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,