I have a framed photo hanging on my dining room wall that I picked up while in Israel a few years ago. It was taken in the early 1900’s and shows a shepherd with his sheep gathered on the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane. The shepherd sits there with his sheep, looking toward the city of Jerusalem and the temple mount.
I love this photo, not just because it reminds me of my trip, but also because it reminds me of my Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. On the night before he was betrayed, Jesus also stood in that Garden and looked toward the temple—its smoke billowing out from the repeated sacrifices made for sin. But not for long, for he would soon become the final sacrifice as he laid down his life for his sheep.
My pastor is preaching through the book of John and he recently asked the question: “Who shepherds you?”
John wrote about Jesus as the Good Shepherd and my first thought when asked such a question was: “Of course, the Lord is my Shepherd.” After all, as Jesus said in the book of John: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). He also knows me and I know him (v.14). He calls me and I follow him (v. 27). He gives me eternal life and no one can take me from him (v. 28).
But the question my pastor asked has to do with other shepherds in my life. Other voices I heed. Others who call out to me and I follow after them. Others who influence and shape my heart. Others who offer alternate paths to life. Others who offer hope and rescue from the cares of life. These shepherds are not those appointed over me by my Good Shepherd, but those who seek to lead me astray. The more I think about it, the more I realize the number of lesser shepherds in my life. Those voices who call out to all who will listen to follow after them: podcasters, bloggers, social media influencers, cultural leaders, and the like. There are also fictional shepherds, those who don’t exist in the flesh, but whose stories in movies, television, and books influence the heart and mind with falsehood. There are even shepherds who use the name of Christ to speak a false gospel and seek to lead God’s people astray.
While at a recent college tour with my son, one of the college staff pointed out that college professors seek to make their students like them. He asked us to consider, “Who do you want shaping your student’s heart?” For educational leaders too can be like shepherds, gathering a flock of sheep who follow after them in their teaching.
Anyone or anything that speaks not the words of the Good Shepherd is a thief come to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). The question is, who shepherds my heart? Who shepherds your heart? Is it the One who truly knows his sheep? The One who calls them each by name? The One who lays down his life for them? Or is it some lesser shepherd, whose words and influence lead not to life, but to death?
May we listen and follow after our Good Shepherd, for he alone knows the way to life.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me 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.” (Psalm 23:1-3)
