So my hubbie is reading this book and was chatting about it to me the other day. What he said made me think I should check this book out a bit. Must admit..I have NOT read very far in it. But this paragraph caught my attention. The author was talking about how we often invest a lot in the terminology we use. He gave this example:
Our understanding of what shepherds are to be and do, in our congregations, is far more romantic than who shepherds were and what they did in biblical times. Shepherds were entrepreneurs who raised sheep for their livelihood, for food and clothing. Good shepherds led their sheep into green pastures and by still waters in order to obtain three results. They sheared the sheep (not fleeced the flock), ate the sheep, or mated them for reproduction. Sheep were led into zones of comfort in order to be prepared for zones of discomfort. In other words, sheep were expected to produce a profit for the shepherd. The shepherd took care of the sheep, not for the sheep's benefit but for the shepherd's needs. In congregational life our declining institutions think that shepherds take care of the sheep for the sheep's benefit, rather than to benefit the Chief Shepherd by accomplishing God's mission. The paradox of Christianity is that sheep are most fulfilled when they are risking life for the Chief Shepherd rather than being pampered by appointed shepherds.
I have to admit...it's a bit of shift in thinking.
Too many people go to churches because...this one has good programming, that one has a good preacher, this one gives me things I can do because I like doing things, that one has great videos and their library is to die for... and so on and so forth.
Too many churches and preachers think they need to cater to the wants of their congregations....too often the great commission is ignored through meeting the differing desires of the congregations.
If this book is filled with more such comments it should be a good read...but if like my hubbie tells me...it has some good lines, but then it takes it in a ...not sure if it's a biblical turn... then it will be a thought-provoking read..but necessarily a good read.
Time will indeed tell.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing that paragraph! It's a new perspective to me, to think of it like that. I especially liked the part about the zones of comfort so they'll be prepared for the zones of discomfort.
This would be good to think of in terms of parenting as well...
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