"Do you love Me?" - Honour-Shame issues in Jesus' weighty conversation with Peter

Over the years, in the weeks between Easter and Ascension Day, I have listened to several sermons which mentioned or examined John 21, (including this sermon mentioned in a previous blogpost) where Jesus asked Peter 3 times, "Do you love Me?"

Most of these sermons highlighted that in the Greek text there are different words for 'love' used ('agape' the first two times by Jesus and 'phileo' on the third, and 'phileo' by Peter all three times).   All kinds of 'reasons' are put forth and various applications made as to 'levels' or 'types' of love referred to by these two words.

For sure when Scripture uses a particular word we should take note, even if we don't fully understand the 'why'.  Since all Scripture is God-breathed, we shouldn't dismiss variations in words used, as irrelevent.  However, there is debate amoung the scholars about what the differences mean and how much we can extrapolate from those different words and their use.  There is a call to think beyond 'words only' and look at meanings and contexts.

Yet, this 'debate' also got me thinking further on the matter, and a counseling situation recently awakened my heart to a context I hadn't deeply contemplated before. (Cross-cultural counselling has a way of doing that with me!)

One point that was raised in the sermons I listened to (both in my own church and on-line) was how Peter denied Christ three times and then Jesus asked the 'love' question of Peter, also three times. The interpretation that was brought was that Jesus was showing Peter that for as many times as he denied Christ, Jesus was offering him a fresh start, forgiveness and a call to service and restored honour….and the call to service was an encouragement to Peter that true repentance means Jesus still has a job He wants you to do, don't just keep hiding in a corner.

However, on this Ascension Day, let me share with you the further thoughts I had, especially looking through the honour-shame lens.

Peter's Denial and Dishonour

What was Peter's denial of Christ?  It wasn't just that he sinned three times as Jesus said he was going to.  It wasn't just a signal to Peter of his own weakness in light of his prior boastings! It was more than that.

Peter's sin was that of denial - public denial. It was one of fear - fear for his own life, fear of exposure and fear of being seen/known as associated with the one who was about to be killed. Peter didn't want to be implicated, suffer and be shamed by association. He didn't want to be 'tagged with the same brush' as Jesus was.  

Peter's denial was a choice to not be known to be 'with Chist', to be 'one of Christ's', to be 'belonging to Christ', or to be 'of the same beliefs and behaviour as Christ'. Christ was hated because he threatened the popularity and honour position of the Jewish religious leaders who were thoroughly jealous and angry. Peter believed he had at least some level of love for Jesus otherwise he wouldn't have even been in the vacinity of the events - he 'was hanging around', but when it 'came to the crunch' Peter didn't want to be known by anyone (not even a lowly servant girl) that he had any part or support of what Jesus had been arrested for.

To protect himself and his own reputation, Peter was willing to lie in order to deny Christ.

When the cock crowed, (if I was to imagine myself in his shoes momentarily), he would have had a wave of guilt hit him, and a huge sense of failure and shame overcome him as it reminded him he didn't and couldn't live up to his own promises never to deny Jesus (Matthew 26:35 ).  

However, by the time Jesus met them on the beach after the resurrection in John 21, Peter had had a few days to think and reflect. For Peter, when the cock crowed, it wouldn't have just been a sin-reminder but a Jesus-revealer. It would have been a recognition that Jesus had predicted this exact situation. It was a reminder of who Jesus is - 'the Christ, the son of the Living God' (Matthew 16:16). He had just traded allegience with the God who knows everything, the all-Powerful, omnipotent, eternal, Creator of the Universe,  for protection of his own temporary earthly reputation in the eyes of people around him, even the eyes of a 'mere' servant girl. He wanted to keep his own community honour at the cost of losing the honour of being a Christ-follower.

Here in Africa, if you have shamed yourself and dishonoured others, the one you dishonoured rejects you and shuts you out and excludes you. But it is also expected and 'proper' for you to exclude yourself from them. You have to wait until the one you dishonoured shows some kind of 'acceptance back', before you go near them again.

We Westerners look at Peter as one who renegged on his promise to follow Jesus, and went back to fishing. But maybe, he also felt that 'his place' no longer deserved to be with Jesus. It was dishonour upon dishonour to expect Jesus to even want him back.

Jesus' Challenge to Peter

But when Jesus came to them on the beach, Peter was the first one out of the boat. He was desperate for reconciliation and thrilled that Jesus would want to even associate with him again.

