Pam and I were driving home from San Diego a while back, and as we passed through El Centro, I pointed some sheep in a field on the south side of the Interstate.
"Oh, have they no shepherd?" she asked.
Without even thinking, I replied, "They don't need a shepherd, they have fences."
It was one of those times when God spoke through both of us, and we didn't even know it until we heard ourselves talking. I can picture God sitting on his throne, saying to the angles and elders and living creatures, "Wait for it ... waaaaiiit foorrrr iiiitt ..."
And in a few seconds it hit both of us. It's really easier for the sheep and for the shepherd if the flock is confined behind fences. That's why industrial church relies so heavily on directing by teaching/preaching and so little on leading by example. It's why the flock is so content to live far from the fullness of God's goodness and freedom, for fear of doing something sinful.
And it's a lot more, too. Yet another chapter for the book ...
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3 comments:
"Management" is always easier than release. It's like your story of the class on drawing. "She didn't teach us to draw; she taught us to see."
Jesus taught His disciples to see. Today's church leaders are better at teaching people to draw.
This is an excellent post, Mike.
Excellent, Mike! I'm inspired by this. I want to post something about this either on FB or my blog. Thanks.
Fences are poor boundaries like traditions of men are bad moorings for society. We need traditions, but God's are better.
Glen Roachelle
There is a lot of depth beneath the surface here. It dredges up the weaknesses of the industrial church - leadership and followership. Raising sheep in fenced-off squares is not shspherding, or even sheep-herding - it's textile-fiber and meat production, for which the sheep happen to be the raw materials. Sheep aren't the point at all - only their utilitarian value matters.
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