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A Tale of Two Shepherds
February 25, 2008
Greetings in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Please compare what Jesus says about Himself as the Great Shepherd to that which we esteem so highly about today’s most famous “shepherds”:
John Chapter 10
Verses 1-4: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Verses 7-9 : Then said Jesus unto them again, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Verses 11-12: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.”
We see from the above passage of Scripture that a shepherd must enter through the door to get his sheep and that door is Jesus Himself. Further, we see that someone who does not enter through the Door is a thief. John 10, verse 10 says a thief “cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Finally, we see that the Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep. Whereas a hireling only watches sheep for the money and does not care to guard the sheep from prowling wolves.
The Story of the Modern Day Shepherd
Once there was a young man who felt that he would be rather good at shepherding sheep. He found that he was rather persuasive with animals. At first, he knew all of his sheep by name. If one sheep was missing or sick, he knew immediately.
However, he was so good with his small flock, he saw that it would be a lot more lucrative to have a larger flock. So, he set out to increase his flock. He did whatever was necessary to increase the number of sheep in his flock. He might have stolen sheep from other flocks through his persuasive ways. He might have taken short cuts such as inbreeding or the latest fertilization techniques.
Soon, everyone knew far and wide that he shepherded the largest flock of sheep around. Other shepherds came from miles away to hear just how he had done it. News media people came to interview him. He was famous and very rich due to the size of his flock.
Of course, he no longer knew all his sheep by name. He failed to mention that to the media folks. In fact, he didn’t bother to tell them that he really didn’t know how many sheep he had. Nor that he couldn’t tell when one wandered off a cliff or got sick and died. Many of the sheep never actually saw him up close nor were ever touched by him because there were so many sheep in the flock. This famous shepherd had to hire people to do the work he used to do himself. He was now too busy doing interviews about how to be a great shepherd to actually do any shepherding himself.
Finally, he became so enamored with his own abilities, that he decided he could increase his flock even more by including goats and then even some wolves. He overlooked that age-old truth that goats don’t save the roots in the fields where they eat and that this would eventually cause the real sheep to starve. And he felt that his powers of persuasion were so effective, wolves could be made to comfortable in the midst of overwhelming numbers of sheep. And he thought that the sheep should accept the wolves since they were four-footed, furry animals just like themselves! But, not knowing his sheep by name, he never noticed when a sheep disappeared. Nor did he know that it was one of the wolves in the flock that dragged the poor sheep off and killed it. When his hirelings reported losses due to wolves in the flock, the famous shepherd fired them for being insubordinate and not recognizing his authority over them.
When other smaller shepherds began to find lots of dead sheep lying around at the fringes of the famous shepherd’s land, they began to report to others that this shepherd was no longer doing his job. The news media got wind and decided to interview the famous shepherd once again. He scoffed at the reports of the smaller shepherds and simply said that they were jealous of his enormous success. The news media, always enamored with success and drama (not because they’re the truth but because they sell newspapers and news hours on television), reported the jealousy of the little shepherds far and wide. And since the popular media reported it, “everyone” who was anyone believed the famous shepherd. And they all were quite certain that everyone else, including the sheep, lived happily ever after.
Be warned leaders of the Assemblies of God, you are—at a minimum—the popular media in the above story. You see the wolves amongst the flock—the Rick Warrens, the Bill Hybels, the Earl Creps, the Brian MacLarens, the Leonard Sweets, the Brian Houstons, The Leith Andersons, the NAE, the WPC, the Hillsong church, and the Vineyard movement , and yet you do not warn the sheep. You have a national magazine but sound no warning in it!
But, perhaps you are not the popular media, perhaps you are actually the wolves. You have made your way into the flock with the intent to devour them for yourselves rather than leave them for the Great Shepherd. Or, worst of all, you started out as a humble shepherd, content with your small flock—knowing them each by name. Daily you sought God for their souls and their discipleship to ensure that each name you knew would be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But, then you saw another flock bigger than yours and coveted it and the riches that came with it. And you decided right then that one day, you would be the shepherd of a very large flock. At that moment, you quit using the Door and decided to get your sheep by climbing over the wall. Sheep stealers! Repent and warn your great following of the dangers to which YOU have subjected them. Warn them before it is eternally too late!
Judgment is coming soon. It will be so catastrophic and so personal as to be unimaginable. The question is, will you be the reason it comes and not escape OR will you be the reason God delayed it in His great and everlasting mercy? Will the names of your sheep be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life OR do you not even know the names of your sheep? So, you really don’t know?
A Sheep in Daily Need of Hearing the Great Shepherd’s Voice,
Brother Mike
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