It’s Not Easy Being Sheep
Matthew 10:16, NIV - “I am sending you
out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent
as doves.”
Mattthew 10:16, The Message - “Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you.
You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call
attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
The
summer after my first year of college, I got a job on the landscaping crew at a
local country club golf course. All
during high school, I had my own landscaping business, so this job was really
my first experience of being on a crew whom I didn’t know beforehand. It was a eye-opening experience. The guys on this crew were a rough bunch. There was rarely a day when there wasn’t some
sort of altercation between my co-workers.
One day, one of them even took a swing at our boss. I knew from talking with my crewmates that
most of them went drinking most nights and the stories they’d have the next day
were usually quite colorful. I’ll leave
it at that. I didn’t think I had led a
sheltered life until that summer.
Those
guys found out that I was a “church boy” (their term) and that led to some
serious ridicule. It was really my first
time feeling like a sheep among wolves.
I knew the poking was aimed at getting a rise out of me and hopefully
provoking a fight. Wanting to avoid
that, I would mostly just take their jabs and try to change the subject. Over time though, their behavior started to
change towards me. Instead of barbs,
they would look for an opportunity to ask me questions when others were not
around. They would ask me about my
church or about what I thought about certain issues. In the two months I was there I felt like
they had begun to see me as one of the crew.
And I like to think I planted some seeds.
But all
of that could have gone another way.
There was one time when their ridicule had almost had me ready to fight.
Truth be told, there probably would have been a fight had the boss not shown
up. I also felt quite tempted to begin
to talk the way they did and to come up with some colorful stories of my
own. When you’re among wolves, the
temptation is to act like a wolf. I will
confess that during high school, I had indeed made that choice several
times. But when I think of those times
now, I shudder. Why? Because I know that I am one of the
sheep.
It can be
hard to be a sheep, especially when you’re among wolves. It requires you to be on your toes and think
carefully about every move. Wolves are
generally really easily provoked, especially on social media. But if you are a follower of the Great
Shepherd Jesus, then by definition, you also are a sheep. Furthermore, we are sheep sent to be among
wolves in the hopes that those wolves will one day become sheep.
Question: What “wolves” do you find yourself among
these days? Take a moment to name them
for yourself. Then pray for them. Then pray for yourself that you will not
adopt wolflike ways. Be a sheep but be
smart about it.
Prayer: God, show us the wolves you’ve sent us to be
among and give us your love for them so that we might be part of their sheep
transformation.
Prayer Focus: Pray for the “wolves” in your life. If you don’t have any wolves, pray for God to
send you out among them.
Songs: I Just Want to Be a Sheep – Another song that
will stay in your head all day. . .you’re welcome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8GLj2Z7M6o
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