There’s really no theological commentary to add to this one. Sheep don’t intentionally try to escape and hide. At least I don’t think so. However, just the other day someone asked me how it felt to be lost. I politely replied that I’m not lost, but escaped. And then I thought of this cartoon and realized that even though I have escaped, I keep getting dragged back into the fold, engaging in the conversation around theology and the church. So... Read more
Here’s exactly how you tell someone they’re going to Hell without actually telling them they’re going to Hell. Describe goats. Explain how, biblically, goats have bad history. Goats go to the left. Those remaining on the right go to Heaven. Those on the left go to Hell. Now, if those on the left complain that you are telling them they’re going to Hell, you just tell them that, no, they happen to be on the left, and those on the... Read more
This cartoon was inspired by a friend of mine, Richard, who commented on one of my sheep cartoons this week by saying that he was more like a cat. Bingo! Right now I have a dog. I have had cats in the past. You can control a dog. You can’t control a cat. You relate to a dog on your terms. You relate to a cat on theirs. When I pastored a local church, this is often what it looked... Read more
When the earliest Christian movement was criminal the real danger came from infiltrators. These were called wolves in sheep’s clothing. It was an “us vs. them” world. But now that Christianity is popular and inculturation is complete it is no longer “us vs. them” but “us vs. us”. There is no need for wolves to devour other sheep. Sheep can do it themselves! You can see it all the time on such fun places as Facebook. That is a regular... Read more
Welcome to SHEEP WEEK, a week of my sustained critique of the shepherd/sheep analogy illustrated by my cartoons. This morning’s cartoon is “Culling is Killing”. If you have a particular vision of what you want your people to be like that isn’t universal, that doesn’t include all, that isn’t all-encompassing, you immediately prohibit community. To pursue purity of the flock actually destroys it. Everyone de facto belongs. I claim that the problem isn’t who belongs. No. The actual struggle is... Read more
Welcome to SHEEP WEEK! This evening it is “Postmodern Wolf”. If the flock has advanced to postmodern then the wolves will have to also. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. The idea is to blend but destroy that with which you are blending. The goal is to infiltrate and annihilate. The purpose is to join but only to meet your own selfish needs and desires. I like what Seth Godin had to say about this today in his post “Us vs. us”. Read more
I find David E. Fitch’s post about Rob Bell interesting. You can also read Tony Jones’ response to it. Even though one might initially suppose Fitch questions Bell’s affirmation of gay marriage, what he really takes issue with is Bell’s lack of accountability: More and more I’m seeing Christian leaders who have no congregation/people they’re accountable to (who yet carry media/publishing driven leadership) create division with pronouncements. Fitch says that more and more he’s seeing, etcetera. Does he mean that... Read more
Welcome to another installment for SHEEP WEEK! This sheep is the new black sheep. This is what I mean: At the root of our divisions is the fear of the Other, the Different, the Not-Like-Us. I suggest that this deep-rooted fear spawned the scriptures that preach separation and segregation, which in turn spawn our established separations and segregations. That is, those scriptures that we appeal to that sanction our segregations actually appeal to the divisions that already exist in our... Read more
Welcome to SHEEP WEEK! The problem with any analogy is that those is power will stretch it to its unintended extremes to secure and increase their authority. This is the problem with the shepherd/sheep analogy. What was originally intended to illustrate care mutated into illustrating abuse. The famous Ezekiel 34 describes this sad mutation: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves... Read more
If we read this post carefully, “What Should I Do If I Disagree With Something My Pastor Said?”, we can see that, right from the start, questioning a pastor is a problem to be dealt with rather than a normal dialogical process. A few major elements need to be in place to make this kind of prescription work: First of all, one of the key words appears in the fifth point: “leadership”. This, I argue, is one of the major... Read more
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