The Grass is greener on the other side...

"all we like sheep have gone astray"...really? Why in the world would we wander away from the safety of the shepherd and the security of the flock? We know that we are safer, right? It is an amazing thing that we are a dumb as sheep! If you have spent any time at all around one of these wool covered animals you know that God showed us little flattery in calling us His sheep. Sheep are very stubborn, often going their own way until a shepherd's staff lands squarely on his head. You can not reason with a sheep and explain to her why she is better off over here in this pasture, often times the only time she will look for her shepherd is when she is in danger. It is then that she will come running to the shepherd. Sound familiar?

So why do we wander? We sing it regularly in the hymn 'prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love". Why? I would argue that there is two main reasons and that both are driven by our sin of selfishness. In one case we will wander because the grass looks greener on the other side and in the other we are divided from the fold by strife. We have already talked about how Satan loves to divide us, so lets take a little time looking at this idea about the grass being greener.

The first step that we have to take is to say that it is okay to feel this way. The grass may really be greener on the other side. We may be in a pasture that has dried up to almost nothing and just over there on the other side is a lush pasture full of green plants. We were never promised the best pastures...on this side of eternity. So why does God lead us through the valley's, mountains, deserts, droughts, blizzards, you get the point. Why not just stick us in a green pasture all the time. Have you ever seen a green field that sheep have been allowed to graze on for long periods of time? There is not much green about it. The good shepherd understands that he must move his sheep. Maybe the shepherd knows that a hard winter is coming and that it would be in the flocks best interest to leave that field for later. Maybe their is a wolf hiding in the tall grass. We are right where we are supposed to be when we are following our shepherd no matter what the field on the other side looks like.

Is 11:6-9
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

There is a promise that one day someday we will see the greenest of greens and we will not fear the wolf. Isaiah is full of passages that talk about what that day will be like. We will still be sheep and we will still have a respectful fear of the Lion, Jesus, who will destroy once and for all both the enemy and our selfishness. Hasten that day!

The Wolf's tactics

I have not had the opportunity to watch a wolf go after his prey other than on the television, but I have watched many other animals...coyotes, foxes, cats, etc...stalking prey. They always go after the weak, the young, the easy prey. In general I think Satan's tactics are similar, his armies go after sheep that have wandered away from the safety of the flock and shepherd, and if the sheep are together he strives to divide them so that the weak will become easier to pick off.

Consider this, Satan tempted Adam & Eve, Job, and Jesus. I would not exactly consider these the weak of the fold. Satan goes after big fish, he is an elephant killer. He leaves the tempting of most people, like me, to his legions of followers while he goes after people whose demise would effect the flock as a whole. Pastors, gov't leaders, elders and these types are in the crosshairs of the wolf. I personally don't think that I have had a run in with the Devil, I am too small of a fish...so the devil didn't make me do it! :)

For those of you that don't know I am in Sales for a local insurance agency. In our line of business we talk about 'lay-ups.' Lay-ups are sales that are very easy, usually some kind of referral where we don't have to sell anyone on our products and services because one of our clients has done that work for us. I believe Satan loves lay-ups. In order to make Adam fall he went after Eve and let Eve hand the fruit to Adam. I believe that he could have made Adam fall directly, but how much easier was it for Adam to take the fruit from his wife 'bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh' than to take it from the serpent. Even more astonishing to me is the story of Job. God tells Satan that he can do whatever to whomever, but not to kill Job. Satan kills everyone close to job except...yep His wife. And take a look at what she says to her husband...'curse God and die.' Satan could have killed her, but again I see here a tactic that is somewhat scary. He loves lay-ups.

Later I want to talk about what makes us sheep wander from the fold other than division.

The Wolf

I've heard it said that people either give Satan to much credit or not enough. You know people on both sides of this fence. The first group is usually blaming all of their own sin on Satan, essentially placing blame on this creature as a way of justifying themselves. James tells us that "each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire," so it is our 'own desire' that allows us to be tempted at all. Satan does not get credit for my sins or yours. The punishment for our sins falls completely in one of two places, either on the back of the sinner or on Jesus.

