A Ramble about Lost Sheep

Originally published as a Facebook Note April 12th, 2009

Some time ago, as I was pulling one ton pallets through the crowded aisles of Wal-Mart (if it sounds dangerous and foolhardy... it was), I got this image in my head from the Lord.

There was a rancher who owned a lot of sheep, and shepherd were hired to watch over different flocks. Some flocks were larger, some were smaller, but all the sheep belonged ultimately to the rancher, not the shepherd in charge of them.

Some of the shepherds were doing their job well and faithfully. The sheep were well cared for, and the shepherds had the exhaustion and bags under their eyes to prove it. Other shepherds however were not. Some beat the sheep under their care. Some didn't feed them properly. Others overfed them but then didn't exercise them. Some were abused in other ways, or poisoned because the shepherd didn't seem to know the difference between good feed and bad. Some shepherds were fleecing the sheep far too often, as such they were sick and ill prepared for the winter.

As a result, some sheep broke from their flocks and stalls and ran for the hills, terrified of the shepherds put over them. Out in the hills, some of them were able to survive on their own and were doing ok for the most part. Others however got into poisonous plants. Some couldn't traverse the terrain and were injured; some of them seriously. Others ate themselves over cliffs as sheep are quite capable of doing.

And as I saw this in my head, I could sense the concern the Rancher had for his sheep which had fled, and the anger which he had towards the shepherds in question to whom He had entrusted His livestock. And I sensed from Him that someone needed to go get them and look after them.

I have since wrestled with this question. How? If we were talking literal sheep, one could take a tranquilizer gun and some rope and go collect them. Unfortunately, it's not quite that easy with the Lord's sheep. It would be nice if it was, but it isn't. Often, those who have been hurt or abused tend to run from anyone who looks or smells like a shepherd. And honestly, I would, too if I had been abused like that.

One thought which has run through my mind lately is that these are the people for whom Jesus targeted His ministry. He didn't target the unbeliever (read Gentile), and He didn't target those who were professedly religious (read Pharisee, Sadducee, Essene, or other). He said instead, "I was not sent except to the lost (lit. ruined) sheep of the house of Israel," and also, "those who are well don't need a physician, but only those who are sick, I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but outcasts."

So what do we do about these brothers and sisters in Christ, many of whom are baptized, who believe in Jesus Christ, yet do not trust the Church or its shepherds? Do we just write them off? Do we let them just go elsewhere? Do we let them fall off of cliffs? After talking with some pastors (several of whom I respect highly), it seems like that is the general attitude. It's their fault for not accepting the authority of the Church or the Pastor.

Another thing about these lost sheep, is that many of them seem to be my generation and younger. I was talking to an old friend of mine recently who happens to be a youth pastor. The church he serves at has lost a lot of the people (including myself) who had been in the youth group over a decade ago and now are in their late twenties or early thirties. I could sense from him that he had a real heart for them, but he too seems to be at a loss as to how to bring them back into a regular church attendance of some or any kind. After putting out an inquiry to various churches in the area, he said that the general response he got was "good luck with that."

These are the people who are most on the heart of Jesus Christ. Members of the family who have somehow been ruined and written off by the Church, intentionally or unintentionally. These are the people He went after Himself while on earth, and I believe these are the people we need to go after and take care of. But the question remains, how?

One can start another church, but there's no guarantee they'll come; and there's much more of a chance they'll think it's a really good idea, and then not show up. It looks too much like what hurt them in the first place.

If we were on a mission to rescue sheep in the hills, we wouldn't wait for them to find their way back into the pens themselves. We'd go out, round them up and get them.

So, does anyone have any ideas as to how to accomplish this, or do we once again just write them off?