Every pastor I’ve known, will hungrily devour books written on how to become a better shepherd.
But what about the sheep? It’s not only the shepherd that has duties, and roles, and responsibilities.
How to be a Good Sheep
1. Stick with the flock:
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
(Luke 15:4 KJV)
OK we get that. If a sheep wanders off, the shepherd must go track it down. That’s a legitimate part of his role, but time spent tracking down a lost sheep, means that he’s not getting anything else done during that time. He can’t be both tending the flock, and seeking in the wilderness for a lost one.
Furthermore, if he gets back to the flock after gathering the lost one, and finds that five more sheep have wandered away, you can see where this goes. . . he will be spending all his time bringing back strays, and not growing and improving the flock.
As good sheep, we need to stay with the flock, following the direction the shepherd sets for us for our own good, and for the good of the flock. We need to greatly value the flock as our community, our place of security, acceptance, and comfort.
2. Have faith in the shepherd:
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
(John 10:11 KJV)
The shepherd stands higher than the sheep, that is why a sheep is never chosen as a shepherd. A sheep could pretend to be a shepherd, but it wouldn’t work. The shepherd stands on two legs. He can see farther.
With this in mind, the shepherd may move the flock in a direction that appears without reason. . . pointless. . . silly. . . to the sheep. Does a good sheep take off on a direction of its own, or stop and refuse to follow the shepherd? Does it grumble to the other sheep about how foolish the shepherd is?
No. Trust, and have faith that the shepherd sees something not visible to you. Trust the good shepherd. . . . He gives his life for the sheep.
3. Submit to the authority of the shepherd, and do what he says:
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
(John 10:14-16 KJV)
How does the shepherd know his sheep? The sheep aren’t branded. They don’t wear name tags, and yet still the shepherd can identify them. . . They know his voice.
When the shepherd speaks, they hear his voice, and they react to it. They follow his commands, which are ignored by other sheep. They are submitted. They do what he says without quibbling and argument and resistance.
Another metaphor often used for Christians, is that of warriors. One of the first things we were taught in military training was to obey orders without question. It would mean defeat and death if in the midst of battle, the troops refused to act until they understood and agreed with the orders, so the commander had to stop and explain his commands.
It isn’t submission if you agree with it. Not as I will, but as thou wilt. . . my will is to do something else, but I will submit in faith to my pastor, recognizing that my pastor knows more. . . sees farther. . . is aware of things that I am not. Submit without question or hesitation.
Many years ago my Pastor mentioned to the senior chaplain at our church, that he preferred anyone on the platform to be clean shaven. At the time, the three of us chaplains all had mustaches. Only the senior chaplain was ever on the platform.
The following Sunday when we walked into church, we were all without mustaches. The Pastor never said a word to us, but I remember that he had a really big smile on his face that morning. Submission. . . obedience. . .no meeting required. . . no big deal made about it, he just let his desire be known and we obeyed.
You can quibble and argue all sorts of things. As far as I know the Bible is silent on facial hair. It surely is not a salvation issue. . . but obedience is a salvation issue. . . not making our own way, but following the commands of God. . . submitting to Spiritual authority is a salvation issue.
I had had a mustache for over 20 years, but it was nothing of importance in comparison to my Pastor’s desire for us to be clean shaven. I didn’t understand it, but I/we did it without hesitation.
4. Tend to myself the best as I am able:
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
(Hebrews 5:12-14 KJV)
Newborn babies require a lot of attention and care. That is understandable, but we need to spiritually mature, and grow beyond the infant stage, to where we don’t need to be bottle fed, or spoon fed by the shepherd.
Make no mistake, we still need the shepherd, we need a spiritual leader in our lives to lead us. . . guide us. . . teach us, but we as we mature, we shouldn't require lots of individual attention, so that the shepherd has the time and energy to tend to the legitimately newly born.
5. Love and respect and be kind to your shepherd:
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
(1 Peter 2:25 KJV)
I have never been a pastor, but everything I have learned of what is involved with that calling, has raised my esteem for the man of God to great heights. . . .
A small thing. A long time ago for several years, I organized golf outings for the company I worked for. Not much like being a pastor maybe, but in a small way I came to understand. . . 40 or 50 people would be in our outings, most of them were my co-workers, and I was daily bombarded with questions, suggestions, and complaints. Every person of themselves saw no harm done, but in the aggregate. . . didn’t like the course chosen, didn’t like the tee time, didn’t like the prizes offered, didn’t like the teams makeup. . . complain. . . complain. . . complain. . . that’s all I heard for the weeks leading up to the event, and then grumbling for weeks afterward. I finally threw up my hands in exasperation, and quit doing it.
Think of every interaction you have with your pastor, and then multiply that by 100 or more times. Recognize the great demands upon him in time and energy, in balancing the leading the flock and his role as husband and father. Aspire to be a model sheep. Keep yourself healthy. Minister and help your flockmates. Be a unifying force. Be intolerant of negativity, and division and gossip within the flock. Support the needs and efforts of the shepherd and the flock with your time and monetary resources. To thrive and survive, the flock needs more than your mere presence.
6. Be fruitful and multiply:
Genesis 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 8:17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Genesis 9:7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
The shepherd leads us to good pasture, and safety, and clean water. . . gives us all the right requirements needed for reproduction. . . barrenness is never God’s will for His flock. Be ye fruitful and multiply we are told over and over again. . . whatever fruitfulness and multiplication the shepherd can achieve, his efforts are multiplied by dozens or hundreds of times when the sheep take up the priorities of the pastor as their own responsibility of fruitfulness and multiplication.
On the surface of it, there was no one more negative toward Christianity, than I was. . . and yet. . . a friend took a chance and invited Jackie and I to church, without having any indication that we would accept. . . It wasn’t the pastor of the church, but one of the sheep who took a first step, and changed the course of my life. . . of Jackie’s life. . . of anyone that we may have been able to touch ourselves. . .
What I saw and heard and felt that day changed my eternity. . .
Just some thoughts this morning. . .
Grateful for the men who have been my Spiritual authority in the past 20 years of my walk with God.
Lord help my Pastor be a better leader. . .
Lord help me be a better follower. . .
I love you my God. . .
<3
Dave
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