church was never called to preserve 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:18.880 buildings, programs, budgets, or ministry machines 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:23.380 as an end in itself. Those things only matter 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:26.339 if they help us faithfully build the people up 00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:29.980 in Christ. The point is not to build a structure 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:33.960 that needs people. The point is to build people. 00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:38.799 So when we start needing more people primarily 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.819 to keep the budget healthy, or to keep enough 00:19:41.819 --> 00:19:45.339 volunteers in the programs, or simply to keep 00:19:45.339 --> 00:19:48.819 everything we've built running, we need to ask 00:19:48.819 --> 00:19:51.299 whether the structure is still serving the people, 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:54.740 or whether the people have started serving the 00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:58.480 structure. That's where counting can move from 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:02.460 stewardship to security. And that's where we 00:20:02.460 --> 00:20:06.539 may have lost the point. The danger comes when 00:20:06.539 --> 00:20:09.160 the numbers become the main thing we actually 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:12.420 know. We end up knowing our attendance stats. 00:20:13.049 --> 00:20:17.009 giving totals, volunteer rosters, and even registration 00:20:17.009 --> 00:20:21.130 counts, while having very little idea who is 00:20:21.130 --> 00:20:24.410 quietly drifting, who is drowning under personal 00:20:24.410 --> 00:20:29.190 stress, who is falling into habitual sin, who 00:20:29.190 --> 00:20:32.650 is exhausted, and who has missed four weeks in 00:20:32.650 --> 00:20:37.009 a row without anyone noticing. A church can know 00:20:37.009 --> 00:20:40.250 exactly how many people are in the room and still 00:20:40.250 --> 00:20:43.940 have very little idea about the condition of 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:48.980 the flock. Organizational success can mask relational 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:52.779 weakness. The room is packed, the music sounds 00:20:52.779 --> 00:20:56.039 incredible, the parking lot is full, and from 00:20:56.039 --> 00:21:00.559 50 yards away, everything looks booming. Meanwhile, 00:21:00.819 --> 00:21:03.640 that farmer is standing at the edge of the field, 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.900 squinting through the crowd, saying quietly, 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:13.130 something's not right with that one. Now, this 00:21:13.130 --> 00:21:16.470 is where some of us in the pew need to put the 00:21:16.470 --> 00:21:20.710 rock down. It is very easy to listen to a message 00:21:20.710 --> 00:21:24.769 like this and immediately think, man, I hope 00:21:24.769 --> 00:21:28.309 my pastor is taking notes on this. Maybe he needs 00:21:28.309 --> 00:21:32.289 to hear it, but so do you. Because we cannot 00:21:32.289 --> 00:21:35.869 complain about not being known while actively 00:21:35.869 --> 00:21:40.000 ensuring nobody can ever get close to us. We 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:43.579 can't sprint to our cars the second the service 00:21:43.579 --> 00:21:46.400 finishes, dodge every deeper relationship, answer 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:49.880 every check -in with a plight, I'm good, refuse 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:52.839 to ask for help, hide our real struggles, and 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:57.119 act shocked that nobody notices what we worked 00:21:57.119 --> 00:22:01.180 so hard to conceal. That doesn't excuse poor 00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:04.680 pastoral care, but it reminds us that biblical 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:09.089 community runs both directions. Leaders carry 00:22:09.089 --> 00:22:12.009 responsibility to seek and care for the flock. 00:22:13.089 --> 00:22:16.789 Members carry responsibility to step out of anonymity. 00:22:18.190 --> 00:22:21.130 Biblical leadership calls shepherds to know the 00:22:21.130 --> 00:22:24.049 flock, but biblical community calls the sheep 00:22:24.049 --> 00:22:28.329 to stop hiding. If we're being completely honest 00:22:28.329 --> 00:22:30.869 with ourselves, anonymity can feel pretty comfortable. 00:22:31.390 --> 00:22:34.390 We often want just enough church connection so 00:22:34.390 --> 00:22:36.710 someone brings us a meal if we land in the hospital. 