awwww, nice sheepy! still analyzing some of matt. 7 before we get into vv. 24-29 (two houses)
so here we are at vv. 15-23 ... i find this a confusing subject.
who are the sheep?
who are the wolves?
these are the 2 questions that muddy this passage for so many.
when i think about it, it becomes clearer to me that sheep are the people of God who seek with their whole heart the Kingdom of God. think about it ... sheep reflect God.
they literally are new creations because jesus is truly a big part of their life. he is life.
while sheep fail from time to time, and sometimes really badly, they seek God's healing and comfort to move forward ... they recognize God in their pain and trust him.
they make mistakes but heed jesus words to love and treat others as they want to be treated. they produce good stuff, works, fruit. their demeanour isn't that of sadness, defeat, bitterness or hatred ... a sheep's demeanour is victorious, battle weary - maybe, but victorious.
humility is their beacon.
reconciliation is their flag.
love is their action.
'church' is a kingdom word for serving others.
they are gentle, hopeful, enlightening, patient and they are joy possessors.
sheep will be honoured, over-joyed and surprised by heaven.
i believe the wolves are those who truly believe they are children of God.
they have all the credentials to be pegged as a 'christian' or 'follower', but there really isn't a shred of God in them.
they are made in his image but deep down are more concerned with their own.
they get nasty ... and feel justified in it.
pride is their secret nemesis.
they love hearing about God but don't actually follow the ways of jesus.
they love theology but have no plans to live active for jesus.
they know more about others opinions about scripture than scripture itself.
God is their vending machine.
the Spirit is their kick-drum.
and jesus is their ticket out of hell. and if you don't 'have' jesus ... 'then to hell with you and we'll judge you all the way there.' 'smoking or non?'
'church' is a place they get fed and then fed up.
they say they love jesus but really his ways, like he said are too difficult ... 'and did he really mean that?'
heavenly minded and no earthly good.
graceless ....
clueless ....
hurtful ....
lost .... surprised they didn't make it to heaven.
destructive. this all sounds really bad ... but such is the wolf (false prophets). beautiful creatures, soft warm fur ... but their teeth are vicious.
your thoughts.
1 comments:
It's fascinating that Jesus begins this chapter with the concept of not judging and then gets into topics of discernment. It can be such a fine line between attempting to analyse who’s who and judging them. Because there can be sheep in wolves clothing too. People who have such big hearts for Jesus but who on one end of the spectrum but have been doctrinated to death and don’t understand any other way or on the other extreme who have such big hearts but have been abused by the wolves to the point where they’re so suppressed and defensive and lash out because of how damaged they are.
We the church, far too often waste time analysing who in the church is actually on the right track. When really if you apply the concepts of not judging and the do unto others and just love people and pray for them if you feel like something is wrong (because we can all benefit from being prayed for) and allow God to work in the ways that He can and wanted to before we interfered, then the wolves will have no choice but to scatter and the damaged and over doctrinated will be able to see that there’s so much more for them.
To approach someone about their sin or about being on one side or the other is such a slippery slope. You first have to examine yourself deeply, about your situations and intentions. You then have to examine your relationship with the person you are approaching and whether you even have the right to approach them. And then upon approaching them you have to be in full submission to the words that Jesus would use; words of love and understanding. If you are not vigilant in these elements, then you may very well be judging others, actually pushing them away from God and raining down judgement upon yourself.
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