Shepherding Through Sin and Sorrow

by Keith Watson

Note: This is the second post in a series of how we can rightly use Gospel fluency to lovingly respond to people in their pain and sorrow. Read the first post here.

The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is our hope in sin and in sorrow.  Through our faith in his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus brings us redemption from sin, reconciliation with the Father, and the promise that one day we and all of creation will be restored to all that God intended in the beginning.

While these things are true, they are only as helpful for us in fighting sin, recovering from sin, or bringing us hope in the sorrows of life as our faith is deep.  When we truly believe who He is and what He has done for us, particularly in the person and work of Jesus, we are moved further from sin.  We recover from sin’s debilitating results, guilt and shame. It is through faith in His promises that we ultimately find hope and are comforted in our sorrows.  Therefore, we aim to lead our people to the good news of the gospel in their sin and sorrow. 

At New City we use the tools of Gospel Fluency (the 4 Questions, the Big Story, the 3 Circles, etc.) to lead one another to the gospel for admonishment, encouragement, rebuke, comfort, and hope.  We do that because it is what we see in all of Scripture!  Though the Old Testament saints did not have the details of the gospel that we now do with the coming of Jesus, they did share in the same promises of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration through the Savior who would come.  Their faith in their faithful God and those promises brought them the same strength, hope, and comfort that our faith in the person and work of Jesus does for us.  In other words, it has always been faith, ultimately in the gospel, that shapes God’s people.

How Do We Rightly Use the Tools of Gospel Fluency?

Through the years of practicing Gospel Fluency and using the tools of Gospel Fluency at New City, some have noted that in trying to lead others to the gospel we sometimes come across as harsh and uncaring.  When we hear of sin, struggles, or sorrow we are often rush to questions of belief: “What are you believing about yourself right now, or What are you believing about God?”  We rush to find the faith “fix” for a person’s problem or struggle.  When we do, we often leave those in need with little comfort or help and feeling all alone.  This is not the way of the Father.  We see something different of Him in the Scriptures and certainly we see it in Jesus.

In the book, The Joyful Journey, Listening to Immanuel, we are reminded how God interacts and shepherds his people.  These interactions flow from His character and nature.  For example, God is patient with us because God is patient.  God is gentle with us because that is his character and nature.  The writers write from God’s perspective on these interactions, God saying to us in our sin, sorrow, and shame:

I see you.  I see you wandering.  I see you hurting.  I see you angry, sad, alone…  God saw Hagar in her plight and suffering.  God saw the abuse of the Hebrew people in Egypt.  God sees us.  God sees you in your sin, struggles, and sorrow.

I hear you.  The God who transcends all space and time not only sees us, but he hears us.  He says to you us, “I hear you in your fear, your pain, your hurt.  I hear you when you are only able to muster groans and tears.  I hear your misbelief and your disbelief.  I hear your loneliness. 

I understand how big/difficult this is for you.  Our God took on flesh and live as we do.  Hebrews 4:15 reads, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  Jesus felt our feelings – fear, hurt, anger, loneliness, sadness, all of them.  He felt the loneliness and hurt of betrayal and abandonment.  He understands us.  He knows how big and difficult things seem to us.  He can sympathize with us and he does.

I am glad to be with you and treat your weakness tenderly.  In 1 Kings, when Elijah began to doubt God and fear, God patiently, kindly, gently came to him.  He tenderly met his needs, eat, drink, rest.  Elijah was so fearful and faithless that he wanted to die and God met him there even showing him that he was not alone and that there were 7 thousand more just like Elijah.  Jesus tenderly met the woman at the well and did so gladly.  The same is true of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery.  This is how the father comes to each of us whether our weakness is sin or sorrow. 

I can do something about what you are going through.  There is nothing that our God cannot do!  He spoke all that is into existence.  With a word he created every star in every universe, and he named each one.  Even now he sustain each and every one.  That great God is not distant to us, He with us and He has promised to leave us nor forsake us, no matter what we have done and no matter what our circumstances seem to be.  He is a good Father who loves His children.  He parted the seas for his people, fed them from nothing, gave them water in the dessert, healed the sick and the lame, and He even raised the dead.  He protected, guided, led, saved, and made a way when there seemed to be no way.  He can do something about anything that we are going through.

We see these things throughout the Bible in the stories of God with His people.  We see them clearly as well in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  He came to be with us in our sin and sorrow.  He saw our hurt and suffering.  He saw sin and its ravages.  He heard the cries of the hurting.  He understood then and understands now all that it means to be human.  For the joy set before him, he entered our world, glad to be with us in our weakness.  Jesus not only could do something about what we go through, he did, living the life that we cannot, dying the death that we deserve, and being raised from death he defeated death, sin, and Satan for us!  The gospel itself informs our approach to pointing people to Jesus as we shepherd them through sin, sorrow, and struggles.

We should relate to the people we shepherd as the Father and Son relate and engage with us. We should be be slow to speak and quick to listen. We should seek to understand the sorrows and hurts and not just the sin itself. Since we are not God, this means asking questions and listening, listening especially to the heart. We should seek to help those we shepherd know that we love them, care for them, and are with them as they walk through their sin and sorrow. And when we have done all that we can to listen, understand, and sympathize do we offer the help of the gospel rightly applied to those we shepherd. We are not God and we cannot fix their sin or sorrow, but we can point them to the one who can. We can remind them of what the Father has done for us, especially through the Son. Shepherding isn’t simply “fixing” a problem or correcting a sin. It is loving someone through their sin, suffering, and sorrow, taking the time to weep with those who weep, and only then, gently pointing them to Jesus, like the Father has done with us.

When we understand the gentle way God interacts with us, we can respond to others with the same gentleness and care. But who has God called to be shepherds? We will discuss that more in our next post later this week.