00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:39.519 But not enough connection for someone to pull 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:43.079 us aside on a Tuesday and ask, Hey, you seem 00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:46.539 a little off lately. What's going on? We want 00:22:46.539 --> 00:22:49.279 people to notice if we completely disappear from 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:52.519 church. But we don't necessarily want them asking 00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:55.220 hard questions while we're drifting towards the 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:58.819 edge. We love the idea of a shepherd when we're 00:22:58.819 --> 00:23:01.720 hurting. But shepherding feels much more uncomfortable 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:04.839 when someone sees us walking towards danger and 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:08.579 says, Brother, I love you. But this path isn't 00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:12.039 good. That's where this stops being an abstract 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:15.480 debate about church structure and becomes a discipleship 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:19.259 issue. Being known means surrendering some of 00:23:19.259 --> 00:23:21.859 our ability to control everyone's perception 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:26.819 of us. It means letting people see the raw, unedited 00:23:26.819 --> 00:23:30.680 footage of our lives. And let's be real, the 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:34.259 unedited version of me is a lot less impressive. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:38.279 The lighting is terrible. The acting is shaky, 00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:41.700 and several scenes should have stayed on the 00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:45.059 cutting room floor. But that unedited space is 00:23:45.059 --> 00:23:49.019 where real discipleship happens. Not in the maintaining 00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:53.440 of an impressive image, in the being known and 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:57.539 transformed. There's another important line we 00:23:57.539 --> 00:24:01.119 need to draw. Responding to a crisis is not the 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:04.460 same thing as ongoing shepherding. Most churches 00:24:04.460 --> 00:24:06.960 respond beautifully. When the bottom drops out, 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:09.900 a cancer diagnosis comes in, a marriage hits 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:12.599 a wall, a job is lost, an addiction surfaces, 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:15.440 a tragedy strikes a family, and the church steps 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.900 up. Meals get delivered, prayers pour in, hospital 00:24:18.900 --> 00:24:22.819 rooms get visited, practical needs get met. That's 00:24:22.819 --> 00:24:25.819 beautiful. That's exactly the kind of care the 00:24:25.819 --> 00:24:29.359 body should give. But emergency response isn't 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:32.650 the entirety of shepherding. A farmer's goal 00:24:32.650 --> 00:24:35.250 isn't just to become world -class at finding 00:24:35.250 --> 00:24:39.309 cows after they've collapsed in a ditch. Knowing 00:24:39.309 --> 00:24:42.150 the flock means having enough relational proximity 00:24:42.150 --> 00:24:47.009 to notice the limp before the collapse. Can we 00:24:47.009 --> 00:24:50.450 prevent every crisis? Of course not. We're finite. 00:24:50.710 --> 00:24:53.750 People hide things. Life hits without warning. 00:24:54.029 --> 00:24:56.630 No leadership structure eliminates suffering. 00:24:56.789 --> 00:25:01.460 No pastor or elder becomes omniscient. But relational 00:25:01.460 --> 00:25:05.460 care asks a deeper question. Was anyone close 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:08.319 enough to notice that something had changed before 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:12.940 the crisis became obvious? And that leads us 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:16.420 to what may be the most sobering question of 00:25:16.420 --> 00:25:20.240 this discussion. Have we accidentally built churches 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:24.099 where the only sheep our leaders ever truly get 00:25:24.099 --> 00:25:28.980 to know are the ones already in crisis? Because 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:31.440 if every bit of shepherding capacity is consumed 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.720 by emergencies, shepherding can slowly become 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:39.480 triage. Triage is necessary, but it isn't the 00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:43.119 whole work of knowing the flock. Sometimes you 