But reconciliation and forgiveness is not just about forgetting what lay behind, pretending it didn't happen and moving on….as it is so often in contexts of mis-placed honour/shame.

Jesus had a challenge for Peter. 

Would Peter be willing to consider and follow Jesus' challenge to him? 

Would Peter be willing to obey, to honour, to follow Jesus wholeheartedly? 

Would Peter be willing to deny himself instead of deny the Messiah? 

Would Peter be willing to walk a path of full allegience to Jesus, putting into practice and living out the true meaning and ramifications of his declaration that Jesus was the 'Christ the son of the Living God'?

Although I have read many Commentators who lay little significance with the fact that there might be 3 denials and then a thrice repeated challenge, I have more and more come to see it as not insignificant at all. Just as Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus had three counter-challenges.  His denials were all of the same root issue, and Jesus didn't 'beat around the bush' but just came straight to the point:

'Do you love me?'

The issue for Peter was one of who he loved - truly loved - and loved enough to not deny.  It was the issue of the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:38 ), because the greatest commandment encapsulates the whole matter. 

 - 1. its a commandment - issue of obedience

- 2. its a commandment to love - issue of love

- 3. if you truly love God, you have to quit fearing man and fear God more, trusting that He is truly who He says He is - issue of holy fear and holy faith

Where Peter wanted to previously hide his allegience to Christ, Jesus was challenging him to be willing to have a public full allegience to Christ, and to start with thinking about who was his primary love.

But more than that, Jesus as the perfect counselor, wanted to challenge Peter not just to verbalise who it was he truly loved, but to understand it would mean a tough calling in the realities of life.

Jesus' Call to Peter 

No longer was he just called to be a 'fisher of men' but now he was being called to be a 'shepherd of sheep'.

No longer was he just to walk through the world as someone seeking souls for Jesus, Jesus wanted him to be willing to be fully identified and publically known in the risky position of a leader, protector and encourager of those who followed the despised, rejected, disgraced, shamed, guilty, punished, and murdered enemy of the religious and cultural leaders, - Jesus. 

Jesus' threefold challenge was a clear itemisation in no uncertain terms, that following wasn't a calling to popularity of being seen as part of the honoured and chosen disciples of the 'Teacher and Healer and Miracle worker", but a call to love Him above all else to the point he was willing to do the very thing he earlier refused to do….totally forgo his own repuation, and care more for Jesus honour than his own. Was he willing to deny his own life, even to the point of death for the sake of following Jesus - a concept he understood in far greater personal reality after Jesus' crucifixion?

I see nuances in Jesus' challenge of asking Peter to examine his heart  - 'do you love Me?' - of a challenge to think more deeply about what he meant by his reply of  'you know that I love you'.

Peter Considers the Cost

Jesus' first challenge even incorporates a 'priorities' context to his question of love. This wasn't an abstract 'do you feel loving toward me?'. This wasn't about 'love as a theoretical concept' but love as a personal priority. The first and greatest commandment was about love, and the further commandments (not least the first of the ten in Exodus 20) clarify that 'loving God with all your heart' means not having any other higher or greater priority of love in your life.  To serve another 'god', means you are not loving God with all your heart. So Jesus asks Peter, "do you love me more than these?" 

Right there on the beach alongside the fish from their fishing trip (which they caught through Jesus' miracle, and was an almost exact repeat of the fishing miracle context in which Peter first left his nets to follow Jesus - Luke 5:1-11), Jesus makes Peter stop and think about whether he loves Jesus more than fish and fishing, and even more than the great number of fish he can catch when Jesus is with him, and thus, even more than the miracles Jesus can do… and by implication maybe, even more than a Jesus that gives Peter popularity by being associated with the miracle working Teacher. This was once again Jesus doing what Jesus did best….getting right to the heart of the matter …. the matters of the heart! 

Just how much did Peter want to put Jesus first in His life?  What was Peter's real reason for following Jesus? Did he love the benefit and popularity and honour he gained through the miraculous 'works of Jesus' , or was it because Jesus was truly His Lord and His God, as Thomas was prepared to declare? (John 20:28)

I believe Jesus deliberately used the 'agape' word first.  And Peter deliberately used the 'phileo' word first (or their equivelent concepts in Aramaic). Maybe Peter in the light of a recognition of his own failure and inadequacy didn't feel like he could promise the 'agape' level of things especially with Jesus' delicate young spiritual lambs. Afterall he had learnt now not to overestimate his own ability to be loyal or responsible with what Jesus wanted of him. 

