Jesus is our only Shepherd, gives his life for the sheep, and has only one flock. He assigns us to where he wants, when he wants.
Text in context: John 10:14-16.
Read first: An Apology, a Long Explanation, and Starting to Take My Own Advice
All of Jesus’ sheep know their Shepherd the way he knows them, and just as he, the Son of God, knows his Father and his Father knows him. It seems incredible, but Jesus assures me that it is true. This does not mean that I, with my puny intellect, can know everything about God. It also doesn’t mean I can know most of his plans. It’s not about knowing facts, it’s about knowing a friend. But I can know the Son and the Father as well as They know each other. For this reason, I can trust him. I should trust him.
And, once again, Jesus emphasized that what distinguishes his sheep is that his sheep recognize and hear his voice. Whether the sheep came from the Jewish fold to which Jesus was then speaking or whether the sheep came from the fold of the nations to whom the Apostles spoke later, it has always been a single flock that belongs to Jesus and what distinguishes his sheep from all others is that they listen to him.
True, this implies that no human organization is the flock of Jesus. Such an organization may organize, train, or serve Jesus’ sheep, but it is not, in itself, his flock. And its leaders are not the Great Shepherd. None of them gives his life for the sheep. At best, they only serve Him.
If this is true, there really can be no such thing as “sheep stealing” among human organizations that truly serve the Great Shepherd. The sheep belong to the Shepherd, not to the organizations.
Instead, the Shepherd can only be assigning his sheep to the places he wants, if we listen obediently to him. He always retains the right to call His sheep to where He is in their lives. Because we are all different, He comes to each of us in a different place. That place can change. And I should have no bitterness when He calls some of His sheep to new places where He will be with them and live His life through them.
At the same time, when the Shepherd calls one of his sheep to go to a new place, we, if we are the sheep of the old place, must not forget that sheep or oppose it. No, the sheep that remain in the previous place should participate in the decision of the Great Shepherd in order to confirm it with certainty. “For none of us lives for himself, nor dies for himself.” Romans 14:7. Then, we are to send the sheep that the Shepherd is sending into a new situation with continual prayer and interest. That sheep left a place, not the flock!
This was certainly the practice of the early churches in Acts. And it is also supported by the Epistles, as I will discuss in the next few articles.
I now understand that, throughout my long and often painful life, I could have saved myself and many other people a lot of pain if I had paid attention to what I just wrote. And my kids would be in a much better position today if I had modeled it for them. And I mean that I should have paid attention to each of the three points:
- Seek confirmation of my own decisions.
- Join in the confirmed decisions of others without complaining.
- Continue to pray for them with true interest in their lives.
My most serious mistake was always making big decisions based on what I thought was right without seeking confirmation from the other interested believers in my life. But I was also often guilty of complaining about what others were doing and not praying.
And, unfortunately, sometimes God has had to do very drastic things to keep me on track. For example, I had planned to move from Iowa to Tacoma, Washington, in June 1980. But God prevented this by arranging for Mount St. Helens to erupt!
This interrupted plan, and many other problems, I could have avoided if I had sought confirmation and listened.
