The Importance of Pastoral Care

 A secular person would have no idea what "Pastoral Care" means.  But today, many church people have become confused as well.  Many think they do not need it anyway.  What people say they need is a counselor, psychologist or at best a spiritual advisor.  But Pastoral Care is the care for the soul, by a person who is called to be a shepherd of the soul.  The word "Pastor" means shepherd.  
      We all need someone to shepherd us- like a shepherd takes care of their flock.  They need to be gathered together and spiritually fed; the sick need to be tended and helped toward healing; they need to be brought back when they stray away; 
     So good pastoral care goes after those who are straying away, pointing them back to the right way. Pastoral Care is not just caring for the sick- though that is important.  Jesus healed people when he walked on this earth.  The church has always had a role in healing- praying for people, encouraging them to get the best possible physical care.  People need to be reminded where their purpose/reason for living abides- in the Lord.  He is the chief purpose.  When we lose sight of that, we need to be reminded- and that is part of pastoral care.  
     The act of pastoral care involves listening; pointing to help- especially from God; Praying for their need;  Then following up on their need.  Symptoms of someone without pastoral care are: purposelessness, hopelessness, self-centeredness, short sightedness, a concentration on the things of this world (greed, hate, dissensions, breaking the commandments, etc).  Pastoral care given properly, lifts them up from selfishness to God.   While we may find our soul in conversion, and build up our soul through Christian education, the care of the soul is very important.  

Ezekiel 34: 

2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock? 3You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.

4You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. 5They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts. 6My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’

7Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead, 9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!’

10This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand from them My flock and remove them from tending the flock, so that they can no longer feed themselves. For I will deliver My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.’

11For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out. 12As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock.

I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land. 14I will feed them in good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be a good shepherd. Keep me from simply feeding myself and not caring for others.  Let me model myself after you, the Great Shepherd of the sheep.