He knew in his heart though, he didn't want to run from Jesus any more.

So he is given an opportunity to answer again, when Jesus repeats the question.  But he again can't bring himself to declare 'agape' love.

But this time Jesus tells him to take care of the 'sheep', not specifally the lambs. What we are exactly meant to understand by this is also a matter of theological debate, but if anything, maybe its that Jesus was acknowledging Peter's recognition of his own inadequacy and asking him if he would be willing to consider 'agape' love if the assignment was to the sheep in general rather than the greater responsibility of the 'new' lambs.

(After all the new lambs are spiritually fragile, needing strong steady example, and clear unwavering faith teaching, and Peter knew Jesus' serious warnings about causing children to stumble (Matthew 18:6) so it was no less serious to be responsible for any stumbling of new-baby-Jesus'-followers) In shepherding all the sheep, he had other more mature and experienced sheep around him (as we see with Paul later in giving correction when Peter got a bit doctrinally off-track - Galatians 2:11-21).

Then the third time Jesus asks his question, after Peter is still not willing to match the 'love' word Jesus uses, its as if Jesus says:

 "well I know you don't want to run the risk of thinking too highly of yourself and overestimating your abilities and you are now full aware of your own frailties, …..but are you willing to even just 'like me enough' to be willing to risk your neck and your reputation for my sake, and quit hiding and running away, and be publically aligned with my sheep and a public target of the religious leaders by being a leader of my sheep?  Are you willing Peter to put your words into action, and not just pledge allegience, but demonstrate it by doing what is going to cost you everything in earthly terms?"

Jesus, knowing Peter's public denials, was willing to send Peter out to publically represent Him and His name, but was Peter willing to accept the challenge to be publically known as a Jesus-follower? 

 The very shame Peter had wanted to avoid in his denials, was he going to be willing to bear for Jesus' sake in following these new directions?

Peter Discovers a New Honour-Code

This time Peter is willing to align himself with Jesus' challenge, matching Jesus terms.

But Jesus doesn't leave it there….in case we have any doubt that this interaction was about Peter coming to terms with an personal honour-code reversal - no longer for his own honour, reputation and safetly, but for Christ alone - Jesus goes on to tell Peter that he is not going to have an easy life, he is going to have to go where he doesn't want to go and there was no escaping painful death for his choice to love Christ. He is going to have to lose his life (both physical pain and relational shame) for Christ's sake. 

Jesus concludes with just two summing up words, now full with much greater meaning for Peter than when he first heard Jesus say them to him, maybe on the same beach 3 years earlier when Jesus called him to be a disciple in Mark 1:17…."Follow Me!"

But we mustn't think that from this point on Peter had it all together, because before the chapter finishes Peter is already asking Jesus about the fate of the other disciple John. Jesus' response reminds Peter, that following Him is not about comparing yourself to others, or how God is dealing with others, its about him following his Lord. Comparing with others only breeds envy and jealosy. It's not about if we are 'less' or 'more' than others according to our own analysis or what others see, our 'following' is about honouring Christ as our No. 1 life's-love and living for what He sees and wants.

Jesus' Call to You and to Me

This real-life story of Peter is like a picture that Jesus paints for us about what it means to follow Him:

- its not about the honour of being popular or being part of a religion that is popular

- its not about the honour of our own ability - which will fail us

- its not about any honour we might think we have through the promises we boastfully make to Jesus

- its not about the shame of the  times we have failed

- its not about the honour of trouble free living

- its not about seeing ourselves as favoured and comparing ourselves with others

- its not about what others see

- its not about protecting our own temporary earthly reputation

…it is about humbly keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, being willing to lose our life for His sake, and seeking our honour in Him alone!

I don't want to seem that I am more theologically or linguistically knowlegable than many who have gone before me through the years and given insights into this passage, but as I learn more about the honour-shame context of Scripture, I see, or should I say 'taste' more and more of a flavour of Scripture that I had not previously learnt to recognise, look for, or seek to learn from.  

It really does feel like I've had a cataract removed from one eye! Seeing more clearly through two eyes (honour-shame as well as innocence-guilt) presents so much more to learn and thus to share with others…especially those from honour-shame emphasis cultures that are just like the cultures of bible times in the Ancient Near East. 

