I responded to a post from the blog by Eagle Brook Church Men’s Pastor Josh Kesler with regards to a stupid sheep he saw. He ask me to follow up so here with go with my first thoughts.
In his illustration Josh talked about this poor stupid sheep whose head got stuck in a fence trying to reach something better. Great illustration and 100% right. It goes along with the current sermon series at the church also. I looked at it from a slightly different perspective. As you may or may not know we can all look at an event and come away with sightly or even vastly different perceptions of the event (what a great movie theme, oh wait it is coming out in a week or two).
My vantage point is influenced by my recent rereading and discussion around the book The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. You see in Josh’s illustration I didn’t see a stupid sheep looking for something better, no what I saw as a barbarian sheep looking to break out the conformity of the pen and do something greater. You see we can be that barbarian sheep, we can step out of the confines and safety of the “our pen” (what every your pen is) and serve God in a great an mighty way. You see it is not about us, rather it is about doing the will of God regardless of the danger, regardless of the sacrifice, regardless of the cost. What did Jesus say, come and follow me when it is convenient, after the big game, when you have a spare moment? No Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow. Don’t ask questions, don’t make excuses, simple follow me. I would love to say that this is who I am, 100% on board, but that would be a lie. It is something I am working towards, something that I believe in. You see I would rather be know for how I serve God and others, that for what I know.