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:46.480 need someone who remembers what normal looked 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:50.380 like before everything went sideways. At this 00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:53.819 point, you might be waiting for me to hand out 00:25:53.819 --> 00:25:56.559 some specific number. Alright Cody, what's the 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:59.480 magic biblical limit for church size? Again, 00:25:59.579 --> 00:26:02.579 I don't have one. Because scripture doesn't give 00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:05.400 us one. And if God didn't write a number in the 00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:07.660 text, I'm certainly not going to slip one into 00:26:07.660 --> 00:26:11.720 the footnotes. Yes, human capacity has limits. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:16.019 Our own lived experience shows that. Scripture 00:26:16.019 --> 00:26:19.619 shows different relational depths. But none of 00:26:19.619 --> 00:26:22.259 that gives me the authority to declare, person 00:26:22.259 --> 00:26:24.940 151 just walked through the door. It's time to 00:26:24.940 --> 00:26:28.380 split the church. That's just not biblical. So 00:26:28.380 --> 00:26:32.460 maybe. How big is too big? Is the wrong question. 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:36.420 Maybe the better one is, at whatever size we 00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:39.700 currently are, are Christ's people actually being 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:43.660 shepherded? If attendance grows, does shepherding 00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:47.500 capacity grow with it? Are people genuinely known? 00:26:47.859 --> 00:26:50.940 Can elders oversee without every relationship 00:26:50.940 --> 00:26:54.490 becoming emergency management? Are mature believers 00:26:54.490 --> 00:26:59.269 caring for and discipling one another? Are vulnerable 00:26:59.269 --> 00:27:02.390 people being noticed? Those questions don't give 00:27:02.390 --> 00:27:05.750 us a comfortable numerical ceiling. They give 00:27:05.750 --> 00:27:09.509 us an ongoing biblical responsibility. And this 00:27:09.509 --> 00:27:12.250 is where the conversation gets down to where 00:27:12.250 --> 00:27:16.849 we live. Growing is exciting. Change is uncomfortable. 00:27:17.529 --> 00:27:20.549 We love celebrating that God is growing a church. 00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:24.119 But growth changes what is required. Just ask 00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:26.920 any new parent. Nobody brings a newborn home 00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:29.819 from the hospital and sits down and says, we 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:33.859 are 100 % committed to preserving our exact pre 00:27:33.859 --> 00:27:35.759 -baby household schedule and sleeping habits. 00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:40.140 You can try that theology out if you want. Your 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:43.380 baby will thoroughly re -educate you at about 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:47.740 2 .15 in the morning. Growth forces adjustment. 00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:52.640 Not because the old way was sinful. Not because 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:55.599 the people before us were foolish. A particular 00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:58.500 structure might have served a congregation faithfully 00:27:58.500 --> 00:28:02.980 for 20 years. But then the flock expands, needs 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:08.319 change, so the critical test becomes, will we 00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:11.759 protect the familiar structure? Or will we protect 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:14.000 the biblical responsibility that structure was 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.210 supposed to serve? Faithfulness isn't preserving 00:28:17.210 --> 00:28:20.769 a system just because it used to work. Faithfulness 00:28:20.769 --> 00:28:24.509 is upholding what scripture requires, even when 00:28:24.509 --> 00:28:27.009 that demands adjusting the system to care for 00:28:27.009 --> 00:28:29.609 the people God has actually placed in front of 00:28:29.609 --> 00:28:34.049 us. I want to speak directly to pastors and elders 00:28:34.049 --> 00:28:37.509 for a moment. I know many of you are already 00:28:37.509 --> 00:28:40.950 feeling this way. You don't need a podcast host 00:28:40.950 --> 00:28:43.630 telling you that there are sheep you wish you 00:28:43.630 --> 00:28:47.259 knew better. You already know that. You see a 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:49.180 family across the sanctuary and realize it's 00:28:49.180 --> 00:28:51.400 been months since you had a real conversation. 