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Trail MIx 2/24/2009 7:56:59 AM
A good piece of positive information
I came across this writer during my training to be a life coach and I found his writing to be very uplifting and inspiring. I think for all of us during these times we need to share with one another good things and good people. The world has enough junk in it why not replace it with the good stuff.
Herding Sheep
February 23th, 2009 By Greg Tutwiler
Herding Sheep
In a conversation a few weeks ago with a good friend, the phrase came up, "free range shepherd." I love the image I get when I think of that. There's something exciting about the idea of of the open range. Consider the life of David. He was a free range shepherd. And look at how he tended his sheep.
Sheep are passive animals. And they're pretty clueless too. I find it ironic that "we" are referred to as sheep in the Scriptures. Domestic sheep farmers keep their sheep in pens. They don't have much freedom. And the pen keeps them from getting away from the rest of the flock. It keeps them in line, and conformed to the space and agenda of the farmer. Hmmm. sheep
Sheep need farmers. They're pretty helpless creatures. Humans can be pretty helpless creatures too. Of course the difference between us and sheep is that we have a brain. We have the ability to be something different than just sheep in a pen. But it takes guts to go against the expected path of conforming to the rules of the flock. It probably means ridicule, and judgment, and rejection. Hmmm.
I suppose Jesus understood what that felt like, don't you think? But He knew there was no other way. He tried relentlessly to get the people to understand; to get them out of the pen. A few did. A small band of brothers. A rag tag group of free rangers. They even struggled to get it. But they were different. They hung in there. Jesus, also a free range shepherd, tapped them on the shoulder and said, "Follow Me. I will make you fishers of men. I will teach you how to be free range shepherds. I will teach you how to walk with God. And I will teach you how to bring others along on this journey. But you must leave your ideas behind and follow me. You must die to your agendas, and your rules, and your traditions, and your selfish and prideful ways, and follow me." Hmmm.
Jesus indeed promises life. He says that's why He came. And yet he tells us, "small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." When He laid it all out for the crowd that was following Him, most walked away. Suddenly that path was just too narrow for their pride, and ego, and agendas, and selfish desires. But a few stayed. Peter said, "where else would we go?"
In the end, Jesus told those few shepherds gathered for the last time, "go, make disciples of all the nations." Nowhere in that did He say go create programs, and build buildings, and herd people into a pen. He said introduce others to this life I've given you. Teach them how to find the narrow path. And that happens in the open fields of life where the sheep roam. That's where life is abundant, and rich, and joyful. That is where you find freedom to live out what was promised. That is life on the free range. And that is where we are called. When Christ opens the gate and sets you free, shepherd the others around you until they too taste the life out on the range. Greg Tutwiler, CCLC, BCPC
Coach Greg Tutwiler
Greg Tutwiler is a Certified Christian Life Coach (CCLC) by the Professional Christian Coaching and Counseling Academy, a Board Certified Pastoral Counselor (BCPC) by the International Board of Christian Counselors (IBCC), a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), an Affiliate Coach and Discipleship Coach Trainer with Blueprint For Life Institute, and an ordained minister with the Trinity Institute of Christian Counseling. Greg is also the author of the book, "Stand Your Ground," available at Amazon.com, and the New Life Perspectives eZine. You can visit his web site at www.freedomliving.org, or email him at coach.freedomliving.org.
