7-15-15 - Who Needs a Shepherd?

Sheep have a reputation for being a little dim in intellectual capacity. (So I’m told; I've never known any …) They pretty much have one thing on their minds: grass. Give them good grass and they will eat and eat, not paying much attention to where they’re going, not noticing if they’re straying from the flock or in danger. It's not such a compliment that Jesus told parables likening people to sheep, or that he says, when he sees a crowd looking for him, that they were like sheep without a shepherd:

Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. (This week's gospel passage is here.)

The religious leaders of Jesus’ time were supposed to be shepherds. Clearly he did not think they were doing the job, being too invested in their own righteousness. Perhaps this is why he has compassion on this crowd, allowing them to deflect him from his intended retreat with the disciples. He knew that without teaching and guidance and an experience of God’s power right then and there, they would drift, hungry, prey to false teachers and poor nourishment.

In our time and place, fewer and fewer seek out spiritual leaders; for many, the “DIY” movement extends to the spiritual life. They may pray, connect with others, find teaching on the internet, often comfortable platitudes, but they are indifferent to the accumulated wisdom of religious traditions. Like sheep focused on grazing, they may seek the next feel-good moment, the next affirmation that they really are okay, a good person, and so stray further and further away from the Source of Love. They put themselves at risk of manipulative teachers or a feed-back loop in which the truth becomes ever more distorted.

I’m going to make a strong statement: self-sufficiency is the enemy of spiritual growth. I do not believe people can thrive spiritually if their only point of reference about spiritual experience is in their own mind. They might be people of faith and active churchgoers. But if we want to grow in faith, we need to walk with others; we need to look out for each other; we need to hold each other accountable. And I think we also need leaders, pastors (the term borrowed from shepherding) who know the landscape and can keep their eye on the big picture while we wander and graze. And the pastors need pastors and community for the same reason.

Have you had periods of “go it alone” spirituality in your life, and periods of communal connection? How did each way feel to you? Who are the shepherds who have helped guide you to good pasture and clean water? For whom have you served as a shepherd or guide?

Of course, the One Shepherd for all of us is Jesus, our “Shepherd of Souls.” We truly wander off the precipice when we wander away from him. But we seem to need shepherds and other folks to follow him well. I hope and pray we all have worthy shepherds in our lives, that we see more than the grass around us.