Teach my sheep

“Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.””

— John 21:17 ESV

People will say: "Your job is to feed the sheep." Or, "I'm not being fed here." Knowing what they mean, an image forms in my mind—hundreds of woolly creatures, sitting in rows or circles, being taught by a shepherd about eschatology. Baa.

The Greek word translated 'feed' means tend, keep, and pasture. Jesus' request of Peter has more to do with care than it does instruction. Yes, to live well, sheep—and people—do need to learn a few things: mainly to trust the Shepherd, to know His voice, and not to stray. But the Christian's life is much more about relationship than academic knowledge. We need to be tended. Cared for.

People's criticism may be valid—just often not in the way they mean it.

Survival of the weakest

“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

— Jesus, in Luke 14:12-14 ESV

A couple of years ago my wife and I were having some work done on our house. I was in the driveway talking with the builder about timelines and materials and I noticed I lost his attention. The builder took a few steps, bent over, picked up a worm that was creeping across the concrete, and tossed it in the grass. Without saying a word about it, we returned to our conversation.

To me, it was just a worm. Probably thousands of them would dry out that day on paved surfaces—in my neighborhood alone. But to my builder, that worm was a part of Creation he was given to tend. I am prone to think that saving a worm from desiccating on my driveway is a bit Buddhist or New Age. But my builder has Genesis 1 on his side.

If we're called to care for every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, then even more so God's children made in His image. From cover to cover, the Bible instructs us to care for the poor, the weak, and the less powerful. Jesus modeled this in His words, His life, and His death. And I must become like Him.

Law or Love

I live in Wilmington—a beautiful small city on the North Carolina coast. Right now we're having a kerfuffle over our drinking water. Most in our community get their water from the Cape Fear River and we've recently learned a company upstream has been discharging a chemical into the river for years.

Lawyers will probably argue that the chemical is unregulated—so the company can't be held responsible. The way to test an action is by the letter of the law and economics. Love of people isn't part of the equation.

Naturally, the public is shocked that something like this could happen. I want to be shocked too. But I am a sinful person among sinful people. I know the human heart and its tendency to look first at "What do I want?" and follow with "What can I get away with?" This is living by the Law. It's as if Jesus and his kingdom never came. It's as if he never showed us another way.