Jesus is the good shepherd who is willing to die in order to take care of, protect, and save his flock from harm. Who is his flock? It is not just those who come to him, seeking to be his disciples, though they certainly a part of his flock. Rather, his flock can be said to be everyone, as he calls everyone to follow after him and be received in the kingdom of God. No one is outside of his loving guidance. He warns us that many might come using his name, saying they are working with him, that they have been sent to help guide and direct his flock, but in reality, they are not; they want to use and abuse his flock, taking advantage of them, using them for their own private interest. They can be said to be wolves in sheep’s clothing coming to feed upon his flock. They will prove who they are by their selfishness, by the way they make everything about themselves and their own good, demanding, indeed, the people make sacrifices for them instead of giving of themselves, doing all they can to protect the people:
I am the door; if any one enters by 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 hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me (Jn. 10:9-14 RSV).
We need to pay attention to what people do, and not just what they say. Many who claim to care for the people will say and promise anything their way into positions of power and authority, but, once they gain such power, their actions will prove their interest is only in themselves. We see this in politics, with too many politicians saying they want to make things great again for the people, but all they do serves their own private interests, taking away the safeguards the people relied upon to survive. We see this in religion, with many taking on positions of authority, using whatever authority they obtain to force the people to serve them and obey their every whim.
Those who follow after Christ prove themselves, not merely by reciting pious words, nor by stating basic doctrinal teachings, but by what they do. We must ask ourselves, do they do as Christ told them to do, or do they find all kinds of excuses to ignore Christ’s teaching? Do they ignore or explain away Christ’s pleas for the poor, for those in need, for the disenfranchised and abused? Do they help the exploiters or the exploited? Those who follow Christ will embrace Christ’s way, the way of love, and do what they can to help everyone, especially those in need. Christian politicians must do all they can do to promote the common good, establishing a strong social safety net so that the most vulnerable in society are properly protected. Those who do not do this, those who show they are willing to dismantle the safety net and help the rich exploit the poor and vulnerable, no matter how much they try to signal they are Christians, prove they stand against Christ and his ways. Christian religious authorities, if they love the people, would use the charism they have been given to serve the needs of the people by both proclaiming the truths of their faith but also by promoting the praxis which comes from their faith. Proper Christian doctrine, orthodoxy, cannot exist apart from orthopraxis, and love for the people is manifested not by words, but by deeds. St. Gregory Palamas, realizing this, warns us:
As for us, we believe that the true doctrine is not what is known through words and arguments, but what is demonstrated in people’s works and lives. That is not only the truth, but the only certain and immutable truth. [1]
Christians, Christ’s disciples, are expected to take Christ’s teachings seriously. If they declare Jesus is Lord but act contrary to what he taught, their words are said in vain. This is especially true when their actions show contempt towards the people they are called to love and help, such as migrants or the poor. We must, therefore, pay attention to the words of Christ, to the words of the prophets when they speak about God’s expectation for us (such as taking care of and showing love to those in need instead of treating them with contempt). We must also listen to what God has revealed through the prophets, and through the incarnation, when we are told what could happen if we fail to follow God’s call for justice:
Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts (Mal. 3:5 RSV).
When we try to justify our contempt for those whom we are called to love, especially those whom God has highlighted as needing more help and aid because of their status in society, then, as the author of the book of Hebrews says, we will be drifting away from the faith, no matter how much we proclaim it with our words:
Therefore we must pay the closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the message declared by angels was valid and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him (Heb. 2:1-3 RSV).
We must not ignore what Jesus said. We must not ignore what he told us to do (and not just what he said we need to believe). We must pay careful attention to his message. If we do so, we will find he told us how blessed the poor are in the eyes of God, even as he said that those who exploit or abuse the poor to gain wealth and power will experience the consequences of their inequity:
But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets (Lk. 6:24-26 RSV).
If we disobey Christ, if we abuse, ignore, or fail to help (as best we can) those in need, we turn away from God, and risk facing the consequences of our apostasy. The woes Christ warned us the exploiters will experience, will come upon us, not, of course, to merely punish us, but to give us a chance for correction, for God wants us to repent, make restitution for our sin, and return back to Christ and his way, not to condemn us for eternity.
[1] St. Gregory Palamas: The Triads: Books One. Trans. Robin Amis (Wellington, Somerset: Praxis, 2002), 104 [This is from the complete translation of the first book, which is not had in the Westerns of Spirituality Volume of the Triads that I normally use].
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