April 23rd Weekly Word

Goats, Sheep and the Way of Dependence

As I was thinking about Good Shepherd Sunday, I couldn't help but reflect on sheep, of course, but also on another farm animal – goats. For such a cute creature, its seems like goats get a bad wrap in Scripture. After all, in one of Jesus' parables (Mt 25) about the final judgement, he separates the sheep from the goats, with the goats representing the unrighteous.

Why this symbolism though? Well, it really amounts to the fact that goats are independent, curious, and willful while sheep have more of a gentle temperament and are thus more apt to follow their shepherd.

But here's the thing, those goat characteristics aren't necessarily bad. In fact, who wouldn't want their child to be curious, in some respects willful, and one day independent. These are descriptors of a healthy individual, right?

Well, yes. But the contrast that Jesus' parable sets up revolves around a heart that trusts God and relies on him (sheep) versus one that strays and seeks its own way (goat).

You see, it's only when we acknowledge our reliance on God that we can be independent in a truly healthy way. Why?

Because when we seek independence apart from God and apart from his people, it becomes self‑protective, self‑sufficient, and eventually self‑absorbed. And that is a dangerous place to be. In fact, it's the very reason the goats in this parable are condemned. Their independence from God and others had apparently collapsed into indifference, and they refused to address the basic needs of those around them.

But when we trust our Good Shepherd and follow him as his sheep, we experience a security that allows us to be ourselves – our true selves who God has called us to be. In that Christ-rooted identity, we can give, risk, serve and grow because we don't have to be guarded, defensive or anxious, trying to establish our own worth or protect our own domain. Dependence on God then creates the ground from which real independence can flourish.

So friends, let’s follow Christ, our Good Shepherd, and entrust ourselves again to his faithful care.

Darin+