The image of the minister as a shepherd has strong roots in biblical writings, and its appropriation by a culture very different from its origins is not unproblematic.  At the moment, though, I am struggling with it as a metaphor at all, and wondering if rather than a shepherd I am a sheepdog?

The ancient shepherds of biblical times, so we are told, walked ahead of the sheep, leading them where they should go.  The contemporary shepherds of western Europe, so I am told, go behind their sheep, driving them where they should go.  Irrespective of the image, the shepherd dictates the direction and the sheep dutifully go there.

I wish!

So, I am wondering if a sheepdog is more useful image, at least for me, as I try to work with my wonderfully diverse and endlessly complicated 'flock'?

In this image, I see the flock as a whole moving broadly in the direction that God is leading, and my job is to somehow try to hold them together without them getting so straggled out that the flock disintegrates totally.

So, when some are lagging behind, refusing to budge, is my job to get behind them and urge them forward?  When some wander off in interesting but distracting directions (as defined by who? Me probably!) is it to try to bring them back into line.  And if some are racing on ahead, is my job is to try to get them to wait for the others to catch up a bit.

And if it is, how then do I do that in a constructive, creative way?  I don't want to be a sheepdog that 'nips' the sheep and I don't want to lose any of them.  But what happens if keeping some means letting others go?  How do I determine which end of the straggly flock to work at impacting?  When does the straggled flock become untenable?  And how on earth do I be sure that it is God's whistles I am responding to and not those of my own will or of 'my' sheep?!

Hmmm.