As I disciple those in an HS emphasis culture I am caused to see the inadequacy of my innocence-guilt only lens and how much frustration with lack of spiritual growth around me, is rooted in my own inadequate understanding of biblical contexts and thus an inadequate application in discipleship.  

If we are truly going to obey Jesus' command to 'teach all that I have commanded you' so that people in HS cultures can be truly discipled to follow Jesus, we have to get clearer 'two-eyed' vision. 

I'm sure there is even more to be learnt from this passage, but hopefully this example of 'digging deeper'' will encourage you in your own walk with Christ, and encourage you to dig deeper too!

You are the Shepherd

ENJOY!

You Are the Shepherd

Sung by the African Children's Choir

The song was written by Keith and Kristyn Getty and here are the words:

You are the Shepherd

I belong to You

When I walk on rough ground

You can guide me through

You know my name

You know my voice

Before I was born

I was Your choice

Show me how to follow

Lord keep me close to you

You are the Shepherd

I belong to You

Open eyes to see you are the way

Open ears to hear you are the truth

Open hearts to know you are the Lord of Life

For every land you hold a special plan

......as someone who relates well to the biblical metaphor of us being like sheep, I really enjoyed this video and the reminders of truth in the words.

Join us in the prayer that eyes, ears and hearts will be opened to understand the reality that God wants to be their true Shepherd and that their identity as 'belonging to Him' will surpass all other tugs at their allegiances, giving them hope and peace.

The Sheep Psalm

Here is another picture of me with my 'sheep' - gives you some idea of the size of it!  Imagine threading all those beads! - How many beads approximately do you think have gone into making this sheep? Post your answer as a comment and I'll post the answer at a later date. I might even send you a prize if you are the closest guess!

Anyhow, this post is not really about my beaded sheep, but the 'Sheep' Psalm......

As I recently once again read Psalm 23, something different 'hit' me, even though I have read it innumerable times before.

The Psalm begins with:

The Lord is my Shepherd

I shall not want

He makes me to lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Actually 2 'new' things 'hit' me!

(Does that ever happen to you?.....you read a passage of scripture and somehow the same words seem to jump out at you, saying something you never really realised was there before!)

So I thought I would share what I discovered - maybe it will bless you too !

The first is this:

- apparently another way to translate 'still waters' is 'waters of rest' or of 'repose' where the sheep will not be frightened by the noise and rushing movement of the water but will feel relaxed (though they are not stagnant waters either)

- this isn't just water that is still, but a place that is still - a restful and refreshing, "no-stress" place.....and could we say, not necessarily a 'geographical location' but a place in our hearts and 'being'.

 (I am reminded of the command to 'Be still and know that I am God'. - no rushing - but quiet still restfulness.)

-I was then challenged that: if the Shepherd has promised to restore my soul and lead me in 'still' and restful places, and yet I feel anxious/stressed, I am not 'walking' with the Shepherd in dependance on Him through my circumstances.....I'm not on the path the Shepherd is leading - I am off on some side-track and trying to negotiate rough rocky ground in my own wisdom and strength and knowledge thinking I know the way through this or even worried that I don't, but rather than stopping long enough to see where and how the Shepherd wants to lead me, I struggle on drowning in my own effort. 

As I contemplated this, I was also challenged to the how easily we can also just follow other sheep rather than the Shepherd.  Advice or action from another sheep will only be helpful if that sheep is actually following the Shepherd in that area of their lives.  I am reminded that if another sheep has some 'help' to give or is walking a certain path of choices/priorities, and I think it sounds or seems helpful to me, I still have a very clear obligation to check out if it  matches up with the Truth of the Shepherd and His will for me.  (ie God's Word), and never just assume that because another sheep says something 'works' for them, that it is what the Shepherd wants for me.  There's lots of 'advice' to be got in our world today - through personal interaction or via the internet - even 'Christian' advice, but we still have to check if it matches with what the Shepherd says!  Yes, another sheep may help me see what I hadn't noticed/known before and it causes me to dig into God's word deeper and realise that it is truth that I need to listen to and obey.  But I have a responsibility to examine everything in the light of Scripture.

The Shepherd wants to lead me (even in the midst of rocky ground) on a path that is 'copeable' in HIs strength and peacefully walkable.  He wants to restore my soul in the midst of surrounding pressures that have got my attention and worn me out.  He wants to give me rest. And the reason he wants to lead me on his paths is.....

