Bonus Reading: Being There

Being There

“The Mid-East is not the Midwest.” We say this to American groups visiting Israel to prepare them for the unique political dynamics of the region. However, the statement is also true when it comes to herding practice. Herd owners around the world certainly share similar tasks: feeding, watering, watching for illness, milking, shearing, and so on. But one difference is outstanding. In America’s Midwest shepherding resembles ranching: sheep are left to graze in vast fenced- in pastures. In the Middle East you’ll never find fenced pastures; consequently, you’ll never find a flock grazing without a shepherd. 

As we’ve observed in our journey, sheep scatter without a shepherd. They run when they sense danger. Their only hope for protection comes from the shepherd’s presence. A flock outside in a desert night is helpless unless their shepherd is among them. The donkey can serve as an emergency surrogate only because it is equated with the shepherd. 

The bonding that results from round-the-clock care is remarkable. Sheep will follow the shepherd who personally provides, protects, and guides. This interpersonal history of frequent, long- term, and intimate contact secures the flock’s obedience, even in times of great distress. A cycle of shepherd service and flock trust repeats and reinforces itself throughout the seasons. 

The “you are with me” assurance of God’s personal presence in the Shepherd Psalm runs like a golden thread throughout Scripture. God asked Abraham to give up his permanent home, inheritance, and family identity with nothing more than promises to sustain his faith. The most important promise was “I will be with you,” a refrain repeated to his grandson Jacob (Genesis 26:3; 31:3). While Abraham’s descendants languished in Egyptian slavery, they questioned the credibility of this promise. But God raised up a shepherd to lead them out of bondage. His promise to Moses was the same: “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). 

For forty years God was present for his people in the very physical phenomenon of cloud and fire. Their Divine Shepherd never abandoned them in the wilderness, though at one point Moses feared being left to lead alone. He said, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me” (33:12).

His ever-patient, ever-present Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (v. 14). 

This reassured Moses, but he still posed a condition: “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (v. 15). 

God reminded David of his sustaining and empowering presence after he had settled into his role as king of Israel: “I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great” (2 Samuel 7:8–9). 

The promise of God’s presence materialized in the divine Son of David, Jesus Christ. One of his messianic titles, Immanuel, means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). Jesus gave the world unmediated access to God’s holy presence. John’s gospel says, literally, “The Divine Word was embodied and tented among us” (1:14 AT). Jesus is identified here with the Divine Shepherd who had tented with Israel and led them in such spectacular and personal ways (2 Samuel 7:6). 

As the Messiah prepared to leave his disciples, he restated the foundational promise: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever” (John 14:16 NASB). This Helper was God’s Spirit, the ever present evidence of God’s presence. In his final commission in Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus sent his followers out to disciple the nations, making the promise permanent: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

When I first heard a leadership consultant use the phrase “leadership by walking around” (LBWA), I didn’t take it seriously. It sounded like a lack of leadership. However, leading by personal presence or “walking around”¹ is now a recognized element of effective leadership in business and education. Regular, informal exposure to the people who work for you yields good decision-making and boosts productivity. This exposure is not passive proximity but attentive, responsive listening—an engagement of all the senses to discover what really matters in the lives of your team. LBWA recognizes that leaders cannot understand their workers unless they spend quantity and quality time among them. We might simply call this principle “being-there leadership.” 

This principle resonates with the biblical passages we’ve investigated. In particular, it restates what Jesus did so effectively with his disciples. Everything else he did to train them was predicated on his predictable, attentive presence among them. 

This principle is as true for a parent, a pastor, a manager, a mentor. 

I saw a wonderful example of being-there leadership in a school that our children attended. From the school’s inception, the headmaster, Mr. T., made it a habit to greet the students every day when they stepped out of their cars. Apparently this had been his practice even when he led a school previously with five thousand students! Mr. T.’s smiling presence communicated welcome, acceptance, and interest. He returned calls and letters personally. His door was open for students, staff, and parents, regardless of the concern. On any given day you might have seen Mr. T. walking around, using his senses to discern all the elements that make up a school’s atmosphere. 

To make presence a priority, Mr. T. had to make some significant choices in his schedule. He arrived at school usually by 5:30 a.m. to take care of important management tasks. And he stayed late on many nights. 

Mr. T. made a vital leadership choice every day by being available. You trust a person like that. Even if some projects don’t get done and some objectives aren’t reached. People feel valued when they are given personal time and attention. 

I’d like to end our reflections with the promise of Jesus to be with us forever. That oath was made to a group who would take his mission across the globe, an immense task that could only be commissioned with a pledge of personal presence. Paul sensed that God was a “co-worker” in the gospel (1 Thessalonians 3:2). When we reach out in God’s service, he is beside us, “walking around.” 

No fences. 

Simply the powerful pull of personal presence. The Spirit of the Good Shepherd leading us with a secure guarantee that he always will.

1. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr., In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best- Run Companies (New York: Harper & Row, 1982).

Taken from The Good Shepherd: Forty Biblical Insights on Leading and Being Led © 2024 by Timothy S. Laniak.  Used by permission of Our Daily Bread Publishing, Box 3566, Grand Rapids, MI 49501.  All rights reserved.