The other group feels the need to enter into a battle with Satan thinking that they can come out victorious on the other side. Big, Big, Big underestimation of who Satan is and the power that he has. He is a ferocious wolf who desires to consume and destroy. The Son of God needed angels to minister to Him after he was tempted. Job, a righteous man, buckled under the pressures of this wolf. We are far too arrogant if we think ourselves capable of standing toe to toe with this dog.

While Satan is a creature that is powerful he is not all powerful, while he knows us better than we know ourselves he is not all knowing, and while he roams to and fro over the face of the earth he is not all present. This dog is on a chain and that chain is only a fraction of the strength of the hand of God that holds it. We should have a respect for our enemy but we should not fear him, he answers to our God, Father, and King!

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it...

Why do sheep need a shepherd? I would argue that they are needed for two main reasons. One is that sheep are prone to wander off. The other would be to protect the sheep from predetors like wolves.

As I was thinking about my wandering heart I asked myself 'Why do I wander?' Why can't I just stay put. I begin to do some research on literal sheep and what sort of things made them walk off and leave the rest of the flock. Food! The internet site I looked at said that sheep will wander off thinking that the food is better 'over there.' Enough said right!?! I was immediately convicted that my heart often takes off thinking that the grass over there in that other pasture sure looks greener. Another site begin to describe the hard job of the shepherd. The sheep could be completely correct. The grass may be better somewhere else, but the shepherd has good reasons for not leading the sheep to these pastures. Maybe the shepherd is aware of the dangers in that place, or maybe he knows that a harsh season is coming and he needs to keep the sheep off of that grass so that it will be there when they need it most.

I found comfort as I read this. Jesus never promised us that we would always be in the best situations possible, as a matter of fact He promised us hard times. I may be wishing that I had a better job, or that someone didn't die. I may be thinking that a little extra money sure would make me feel a little more secure or wanting my relationships to be stronger. All of the sudden I realized that these feelings are not always wrong. Maybe I could have a 'better' job as I saw it, or it does really hurt that a loved one has been born into eternity. Maybe a little extra money would be good or my relationships could be better. However, all the while I have to know that my Great Shepherd loves me and is looking out for my well being.

Then the best news hits me...one day someday we will see the greenest of green pastures. There will be no fear of wolves. There will be no thoughts of 'the grass is greener on the other side'. One day, when He says the time is right He will lead us to that place. May He hasten the day!

The Shepherd who leaves the flock...

Often times we see our local church as the entire Kingdom of God. I realize that none of us would actually say this out loud, but I know that I am guilty of these thoughts and so I am going to assume you might be as well. My local church recently went through a few years of rough waters surrounding our senior minister position. We have been looking for a shepherd to lead this local flock for the better part of the last five years. About a year ago I really came to notice how I was praying for our church and the next senior minister. I was very selfish and assumed that God had nothing to be concerned about other than filling our pulpit. Then it hit me! These men are shepherds who leave local flocks but only to go and serve another part of The Great Shepherd's flock. In order for The Great Shepherd to send an undershepherd to us, He had to take that undershepherd away from another part of the flock.

I began to see a picture that I cannot say is completely biblical, so understand that from here on these are my thoughts. I imagined this very large pasture with millions of Sheep, Goats, wolves and Shepheds. The sheep and goats were split into thousands of small groups. Some maybe had 20 others had 2,000 in their number. Most groups had shepherds, but some where without a shepherd. There were wolves spread throughout the pasture, waiting for an opportunity to pick off one of the fold. Then there was a Master Shepherd, who stood on a hill watching over the entire scene. This Master Shepherd had a plan to bring all of the sheep to Himself and He had prepared the undershepherds to bring His plan about.

Application: You see, in this picture my church was one of the groups without an undershepherd. I was worried that we were vulnerable both to the wolves and to ourselves. I wasn't looking at this through God's eyes. He was watching over our fold, He was watching the wolves, and He understood better what the plan was. In order to send us an undershepherd He had to take one away from another fold. Maybe the fact was that there were many wolves surrounding this other fold, while we were realitively safe? Or maybe God was shaping one of our own fold to become our undershepherd? (which praise be to God happened to be the case!)

