The Good Shepherd........Drives Away His Sheep?

I had an argument some time ago with someone who tried to convince me that during Jesus' ministry on earth, His goal was to drive people away. According to this individual, Jesus tried to drive everyone away from Himself and then somehow only the people with extra determination were accepted by Him. My mind was reeling! Where in the Bible do you find THAT? He tried to tell me that the stories of the rich young ruler and also the Syrophoenician woman, with the demon possessed daughter, were examples of Jesus trying to drive people away.

After looking at both of these stories, I believe that you really have to read a lot into it in order to say that Jesus intended to drive the people away. Sure, Jesus made it clear that following Him was not easy, sure He tested their faith, but I don't think that that means that His motive was to get rid of them. He invited the rich young man to come follow Him! He healed the woman's daughter. Those are definitely not good techniques to use if you want to get rid of people. In fact, all throughout Jesus' ministry, He demonstrated this kind of love and compassion over and over again. When blind Bartimaeus sat beside the road calling out to Him, He asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" and then He healed him! For the woman caught in adultery, He rescued her from death, told her that He did not condemn her and gave her a second chance saying, "Go. From now on sin no more." When the little children came to Him, Jesus even became upset with the disciples for trying to send them away (Now why would He be upset with them, if they were only following His example?). He said, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Then He took them in His arms and blessed them. It is clear that Jesus was in no way trying to drive people away.

Unfortunately, it is only of recent that I have really felt free to search these things out and truly disagree with what the previously mentioned individual told me. I never really believed his argument, but it for so long he had cultivated the idea that he was infallible, that I had a hard time rejecting what he told me.

Even though I didn't fully believe this lie in my mind, it still wreaked havoc in my heart. I became afraid that Jesus would drive me away. What if I wasn't "determined" enough? My spiritual growth became stunted and my fear paralyzed my relationship with God. I longed to continue growing closer to Him, but I was so terribly afraid that He would find me "not good enough" or "not earnest enough" and turn me away. I felt that I needed to make myself more acceptable to God and muster up a sufficient amount of earnestness (I was never exactly sure how much was enough) before I dared seek Him.

It has only been within the last year that I have begun to see this teaching as the lie that it is and root out the stronghold it has had in my heart.

All throughout the Bible, God continuously portrays Himself as a shepherd. Jesus is even called, "The Good Shepherd". Can you imagine a shepherd standing in the midst of his scattered sheep, waving his staff and driving away any that tried to get near him? Shepherds don't do that. Especially not good shepherds.

Listen to what Jesus says about Himself,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My o

wn and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd." (John 10:7-16)

Does this sound like someone who is trying to drive His sheep away, or someone who has come to care for them and draw them to Himself? Jesus said directly that He would "draw all men" to Himself. He does not drive away, He seeks, He heals, He forgives, He invites us to follow Him.

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)

*All Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible

To Ask Hard Questions

There are a number of reasons why I decided to start my own personal blog. One of the biggest reasons is because of the place I'm at in my spiritual walk and the things God is teaching me right now. It's sometimes easier to write about my thoughts to nobody in particular, than it is to figure out how to talk about it in real life. I talk about these things with my fiance, but sometimes I still feel the urge to write about it, to somehow declare to the world, "This is where I stand. This is what I think. This is how I feel. This is who I am." And there is always a small thought in the back of my mind that says, "Maybe there's someone else out there who feels the same way, who is going through the same thing, who would be encouraged by what I have to say." And so I decided to blog.

The place I am at in spiritual walk that I alluded to earlier perhaps could be described as a time of questioning. I don't mean questioning my faith, questioning my salvation, questioning the deity of Christ or the authority of the Bible. I mean questioning things I have been taught, things I have always believed, standards that I have held or been required to hold. I am the kind of person who has an irrepressible urge to ask "Why?" Why do we live this way? Why do we do this? Why do we believe this? As I have grown older, the urge to know why has grown stronger. Somehow the answers that used to satisfy me don't anymore. As I have grown in knowledge, wisdom and maturity, I realize that many of the answers I have been given, don't really answer the question.

Unfortunately, this questioning is steadily becoming less and less acceptable in my family. My parent's always taught me to think for myself. They taught me not to simply accept what people told me, but to search out the truth for myself. Especially biblical truth. Perhaps it did not occur to them that I would begin to apply the same principle to the things that they themselves told me. Maybe they did not realize that in thinking for myself, I might disagree with them or come to different conclusions.

My questions often seem to be seen as a threat. Whether consciously or subconsciously, the impression is given that to question is to rebel. To disagree with what my dad says, is to disagree with God Himself. Perhaps this communication is unintentional, but it is there all the same. I have learned to keep most of my questions to myself or to ask them elsewhere.

So that is, in part, the purpose of this blog. To ask the hard questions, to root out lies I have believed, to understand what God's word says and choose to believe it for myself, and to encourage others who are asking their own questions.