Shepherding in the Home

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Dr. Alexander Kurian

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Shepherding in the home is the pastoral ministry of parents in caring and curing of souls in the context of the home and family. Three basic commands in the Word of God are foundational to shepherding in the home – Love, Discipline, Teach (Eph.6:4; Prov.22:6). It involves the responsibility of giving effective spiritual leadership at home through precepts and practice. This can never be achieved apart from sacrificial love, caring concern, and spiritual instruction.

 

Six Integrant Components To The Issue of Shepherding

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1. Intimacy (developing a caring relationship)

2. Tutelage (providing instruction)

3. Guidance (offering direction)

4. Consolation (giving comfort, motivation and encouragement)

5. Guardianship (watching out, providing and protecting)

6. Intercession (praying)

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Parents As Counselors (Rom.15:14)

 

Words related to Counseling in the Bible:

 

1. Admonition: nouthesia, noutheteo (Col.3:16; Rom.15:14; 1 Cor.10:11; 1 Thess.5:12; 2Thess.3:15; Titus 3:10). Teaching, training, instructing, and reproving. The motive behind admonition is not punitive, but restorative and correctional.

 

2. Encouragement: paramytheomai (Jn. 11:19, 31; 1 Thess.2:11; 5:14) and parakaleo (Acts 11:23; 14:22; 15:32). Encouraging, comforting, consoling, challenging, and urging.

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3. Help: antecho conveys the sense of clinging to, taking an interest, or paying attention to (1 Thess.5:14).

 

The words teaching, stimulating, reconciling and prayer also describe some of the various functions of Christian/biblical counseling. While the Bible does not define the word (, in the contemporary terms, we do find the functions of counseling described in several passages.

 

1 Tim.1:5: Love is the goal/purpose in counseling.  “Instruction” or “commandment” (parangelia) is counsel given authoritatively. Counsel should be preventive, remedial, directive, and relational.

 

The Four-fold Use of Scripture (2 Tim.3:16-17)

 

1. Teach (set the norms for faith and life).

2. Reprove (rebuke to bring conviction).

3. Correct (restore, “set up straight again”).

4. Discipline (structured training towards maturity).

 

Case Study

 

Eli’s Family (1 Sam.2)

• No personal relationship with God (2:12).

• No respect for the things of God (2:13-17).

• No parental respect (2:22-26).

• No open communication (2:22).

• No moral standard (2:22).

 

Elkanah’s Family (1 Samuel 1)

• Elkanah was honestly godly (1:3, 21).

• He was loving (1:4-5).

• Committed to worship, his spiritual duties & responsibilities (1:3-4, 19).

• Hannah was a woman of prayer (1:10, 12, 13, 20, 27).

• She was a woman of faith (1:18).

• She was a woman with the right priorities.

• She was a woman who was spiritually caring.