00:28:52.539 --> 00:28:55.859 You remember phone calls you meant to make. You 00:28:55.859 --> 00:28:58.500 leave a hospital room and immediately think about 00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:03.319 someone who needs care. You're trying to prepare 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:06.319 faithfully while carrying burdens nobody else 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:09.859 in the room knows about. And sometimes you wonder 00:29:09.859 --> 00:29:12.460 whether you're failing people you genuinely love. 00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:16.440 Hear me clearly. There is a massive difference 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:19.500 between a shepherd who is unwilling to shepherd 00:29:19.500 --> 00:29:23.660 and a shepherd who is expected to carry more 00:29:23.660 --> 00:29:27.140 personal responsibility than any one person can 00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:30.559 faithfully bear. We should confront the first. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:34.819 We should stop glorifying the second. Pastoral 00:29:34.819 --> 00:29:38.579 exhaustion is not proof of spiritual faithfulness. 00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:42.259 Human limitation is not proof of leadership failure. 00:29:43.150 --> 00:29:48.269 You are not the chief shepherd. Jesus is. And 00:29:48.269 --> 00:29:51.470 sometimes faithfulness begins with the humility 00:29:51.470 --> 00:29:55.609 to admit the way we are carrying this right now 00:29:55.609 --> 00:29:58.910 is not allowing us to care for the flock the 00:29:58.910 --> 00:30:03.309 way we should. That's not quitting. That can 00:30:03.309 --> 00:30:07.549 be shepherding. And this is why I'm thankful 00:30:07.549 --> 00:30:10.170 for local churches willing to wrestle with these 00:30:10.170 --> 00:30:14.450 questions. Not in panic. not in division, and 00:30:14.450 --> 00:30:16.630 definitely not by turning every budget meeting 00:30:16.630 --> 00:30:19.470 into the Council of Nicaea with worse snacks, 00:30:19.750 --> 00:30:24.750 but by opening scripture, praying, listening, 00:30:24.990 --> 00:30:28.930 asking questions, and being willing to admit 00:30:28.930 --> 00:30:32.130 when something needs to change, by refusing to 00:30:32.130 --> 00:30:35.930 let popularity, novelty, or blind tradition dictate 00:30:35.930 --> 00:30:39.529 ministry, and by repeatedly coming back to this 00:30:39.529 --> 00:30:42.859 conversation. If Christ entrusted this flock 00:30:42.859 --> 00:30:46.680 to us, what does faithfulness require from us 00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:51.039 right now? Asking that isn't disloyalty to the 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:55.920 church you love. It is love for the church. Because 00:30:55.920 --> 00:30:58.339 love doesn't shield a system from evaluation. 00:30:59.319 --> 00:31:03.079 Love keeps bringing every system back under the 00:31:03.079 --> 00:31:06.460 authority of Christ. So as we wrap up today. 00:31:07.330 --> 00:31:10.029 don't leave this episode with only one question 00:31:10.029 --> 00:31:13.410 pointing outward. Do the elders know everybody? 00:31:14.390 --> 00:31:18.730 Bring it home. Who knows you? Not who recognizes 00:31:18.730 --> 00:31:21.630 your face in the lobby. Who actually knows you? 00:31:22.210 --> 00:31:25.109 Who knows where you're thriving and where you're 00:31:25.109 --> 00:31:28.190 struggling? Who knows the temptations that pull 00:31:28.190 --> 00:31:32.410 at you? What you're praying over? Where your 00:31:32.410 --> 00:31:35.750 heart is hurting? Who can look at you and say, 00:31:36.380 --> 00:31:39.259 You seem heavy today, and you've given them enough 00:31:39.259 --> 00:31:41.819 access that you won't immediately put up a wall. 00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:46.380 Then turn that question around. Who do you know? 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:51.519 Whose absence would you notice? Whose discouragement 00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:54.980 would you recognize? Who are you encouraging? 00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:58.759 Who are you discipling? Who are you praying for? 00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:03.319 Who knows they can call you when life falls apart? 