Part 3 of 5: The High Calling of Sheep
In the last article I asked if sheep are somehow a lesser species because they were not called to go out invading the spaces of the unsaved with the preaching of the Gospel? Can they not be effective or, restored to their proper calling and environment, even be the most effective power in all the world?
A passage exists in 1st Thessalonians that provides a definitive answer to these questions and it is “no” to any idea the sheep are a lesser species in the Great Commission scenario, and “yes” they can be the most effective in fulfilling it! Here Paul commends the sheep for their “work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness” as a body. Then he says, “You became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything!” The Word of God “echoed forth,” not from any preaching [for Paul says the ones charged with preaching the Gospel “did not need to utter a word”], but wholly from their example in and as a body! Notice there is no mention of the Thessalonians leaving the body as apostles would do to “go,” which means the word spread by others seeing how they were living and then becoming evangelists of that message in their own towns.
“Paul goes on in 1 Thessalonians 4 [got to love these folks!] to say, “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. For indeed, you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more.” And here comes the “great to do” for the sheep—their “great commission.” Are you ready for this? “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need!” Again, no mention of the sheep taking on his responsibility as an apostle, but rather to fulfill theirs within community. He instructs the sheep to love one another, love others, lead quiet, obedient lives, work with their hands, and make their example known to outsiders.
And here is where I am convinced Satan has done his finest work: bringing in religion with its buildings and its preachers, where community is reduced to a few scheduled events [for most of the sheep, one weekend service] each week. I believe religion is the “tares” (Matt. 13) Jesus speaks of that always grow up with the “wheat” of His true church. When He came, synagogues had replaced community. This concept is vividly on display in Europe, with all their magnificent cathedrals that now sit empty save for shutter-bugging vacationers. Ditto now in America where we’ve been led to believe going to a building once or twice a week, the size of which reveals our prowess at fulfilling the Great Commission, where we’re led to believe singing songs and listening to a sermon is community.
The reason this is so devastating is it leaves the sheep, which comprise the vast majority of followers of Jesus Christ, lost for lack of a way to fulfill their highest calling! How do I nullify the effectiveness of those who are not of those apostles I will never silence? I take away their platform for sharing the gospel—I remove their pulpit. I replace authentic community with synagogues, cathedrals, and church buildings and lifestyle with events. I shut them up in edifices that virtually invisible in the public square so no one can see “the love they have for one another.” In short, I nullify the great adventure and replace it with religion. To repeat what I said earlier, when Jesus came His stated and only mission was to “the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” His! How could we not say, given the tragic polling numbers, the same is not true where so many appear to be lost in their own houses of worship? And this is how it has been accomplished.
Consider: apostles need no environment in which to survive or thrive, as a dangerous world is their platform. They go into any culture at any time, anywhere and do what they are uniquely anointed to do. To a lesser extent the shepherds, though their effectiveness is in the body, are mature enough to survive outside of it. Ah, but the sheep? They are the only group totally reliant upon an environment, the body of Christ, to fulfill their destiny in God’s master plan concerning the spreading of the Gospel. And, as previously stated, within that environment they are the most effective group of all and make the second group the best they can be.
In summary, the sheep are the most powerful force for the Gospel because they can reach many more with their living example of community than single apostles can with their words. Both are vital, both play a role but in very different ways and environments. But take heart! As the kingdom “arises” for the second and last time mentioned in the NT, will God not establish it as He did the first time by creating authentic community as a foundation before anything else happened? Will He not reestablish the model of Christ with the gathering of His disciples and the model of the Spirit with gathering His at Pentecost before “this Gospel of the Kingdom is preached to the whole world?” I truly believe it will be the next great move of God on this earth, not to bring more converts into the body via revival, but to bring those lost sheep in His house into the kingdom via revival of the nine words that changed everything the first time: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
In the next of this series, I will discuss the shepherds responsible for “the making of disciples” who are the third group engaged in the Great Commission.