I think that it is very important for us to see the Kingdom of Christ as a whole, it changes everything! We have a Great Shepherd, that while others come and go, He never leaves us or forsakes us and has plans to one day bring us all to Himself.

Color Blind...

I was sitting in an airport checking emails as I waited in the terminal to board a plane. Sitting across from me was one very energetic little boy, I am guessing 5 or 6 years old, and I begin to pray that God would let me have any seat on the plane other than the one next to him! He was there with his mother who was having a conversation with an older lady sitting next to her. It was clear from the conversation that they were having that they did not know each other as it is also clear that if you have a conversation around me I am probably eves dropping. Anyway the conversation led to the little boy and the mother begin to explain how the little boy was partially color blind. She went on to explain that a couple of years before she had walked into a room where her son had separated a group of balls into smaller groups by color. She was puzzled that all of the reds were together, all the blues were together, but the greens and yellows were combined into one pile. After a few quick tests getting her son to try to separate the greens and yellows she realized that her son had a problem. He was unable to distinguish between the two colors.

I was taught growing that up that there a people in every church who are regular attenders but who don't really have a saving faith in Christ. I tend to treat these people differently. When they mess up I chalk it up to 'their just a goat." If one of my friends who I knew to be a christian does the same things I call him out on it and tell him where he is wrong. I am wrong to do this...

Scripture tells us that there are goats among us who think of themselves as sheep. Jesus says that He will one day separate these two groups. 'HE' will separate, not me, not you, and not us. We are 'color blind' when it comes to looking at the souls of men. We are like that little boy trying to separate the greens and the yellows except that we see some difference in the balls other than the color.

I am not saying that it is wrong to say that a person looks like a goat, I am saying that I think we are to treat a 'goat' just like we treat a 'sheep.' If someone professes faith in Christ that is good enough for us to treat them as a sheep. We sing hymns next to them, we pray with them, we study with them, and we love them like sheep because we are 'color blind' to their souls. I know I am guilty of treating these people that I think are goats differently, are you?

We are told to be a Discerning People...Matt. 7:1-6

"Judge not , that you be not judged"...I think that this first post needs to address the fact that it is right and good for us to distinguish between shepherds, sheep, goats and wolves. While it is right and good this scripture points directly to the fact that humility is a large part of distinguishing.

We live in a time when everyone does what is right in their own mind, and interestingly enough I have heard this verse used to substantiate that thought process. I would like to argue that nothing is further from the truth. Christ does indeed say here that we are not to Judge but this also assumes that we are to discern between right and wrong. At the end of this passage Christ says not to "give to dogs what is holy and do not throw your pearls before pigs." My question is how are we to know who is a dog or a pig. Also He tells us to remove the speck from our brother's eye, but only after we have noticed the log that is in our own eye. We are to discern between right and wrong with scripture at the foundation of our discernment.

I once watched a television show about these two children who were getting to meet their 'hero.' One was a young boy who had a terminal disease and his hero was Tracy McGrady, an NBA superstar. The other child was a young girl who had lost both of her legs in an accident and her hero was a woman who had also lost both of her legs and competed in the special Olympics (sorry I don't remember her name). Both the woman and Tracy were both very kind and did extraordinary things for the girl and boy respectively, but it was very obvious that Tracy was much more uncomfortable with the situation. You see he never had a terminal illness and as a result he cared for the young boy but he did not understand what he was going through. At the same time the Olympian was very comfortable because she knew exactly what the girl was going through and how hard life was without legs. Can you see this story's application to the text. The woman understand the log that she had and as a result was able to effectively help the little girl. I think this is what Jesus was teaching here, we can't help others until we understand that we too need help!

All of this to say that my posts in this blog are going to be straight forward and honest. I may say some things that seem harsh but I hope to do so with a tone of humbleness. I hope that if you disagree that you will leave a comment so that we may sharpen each other as iron. If you agree with something also please leave comment so that I may be encouraged to continue posting. God bless,