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Do We Ever Graduate From Being Sheep?
How does someone know when they've moved from sheep to shepherd? Once they are a shepherd, how long does their shepherd keep meeting with them? I know it depends on the individual, and it might be too hard to say a time, but what are the milestones?
In short, no. We never stop needing to be sheep.
ReplyDeleteI know we can become capable of shepherding (the best way to do this? be shepherded.), but that certainly doesn't disqualify us from needing shepherding. We ALL need shepherding, no matter how mature we are!!!!!
I look at Paul: he had people who led him (Gamaliel, Ananias, the disciples and apostles mentioned around Acts 9:25), people he led (Titus, Timothy, Onesimus) and guys that were his peers, who walked side-by-side with him (Silas, Barnabas, John-Mark, Peter). I think that's what I want in my life. I've said this before, but we don't have to be Nazis about categorizing people. I just want to make sure I'm in submission to some folks, and I'm helping other folks along. By the way, anybody who's well-trained is a great candidate to submit to.
I meet with my guys who shepherd, just less often than guys who're at a hand-holding stage. We still need each other, but not on a I-might-die-if-you-let-go basis. Think of an adolescent child vs. a nursing babe. Very different needs, parent-wise.
I mentioned some milestones in the talk, but I'll just write them out here:
-Are they concerned about the spiritual lives of others?
-Are they dead to self, in a Luke 14 kind of way?
-Do they REGULARLY interface w/God via the Bible?
-Are they fluent with their own testimony and the gospel of Jesus?
-Are the spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, meditation, fasting, and service part of their life?
Again, just milestones, nothing hard and fast there. And I would never say "you can't help somebody until you're FASTING!", it's just something to look at as we train younger believers. If you want to set people up so they can know God and shepherd others, the best, most important, A-#1 is to just love on them. Babies need food, lots of loving attention, and rest. And they'll grow from there!
I wish I could have been at the meeting. Did you have notes that you can share? (other than the manual, which is excellent.)
ReplyDeleteThis metaphor of sheep and shepherd is confusing to me. The Lord is my Shepherd, so doesn't that mean I'm always a sheep? How does a sheep become a shepherd? I think I'd be more comfortable being a sheep that is closer to the Shepherd, and then some of the other sheep could follow me as I'm following Him. But that's not what the scriptures say; they say we're actually supposed to be shepherds (1 Peter 5:2 is very clear - be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers...) I may be overthinking this, but I'd love any thoughts.
And since the Lord is our Shepherd, I'm curious on what it looks like to be a good sheep? I don't know much about sheep. They just eat grass, wander freely around the pasture, then the shepherd takes them to new pastures to get more grass? Are they going somewhere in particular?
Thanks - Krissy