The second point:

....because they are paths of 'right'(eousness)  the best paths for me, but even more than that,

for His name's sake!

This little phrase "for His name's sake" I have recited umpteen times....but not until reading it in a different translation one day did it dawn on me that this little phrase actually means 'for the purposes of His glory and honour".....ie so that His name will be glorified!

Once again this is a picture of God doing all for our good and His glory....if we let Him!

....the problem is the likeness God gives to His children as 'sheep' is all too true....and its all too easy to wander and just function on 'auto pilot' following the sheep around me or thinking I can just plod on without taking the time to look up to know where and how to follow the Shepherd, and it will sure to be a path that is not 'natural' to me from my near ground level perspective.  But I need to look to the Shepherd, trust Him and His higher perspective on life now and up ahead, and follow where He wants me to be, and to pause when He wants me to pause.  Oh how much time we (I) can waste by not keeping in step with the Shepherd constantly ...and it doesn't take much to get off track..... where I am then prone to make matters worse by worrying about the place I have got myself! But if I stay on track - the track the Shepherd wants to lead me on- it will be the best track for my good and His glory and honour!

How do you relate to this Psalm and the imagery of sheep?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

If you are interested in the metaphor of Christ as the Shepherd of us His sheep, you might want to check out the following books:

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

The Sheep of His Hand

All we like Sheep

Reflections from the Flock

Another African Sheep - of a slightly different kind!

As I think I have mentioned before in this blog - I collect sheep.  It was a 'collection' that started after hearing Bonnie Thomas speak at a conference I was at about someone she knew who collected sheep - to remind her that she is just a sheep - and Christ is the Shepherd.  The Scripture is full of analogies between Christians and Sheep, and then there is the great picture that Jesus is not only our Shepherd but also became the Lamb that was slain - for us, for me.

So at a point in my life where I didn't collect anything, while some others might have collected teddy bears or 'cow things' or 'pig things' or 'rooster things' or even tea pots, or tea spoons or whatever else, I decided that if ever I began collecting something, I would collect sheep.  Some time later I found a small hand painted brooch in the shape of a sheep, bought it and pinned it on the coat of a little teddy bear my brother gave me shortly before going to Bible College.  Once others started asking about the little sheep brooch, and heard the story, I began to receive 'gifts' of sheep in various forms from time to time.  Cow, teddy bear, pig, rooster, frog, cat, dog, 'stuff' was easy to find, but with sheep 'stuff' being pretty rare it seemed whenever someone who knew me (not least my wonderful husband!), found something 'sheep', they 'felt compelled' to buy it and give it to me!  Over the past 20 years my collection has expanded somewhat.  I now have 'sheep' from across the globe.  I have pottery sheep, wooden sheep, fabric sheep, a small beaded sheep, real lambswool sheep, sheep on tea-towels and on mugs and on bags and salt shakers, rugs and quilts, and books about sheep.  Many people have suggested that the only sheep I lacked, was a real sheep!  I was actually offered one, at one time, but had to turn it down, as where would I put it?  

Well just a couple of weeks ago while in South Africa I was gifted an African sheep!

It is life-sized black-faced African sheep (one of those that look more similar to a goat from a distance that make the Scripture passage of separating the sheep from the goats, more meaningful)....but it is a hand made sheep, made in the African style of beads and wire!

I couldn't even begin to imagine how many beads have been used to make this sheep!  It really is a work of art and very, very well done.  The contours of the body are perfectly shaped. And the beads are done in little zig-zag loops to give the look of it being 'woolly'.  It even has a cute black tail!

It is big enough for my 3 year old grand-daughter to sit on - but I'm not going to let her as I don't think the wire framework is quite that strong - but that gives you some idea of the size of it.  It will serve as a holder for my hat for now.

So the joke in our home at the moment is 'there's a sheep in the house'!!!

But it is another real reminder to me, to remember what it means to be a 'sheep' and what it means that when I remember that I am just a sheep I am more ready to remember that I need a Shepherd and that Christ is the perfect and Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep.

As we soon come to another Easter time - this sheep is also a good reminder to me of the real meaning of Easter!

