“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd sacrifices His life for the sheep. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.” – Jesus (John 10:11, 27)
The world loves to refer to Christians as sheep. But the truth of the matter is that all of mankind are like sheep. Let’s face it: sometimes we are just plain dumb. In our lives, we choose the easy way out, the quickest routes, and take short cuts on everything. We ignore what we don’t like and focus on what we do. Likewise, we pick and choose which parts of the Bible appeal to us or those that are the easiest to follow and we ignore the parts that talk about holiness, turning from sin, suffering, and self-denial. In fact, we don’t stop there. Many take Scripture out of context and create entirely new (read: false) doctrine from it. For instance, why is the “Prosperity Gospel” so popular? Because it appeals to our pride of life. But it simply isn’t scriptural. And this should not surprise us. Paul told his protegé Timothy, “A time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. (2 Tim. 4:3)” That’s exactly where we find ourselves today.
A Time of Universal Deceit
A quote attributed to one of my favorite secular authors, George Orwell, says this: “In a time of universal deceit–telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” This is especially true in the times in which we live. Lies are widely accepted as truth, such as, “if two men/women love each other they should be married,” and “We worship God to make ourselves happy.” And there are many more lies out there that are widely accepted. Does “Islam is a religion of peace” sound familiar? And the list goes on and on. Some of the lies are so blatant that only the most undiscerning of us are fooled. Other lies are so close to truth that even some Christians are fooled. (See Matthew 24:24.)
Whether we wish to admit it or not, we live in a time of universal deceit. Christians and non-Christians alike are falling for the devil’s lies. Why? Because the “bad shepherd” of this world–the devil–is the master of deceit. In fact, Jesus said of the devil: “He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)”
The question is: where do we turn to find truth?
The Good Shepherd: Jesus Christ
I recently read an excellent article by Talbot School of Theology professor Dr. 
Kenneth Berding entitled “The Crisis of Biblical Illiteracy (CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY).” I believe he hits the nail on the proverbial head. Christians simply aren’t reading their Bibles. The reasons why this is true are surprising, revealing, and perplexing, but it explains a lot. In John 10:27, Jesus Christ said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me.” He adds later in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.” How in the world can we possibly hear His voice and obey His commands if we don’t know what He said in His Holy Word?
The short answer: we can’t.
The Bad Shepherd: Satan
This disregard of the personal discipline of studying God’s Word explains why so many people (yes, even Christians) fall for the devil’s lies. Compared to the voice of the Good Shepherd, the voice of the “bad shepherd” is easy to hear. It requires no discipline to hear it. He speaks through modern society. You can hear him in movies, on television shows, music, literature…it’s impossible to miss. And it appeals to our fleshly desires. It makes us feel good about ourselves. It tells us we can do whatever we want to do. It tells us there really is no sin. We’re just doing what comes naturally. It promises us wealth, happiness, fame–all the things our flesh craves. False prophets dress their lies in a form of godliness, “but they will reject the power that could make them godly. (2 Tim. 3:5)” We are told at the end of this verse to “Stay away from people like that!” Unfortunately, they do not study God’s Word, so, instead, they flock to these false teachers. They also serve the “bad shepherd,” though they are probably too self-deceived to recognize this.
Who Will You Follow?
The Good Shepherd leads His sheep along the narrow path of Life. This path of holiness leads His sheep to eternal joy in His presence. The bad shepherd leads his sheep on a path filled with cliffs, pitfalls, and danger. In the end, his path leads to eternal torment and separation from God and joy. Putting it this way, it should be a no-brainer. In this evil world in which we live where truth is often obscured, the voice of the bad shepherd surrounds us every way we turn. But praise be to God, for those who trust in Christ for salvation, read His Word, pray, and meditate upon the Scriptures, we hear Jesus’ voice, and we choose to follow Him–even though it is difficult and costs us everything. We do this because we know that at the end of our lives, we will be with our Lord Jesus forever and ever, and “in His presence there is fullness of joy; at His right hand are pleasures forevermore! (Psalm 16:11)” Looking at it this way, the high cost of following the Good Shepherd is totally worth it–don’t you think?
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, I encourage you to send an e-mail to me at asktheparson(at)gmail(dot)com. I would be thrilled to tell you more about the cost and the benefit of following the Good Shepherd. But please… do not delay. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us.
In Christ’s perfect love,
Dwight
The Parson
