1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.  2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”  6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.  7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
— John 10:1-18, ESV

In 1982 I became a Christian and a capitalist.  It was my sophomore year of college, the year I began following Christ, and the year I changed my major from biology to business administration.  By the time I graduated, I had a basic understanding of the Bible and a plan in hand to climb the corporate ladder.  The day would come when I would confuse the two.  

Four years later while working that corporate job, after climbing a couple of rungs, I got the call.  It was not from the company to climb higher, it was from the Lord to bow lower.  Through His word and His Spirit, He called me to be a Pastor.  

My church confirmed my calling and endorsed my application to seminary.  I attended while keeping my job.  I graduated with honors while honoring my commitment to the company, then took a leap of faith and jumped off the corporate ladder into the church office.  

I set down at a First Baptist Church in my home state, a church in decline and disarray.  I thought to myself, how lucky they are, to have a Pastor with both excellent theological training and keen corporate business experience.  I gave them good preaching, thanks to the seminaries, and what I thought to be good leadership, right out of Management 101.  

I showed them the new corporate ladder with, of course, the Pastor, already at the top.  Proposed Elders went next, then Deacons, then staff, the the people in the pews.  I thought at the time it was the best way to get organized and bring the church back to life.  

The church did come to life, by the sheer power of the word and the gospel, but it almost killed me in the process, from the backlash of being a good preacher but a poor leader.  I learned the Pastor is not the CEO of the church.  Neither is the church to be headed by a Pope or a board of Deacons.  God has a simpler structure in mind, which requires only two levels.

“There will be one flock, one shepherd,” says the Lord.

One Flock

The “one flock” is Christ’s church, whose fledgling members were Jesus’ audience for this lesson.  The members of His church are His “sheep.”  This is a frequent and appropriate metaphor, used in ways both endearing and unflattering.  

I have heard some of the goats (another apt metaphor applied to the unsaved, to unbelievers outside the church, and also to hypocrites inside the church) speak derogatorily of the sheep.  They falsely accuse us of being dumb and blind followers of myth and superstition.  But sheep are not dumb, they are dependent.  While they do follow, they do so with eyes, ears, minds, and hearts wide open.  And real sheep know things goats never learn.

Sheep know the way.  They have discovered “the door” by grace through faith in “the good shepherd.”  They know Jesus is both, the one and only entryway into the kingdom of God, and the one and only God who saves and watches over His people.  

Sheep know the truth.  God has given them the ability to “hear his voice.”  They are not fooled by the “stranger” (other religions), the “thief and robber” (prosperity gospel preachers and assorted other heretics), or the “hired hand” (pastors who preach without a true calling or biblical conviction).  They know the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ when they hear it, and real sheep flock to those who preach it.

Sheep know the life.  It is enjoyed “abundantly” and eternally.  Abundance is not measured in material things.  It is found in spiritual joys.  Sheep live for good worship services, missionary successes, shared meals of warm fellowship, and the sheer ecstasy of seeing the next generation, our children and grandchildren, enter the herd to worship and serve the Lord.  

In other words, sheep know the way, the truth, and the life, because they know the Good Shepherd who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (ref. John 14:6).  

My charge to the church today would be for every member to make sure you are one of the sheep, that you have a personal, saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  And, that you are honoring your corporate commitment to Christ and His church.  Every time the word “sheep” appears in this text, it is always in the plural form, forming“one flock,” one local church at a time, gathering for worship and going out to serve under the lordship of our “one shepherd.”

One Shepherd

My charge to the prospective Pastor today is concerning the one shepherd of the church.  You are not him.  You must be like him.  You must speak for him.  You must lead others to him.  You must guard the flock from others who claim to speak for him but proclaim falsehoods.  You must engage in all kinds of shepherding, but, you, yourself, are not the Good Shepherd.  

You cannot save, but you can lay down your life.  Only “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” in the sense that Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again for our salvation.  But you can lay down your life for the church.  You can bleed blood, sweat, and tears to bring people into the church, feed them upon a diet of sound doctrine and expository preaching, pray for them and with them constantly, guard them always, and keep them persistently pursuing God’s purposes for His people, His sheep, His flock, His church.  

You cannot be the shepherd, but you can be a sheep dog.  Jesus said, “I Am the Good Shepherd,” and there is none other.  But shepherds have sheep dogs, an animal among the animals, to keep them unified as a flock, feeding upon the word of God, following the Good Shepherd.  Hopefully the sheep will have enough sense to provide you with fellow sheep dogs, to serve as fellow Elders and Pastors pursuing these principles, and deacon sheep to help with the menial so the sheep dogs can tend to the spiritual, all standing on level ground before the Lord.

You cannot be Jesus, but through deep commitment, hard work, and a lot of love, you can lead the flock, by living among the flock, not above them, and keep pointing them to the only one above, so the the church can say with one voice, “The Lord is my shepherd!” 

“There will be one flock, one shepherd,” says the Lord.

The flock is one, with no need for hierarchy or superiority, though we do have different roles as pastors, elders, deacons, and members.  We are all sheep, walking beneath the feet of our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  Christ calls some sheep to become sheep dogs, Pastors and Elders.  They have a special burden for the sheep, and the sheep do owe them a special privilege: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (ref. Hebrews 13:17).  Wise, collegial leadership and a loyal fellowship from the membership keep us as “one flock.”  

The Good Shepherd is one, too, the only head of the church.  When He calls you to be an under-shepherd, a Pastor or Elder, pray and prepare and preach.  It will be hard if you take it seriously.  It will hurt, because sometimes the sheep bite the hand of the one who feeds them the word.  But do it, faithfully, for God’s glory.  “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (ref. 1 Peter 5:4), which you, one of the sheep, will lay it down at the feet of your Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.