Lessons from a bunch of African Sheep

It wasn't until I came to Africa that I began to really understand Scripture's references to sheep and goats.  In Australia, sheep and goats look very different and could not be mistaken for each other.  Here in Africa, its another story.  At first glance what looks from a distance like a herd of goats or flock of sheep may actually be a mixed bunch.  It's not till you get up close that you begin to see the difference.  Until the eye becomes more trained, it seems the only identification that clearly shows who is who is that the sheep tails go down and the goat tails go up!  As the eye becomes more trained it is more easy to recognise who are the sheep and who are the goats.

Recently we were able to stay for a few days at a farmhouse in South Africa and a flock of sheep were in the adjoining paddock and I had reason again to learn a few more lessons from these African sheep.

1. Outward appearance is not the main thing!  These sheep were a really mottley crew!  Some were white, some were black and white, some were almost without any wool, some had a reasonable coat, some were very dirty, some had the coat in tatters and falling off, some were covered in 'cobbler pegs' weeds, some were big, some were small, some were 'older' and some were fairly little new lambs.....yet they all 'dwelt' together happily, sharing the paddock and even sharing the available shade as the sun rose high in the sky.  What they looked like was not the criteria of the unity of their fellowship!.....They were one flock because they were all of the identity 'sheep' and under one shepherd and underneath that varied exterior, their flesh/meat was all of the 'sheep' variety.  This is such a reminder when we find ourselves in a church flock of a varied bunch,  that its our identity as 'saved ones' under a common shepherd Jesus Christ that is the key to our unity of fellowship.

2. Communication! - I didn't realise how much members of a flock of sheep talk to each other!  There was lots and lots of 'baaaa -ing' going on (well the technical term is bleating of course).  Baby lambs calling to mothers, and mothers calling to babies and one section of the flock talking to another section.  I was amazed to hear how noisy they got when some of them found a way to escape and started to call to all the other sheep to come and see and escape too, and then the others started coming from all corners of the paddock calling constantly as they came - maybe saying 'hey wait for me'!  There was a really strong 'community' spirit of togetherness in this flock.  If one found something they thought was great, it was worth them all sharing it!  Now, fair-enough we won't make any parallels as to the wisdom of what they were doing, but I was actually surprised at this behaviour of calling everyone to participate together so all could enjoy the 'good' news.  Again this was a reminder to me of the 'community' aspect of being sheep in Christ's flock - we are meant to be in  communication with each other.  While we are individuals, we are also individuals together.  In the light of that we should share with each other verbally, in ministry to each other and in care for each other.

3. We have a patient Shepherd!  In the space of a couple of hours this flock of sheep that I was watching, twice found a way of escape from their grazing area and headed outside the boundaries of their assigned paddock.  They thought they were very clever and that they were breaking free from unreasonable constraints.  However the paddock they were escaping into, had no big trees to shelter under in the heat and no supplemental feed trough.  Both times the shepherd had to return (he was a farm hand who obviously had a few other jobs on the farm so wasn't constantly with them, but could see them), to round them up with the sound of his whistle and his whip as it cut through the air behind them.  The Shepherd showed no anger toward them, but just patiently took them back to the place that was best for them. 

How often do I , do we, follow so called 'good ideas' of other sheep without thinking about whether or not they fit in with the Shepherd's assigned plans for us?  But also, how often do we have cause to stand in humble praise that we have a faithful Shepherd who persists with us and draws us back to himself time and time again after our sinful self-seeking wandering, so we can know again the rest and provision that can only be found in Him.  

This was also a reminder to me that a few sheep can lead a whole flock astray if the whole flock heeds their fellow Christian's 'sheep-brained' (as opposed to Scripture rooted and Shepherd led) ideas based on their own wisdom and desires.  I am reminded that I am called to follow the Shepherd. On the first 'escape', some sheep stayed in the paddock and didn't escape with the others, although periodically they would see if there was some other way to join them.  It reminded me that even when a bunch of other believers wander off, it doesn't mean I have to follow.

And lastly, I can be reminded that even if many wander using their own wisdom at times, Christ is not only committed to me as an individual, but to His whole flock and He does see what is going on in it and He will do what is necessary, when it is necessary, to discipline His church, and care for His church no matter how many times we wander....because He has said He will build HIS church.  He is a committed Shepherd.

Those of you who know me, know I collect sheep (no, not real ones), as a reminder of the fact that as a Christian I am one of The Lord's sheep and He is my Shepherd, and the many parallels between these woolly creatures and my own heart.  But this time as I watched, I saw some new parallels not just in relation to me as an individual sheep but as a member of the bigger community of Christ's 'flock'.  What a blessing!