I have never admired sheep. While I do appreciate a good lamb-curry bunny chow [mmmm], I have never aspired to be like a sheep. I can admire a horse. A horse is a noble animal but a sheep is just pathetic. From the pathetic sheep we derive the term “sheepish”, meaning: “abashed or embarrassed, especially through looking foolish or being in the wrong”. Also, to be sheepish implies “timidity or lack of initiative”.[1] To sum up then, a sheep is a defenceless, aimless, foolish - in short - ridiculous animal.
It is precisely because of these unflattering qualities of the sheep that the newcomer to Christianity might be quite alarmed by the numerous comparisons that the Bible makes between people and sheep. This comparison between us ‘intelligent’ humans and silly sheep can come as quite a rude prod to our pride.
The avalanche of what I shall call “sheep analogies” start early in the Old Testament of the Bible. The analogy is used to describe our most prominent attributes as people whom God has made. Those attributes include: our tendency to ‘go astray’[2], our vulnerability to danger[3] and our aimlessness in the absence of a good leader[4]. Most of all, the sheep analogy aptly describes our absolute dependency on another[5] and that ‘other’ being God.
The most common phrase in which this analogy is used is the phrase “the sheep of your [God’s] pasture”[6]. This is an utterance often made by people who belong to God and it gives us insight into the way in which God relates to us. This is clearly not intended to insult us (it cannot be, it is written by people who are included in the ‘flock’). It serves, rather, as a reminder to us that we are God’s possessions and also as a reminder to God that he has a responsibility to look after us. In this relationship we are the woolly-headed sheep and he is the shepherd. Without him we will quickly find ourselves as mutton curry or as a fleecy, woollen jersey.
In a startling revelation in the New Testament, Jesus reveals himself as the shepherd. It is in his words and in his actions that this relationship is so beautifully explained. This is what he said:
The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:12
Jesus, our good shepherd, did see a wolf coming. The wolf came to kill us and it cost our shepherd everything to preserve us. It cost him a painful death and abject humiliation. If he had not cared he would not have stayed, or come to us in the first place. But he knows our names and he has let us hear his voice. He has shown us how much he cares in the most dramatic way.
In the light of how helpless we humans are it turns out that there is more to be admired in sheep-like qualities than I previously realised. The most crucial quality that a sheep has is its meekness. The word “meek” means “leadable” (don’t bother checking, there is no such word). Sheep are very leadable. The unfortunate thing is that although this meek and humble attitude fits us best, we are by default more goat-like in nature. We are stubborn, arrogant and proud. Humility is a foreign concept to most of us. The unfortunate consequence of this is that we are not comfortable with the notion of Christ the Good Shepherd. We are happy for Him to save us but we prefer to lead ourselves. Unfortunately, Christ cannot be our saviour, shepherd or lord if we cannot first admit that we are needy, helpless sheep. That is the one pre-requisite for being a part of his flock.
In the light of how helpless we humans are it turns out that there is more to be admired in sheep-like qualities than I previously realised. The most crucial quality that a sheep has is its meekness. The word “meek” means “leadable” (don’t bother checking, there is no such word). Sheep are very leadable. The unfortunate thing is that although this meek and humble attitude fits us best, we are by default more goat-like in nature. We are stubborn, arrogant and proud. Humility is a foreign concept to most of us. The unfortunate consequence of this is that we are not comfortable with the notion of Christ the Good Shepherd. We are happy for Him to save us but we prefer to lead ourselves. Unfortunately, Christ cannot be our saviour, shepherd or lord if we cannot first admit that we are needy, helpless sheep. That is the one pre-requisite for being a part of his flock.
I am still not a big admirer of sheep (maybe if I had been born in Australia
[1] references are from dictionary
[2] Is 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray”
[3] Ps 44:22 “we are counted as sheep of slaughter”
[4] Num 27:17 “who may lead them out, and who may bring them in”
[5] Ps 95:7 “For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”
[6] Ps 74:1
Ran across your post (some years after you wrote it obviously) but I can well appreciate it as I am a keeper of both sheep and goats as well as being a Christian. There couldn't be a better analogy used by God, I think, to illustrate His point. It's a shame it flies over the heads of so many today because they have no reference points of a pastoral life that once was more common.
ReplyDeleteThe sheep serenely graze within their pasture confines, never worrying about the million things that vex the shepherd to take care of their needs. I do the worrying, the fussing, the giving of medicines and making sure the lambs are warm and dry. They just blissfully live, confident that these are not their burdens to bear.
The goats are busy testing the fences, pushing, climbing, jumping, looking for things to get in trouble with or hurt themselves with. Again, it's my concern to try to make ways for them to be safe and harmless to others in the pasture but they are uncooperative and search for ways to circumvent all that i do for their benefit. They find themselves caught by their horns and waiting to be set free. They aren't grateful when they are, either.
I can't say anything bad about a sheep. They are innocent, harmless and trusting of their shepherd.These are attributes we should all want to have.