Follow the Shepherd, not the sheep.

If you’ve been part of any church for long you have seen people come and go, you’ve seen “church hoppers”, you’ve seen a mass exodus, you’ve seen the friend followers.

Last year about this time, God told us it was time to move our church home. I can tell you with complete honesty that I did not like the idea at all! I was very comfortable in our old church home. We had been part of that congregation for nearly 10 years. We had a great pastor and great friends there. There was not a hurt or act of discretion that made us leave. There was no reason for us to move except for God telling us “I need you to go.”

We have always said we will be where God wants us to be. We don’t make a decision on a church based on the pastor, worship team, people that attend, friend group, etc. So when God told us it was time to go, we sat down with our pastor and gave him a heads up on how we were being led. We didn’t have plan….God didn’t tell us where to go….I just knew we would end up where we needed to be. We would have complete peace.

It took us 6 months to find the place we call “home”. We visited different churches. We even went back to our old church home a couple of times before we found our new place. We prayed about this for months. This was one of the hardest acts of obedience we have ever been through.

But we ended up exactly where God wanted us to be.

This whole process got me thinking…how many people are following sheep and not following the shepherd?

Jesus followers are often referred to as sheep. Jesus is the Shepherd. John 10:4 says “He goes out before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” Jesus tells Peter in Matthew that he is the rock that he will build his church on. Then in John (21: 15-18), Jesus tells Peter ‘feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep.’

How many times has the Shepherd (God) asked me to do something but I won’t because i’m worried about what the sheep (people) will say or think? How many times have I listened to the sheep around me and not followed the Shepherds voice? How many opportunities for discipleship have I missed out on because someone was or wasn’t there?

Without a Shepherd, sheep are helpless. Sheep are dependent on the Shepherd to lead them, feed them and protect them.

The majority of my life has been following sheep, not the Shepherd.

My challenge to you and myself moving forward is to follow the Shepherd, not the sheep. Re evaluate your intentions. Are you where God wants you to be or where others want you to be? Are you in a friend group that follows the Shepherd or are you in a friend group that all follow other sheep? Is your marriage following Gods way, or what the world says marriage is?

We are one flock of sheep, the body of Christ, following one Shepherd, God.