| Sheep Are Not Intellectuals 33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. 35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Psalm 119:33-35 (NIV) |
A skillful shepherd can easily watch over a very large flock of sheep with only a dog to assist him. This feat is
accomplished through the sheep’s natural tendency to stick together and because the flock has been trained to
respond to the shepherd and the shepherd’s dog. “Basic Training” for sheep begins when lambs are very young. At
this stage of their development, lambs are naturally frisky, playful and seemingly unteachable, yet this training must be
accomplished early in life. Fortunately, the lesson is simple and through it, each little lamb is able to absorb these most
essential truths of life as a sheep: Stay with the flock. The dog will protect you if you obey. Stay with the flock. The
shepherd is kind and will protect you, if you obey. Stay with the flock.
Occasionally, a sheep becomes wayward and wanders into unsafe territory, forgetting the lessons it learned while it
was still a little lamb. A one-time wanderer will be sought by the faithful dog and the concerned shepherd and when
found, it will be returned to the flock. A sheep that wanders again will be treated in the same manner. But the sheep
that becomes a chronic wanderer must be dealt with more forcefully. There is a very real risk that the other sheep will
follow the rebel into unsafe territory. Additionally, while the shepherd and the dog seek the disobedient sheep, the
flock is left unguarded and without direction.
This situation forces the shepherd into making hard decisions. If the sheep does not quickly return to obedience, it will
not survive. But re-training a repeatedly wayward sheep is not simple, for the task is complicated by the limited
intellect of the creature and its extremely stubborn nature. The shepherd must, therefore, somehow make
disobedience impossible. In the past, this was accomplished by intentionally laming the animal so that its only chance
of survival came through the attentions of the shepherd and the dog. The shepherd would lovingly nurse the sheep
back to health and firmly reestablish its reliance on him. It was a painful, but crucial, lesson that had to be learned if
the sheep was ever to safely return to the flock. If the lesson did not result in obedience and the healed sheep
returned to its wandering ways, mutton was on the menu.
Happily, we are much brighter than sheep! When we are raised in a Christian home, we grow up knowing what God
expects of us as Christ’s followers. Like the lambs, we are very receptive to instruction when we are young and those
early lessons last us a lifetime. We don’t need a dog to keep us with the flock because, through those teachings, we
understand the eternal value of maintaining our place within the body of Christ. However, when we forget who we are
as Christians or we have never been taught about Jesus and the gift of salvation that is found through belief in Him,
our God-given intellect has the potential to lead us into dangerous territory, far from the safety of our flock and our
Good Shepherd’s guidance. For sin is real, it is not an imaginary threat devised to keep us with the flock. As adults,
we are tempted into forgetting our early training and we are not easily re-taught. We think too much or think too little,
and, just like a straying sheep, we inevitably blunder back into trouble.
Does our Creator harm us or punish us to ensure our obedience? No, for as Christians, we are forgiven for our sinful,
wayward, behavior. However, even though forgiveness is ours, there are still consequences to be faced for our
errors. As we acknowledge, repent, and make amends for our failings and mistakes, we are forgiven, healed and
restored through our saving relationship with Jesus.
As Christian educators and parents, it is essential that we commit ourselves to the Christian instruction of little
children, for as the Bible tells us in Proverbs 22:6, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not turn from it.” As adults, let us be less like recalcitrant sheep and more like eager lambs as we daily turn to the
Word for instruction, encouragement and perhaps a little re-training. Remember, no matter how far you have
wandered or how disobedient you may have been, you are still God’s beloved child and your flock awaits you.
©2008 Elizabeth Williams