00:32:04.460 --> 00:32:07.099 Because if we expect the shepherds to be the 00:32:07.099 --> 00:32:10.339 sole relational engine for the entire congregation, 00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:14.339 we have fundamentally misunderstood how the body 00:32:14.339 --> 00:32:17.799 of Christ works. And that brings us right to 00:32:17.799 --> 00:32:22.480 where we're heading next. Acts 6 poses a fascinating 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:26.720 leadership dilemma. When those widows were being 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:30.309 overlooked in the daily distribution, Why didn't 00:32:30.309 --> 00:32:32.829 the apostles just roll up their sleeves and add 00:32:32.829 --> 00:32:36.130 food service to their personal to -do list? Wouldn't 00:32:36.130 --> 00:32:38.509 that have looked like humility? Wouldn't that 00:32:38.509 --> 00:32:42.089 have looked like servant leadership? Why did 00:32:42.089 --> 00:32:45.230 they protect their calling to prayer and ministry 00:32:45.230 --> 00:32:48.809 of the word? And what does their decision reveal 00:32:48.809 --> 00:32:52.410 about shepherds, qualified servants, church members, 00:32:52.670 --> 00:32:54.970 and who is actually supposed to carry out the 00:32:54.970 --> 00:32:57.549 work of ministry? That's where we're going in 00:32:57.549 --> 00:33:00.069 the extra shot. Because there's another assumption 00:33:00.069 --> 00:33:03.470 we need to challenge. The idea that if a pastor 00:33:03.470 --> 00:33:06.609 truly loves his church, he will personally execute 00:33:06.609 --> 00:33:11.150 every ministry task himself. Delegation isn't 00:33:11.150 --> 00:33:15.690 leaders caring less. Sometimes, rightly sharing 00:33:15.690 --> 00:33:18.009 the burden of ministry is exactly what allows 00:33:18.009 --> 00:33:21.410 shepherds to shepherd. We'll tackle that next. 00:33:22.369 --> 00:33:26.319 Church growth is worth celebrating. Every person 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:29.380 who hears the gospel matters. Every baptism matters. 00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:31.740 Every new believer matters. Every family that 00:33:31.740 --> 00:33:35.700 finds a faithful church home matters. But people 00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:39.339 do not stop mattering once they become part of 00:33:39.339 --> 00:33:43.140 an attendance total. Jesus didn't shed his blood 00:33:43.140 --> 00:33:47.359 for abstract metrics or impressive graphs. He 00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:50.480 died for people. People with names, stories, 00:33:50.819 --> 00:33:55.860 sin, questions, grief, families. temptations, 00:33:55.860 --> 00:34:00.019 gifts, weaknesses, souls that belong to him. 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:06.019 So may God save people. May he add people to 00:34:06.019 --> 00:34:09.159 his church. May we run out of chairs for all 00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:13.119 the right reasons. But as he adds sheep, may 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:16.260 our care grow too. May people be known rather 00:34:16.260 --> 00:34:19.579 than merely counted. May someone notice when 00:34:19.579 --> 00:34:21.860 a sheep standing in the middle of the pasture 00:34:21.860 --> 00:34:27.570 doesn't seem like herself. And when growth exposes 00:34:27.570 --> 00:34:31.369 weakness in the way we've been caring for people, 00:34:31.610 --> 00:34:37.250 may we have enough humility to respond. Because 00:34:37.250 --> 00:34:39.530 you can count a flock without knowing a flock. 00:34:40.130 --> 00:34:42.889 And Christ's people are worth more than just 00:34:42.889 --> 00:34:46.349 being counted. They're worth knowing. They're 00:34:46.349 --> 00:34:49.869 worth loving. They're worth discipling. And they're 00:34:49.869 --> 00:34:53.329 worth protecting. Because every one of them belongs 00:34:53.329 --> 00:34:57.760 to the chief shepherd. Thanks for spending time 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:00.739 with us on this cup of grace in the ground. If 00:35:00.739 --> 00:35:03.900 this episode gave you something to process, don't 00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:07.500 just weaponize it as evidence for what your local 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:10.699 church needs to fix. Sit with it before the Lord. 00:35:11.639 --> 00:35:15.559 Talk through it with trusted people. Ask what 00:35:15.559 --> 00:35:19.800 faithful relational presence looks like in the 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:23.670 specific body God has placed you in. If Grace 00:35:23.670 --> 00:35:26.250 on the Grind helped you process life and faith, 00:35:26.449 --> 00:35:30.070 share this episode with a friend. Subscribe wherever 00:35:30.070 --> 00:35:32.409 you listen and leave a rating or review. Those 00:35:32.409 --> 00:35:34.570 simple things can help more people pull up a 00:35:34.570 --> 00:35:38.329 chair to these conversations. And come back for 00:35:38.329 --> 00:35:41.030 the extra shot. Because we're tackling the next 00:35:41.030 --> 00:35:44.530 question head on. If the flock needs care, are 00:35:44.530 --> 00:35:47.989 shepherds supposed to do it all themselves? Acts 00:35:47.989 --> 00:35:50.449 chapter 6 has something important to teach us. 00:35:50.909 --> 00:35:53.860 Until next time. Keep coffee strong and your 00:35:53.860 --> 00:35:54.300 faith stronger.