The scars of times past weigh heavy upon us. In the Spiritual realm, if our eyes were truly opened, we would see each one of us riddled with deep wounds.
In Isaiah 52:14 -
“...So His appearance was marred beyond that of a man, And His form beyond the sons of mankind”. We see the final state of Christ’s earthly appearance as he was nailed to the cross. Isn’t this also our own Spiritual condition when Jesus finds us?
For our entire lives, satan and his evil spirits flog us, rip us, tear us, wound us. Their job, as stated in scripture, is “to steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Though the mortal appearance of any person may be untarnished, the spiritual state of every man, woman and child is that of Jesus as he hung on the cross; beaten beyond all recognition.
Is it any wonder that many that come to Jesus spend countless years doing nothing but convalescing?
It’s not as unbelievable as it sounds. Should any of us traverse a battlefield after a battle, would we not see every manner of physical injury? Manymortally wounded, disfigured, beyond hope. Now you can begin to understand the all redeeming power of Christ, who, in his mercy and love, steps out onto the battlefield of this present age. If we make the decision to reach up to him, to trust him, to relent our lives to him, he is mighty to scoop us up in his arms and hide us away in his tent of healing.
Surely it takes many years for wounds to heal and the scars of our wounds take even longer to dissipate. Whether it be trust issues, hatred of the opposite sex, unwillingness to submit to authority, bad or poisonous doctrine, severe anxiety, depression or the like, it all began from birth, and will continue until, or if, we decide to come under the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ.
My wounds, my life experiences, how the enemy ravaged me before I came to Christ is unique to me. So it is with all.
The fallacy we are completely renewed the instant we make a decision to give our lives to Christ is not scriptural. It takes time. We must, in the meantime, be compassionate to others. Their weaknesses and wounds will differ from ours as much as each snowflake God creates is different yet we are one “flock” and as such can greatly affect one another. (John 10:16) (Eph. 4:16)
We do this by remembering to always look at other members of the flock through spiritual eyes and to see, or at least remember, they have wounds too. Though a thick white fleece may now cover the scars, they still exist. This understanding is the compassion Jesus exhorts us to have for one another. Our eyes are to remain fixed on his, not on the shortcomings of our fellow sheep.
Hebrews 13:20 explains how we can accomplish this:
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Sheep flock together and stay together under the watchful eye of the shepherd. Where they go, what they eat, what they drink, their protection, their shelter is to be guided and provided by the shepherd. From the above scripture we see that there is only peace if every sheep minds the shepherds’ guidance. In no way is the belittling, judging, or mocking of any other sheep the shepherds’ will. In no way is any sheep being impatient, unkind, or unloving toward any other sheep pleasing to the shepherd. This is the compassion we are to have for others of our flock; the same compassion Jesus had on us when he allowed us to come into his pasture; the same kindness, patience and love he has for us on an unconditional, divine level.
Sheep are of one flock. Any doctrine that portrays a sheep as independent will do more harm to any one sheep than if they had never come to Jesus in the first place. It is absolutely silly, in the context of a sheep flock, that one sheep should be so bold as to usurp the authority and care of the shepherd.
Sheep must mind the shepherd, full stop. At no time does the inscripturated word state that we are our own shepherds. At no time does it state, imply or suggest that we are able to equip ourselves to do God’s will. At no time does it say that of our own understanding we can work in ourselves, by ourselves what is pleasing to God.
Thus far we have established that sheep are to be unendingly loving to each other, to keep under the rule of The Good Shepherd and not venture into independence. Next we must understand the corporate responsibility the Lord has given us. Consider the following scripture:
The Apostle Paul states that Christ “... gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11).
You see, the hard part is not just for us to believe that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, but that his authority structure is such that he gave gifts to men; Earthly shepherds to keep watch over the flock. This does not mean christianity is a pyramid scheme in which everyone is a shepherd to everyone else that comes after them. No indeed! However these offices are to be a blessing; a plumb line and leveling line for our walk.
God chooses his men. Men do not choose God’s men. The first prerequisite for any man called by God is that he must be absolutely head over heels in love with sheep. He must care for sheep as Christ cares for the church. He must keep watch, he must protect, he must never damage, lose or shipwreck a sheep. They must also directly reflect the pattern given them by Jesus: They must be filled with the Holy Spirit and do nothing but what they see the Father doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:13 tell us, “But we ask you, brothers and sisters, to recognize those who diligently labor among you and are in leadership over you in the Lord, and give you instruction, and that you regard them very highly in love because of their work.”
We as sheep are to hold the men appointed over us in the Lord in the highest esteem.
A shepherd that does not love sheep, does not care for the sheep, does not keep watch over the sheep, fills the sheep with poisonous doctrine and tainted water, who leads the sheep into a desert without shade, causes them to stumble, fills them with ideas of independence and self-sufficiency. Jesus says to that man, "If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Mat 18:6).
We as sheep must be discerning about who our shepherd is. If we are our own shepherd, we are as good as dead. If our shepherd does not adhere to every word in scripture, every doctrine of the apostles and prophets, if our shepherd does not reflect the glory and love of Christ, if he is prideful and lawless, if our shepherd is anything less than fully sold out to Jesus, hears his voice clearly and lays his own life down for the flock just as Jesus does, then his fate is worse than the fallen angels.
So what’s the point? All of us have a duty, a responsibility to be very careful whos’ pasture we are grazing in. We all come from a place of utter brokenness, we must be assertive in testing the shepherd who we follow.
Surely, if the entire book of Jude is to be believed, then we must also believe “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Tim 4:3).
In these trying times, we must make absolutely sure that: we love each other, stay pleasing to God in peace and unity, and are being led by a man chosen and directed by God, for God, with God; filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen.