June 25, 2014
The Voice
Earlier this week we had a
substitute instructor in my exercise class and everything was off kilter. The
beat of the music didn’t mesh with the exercises, and the instructor’s cadence didn’t
match either the music, or the exercises. When she said reach to the right, she
meant diagonally toward the sky. Those same words coming from our regular
teacher mean to stretch our arm laterally to the right. In general, the class
reminded me of my first day at boot camp where we heard the drill sergeant’s
orders, but we looked to one another to see if anyone knew what we were
supposed to do. I literally could not wait for the class to be over and I’ll
wait until the regular teacher returns next week before I go back. I have a
new found appreciation for the illustration Jesus used about the Shepherd and His
Flock, “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his
voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When
he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow
him because they know his voice. But they will never follow
a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize
a stranger’s voice” (Jn 10:2-5 NIV).
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Gail;
-----Char found a kitten under the house. He was no more than a couple days old. His eyes weren’t yet open. So, you know where this is going. I don’t know what made her think this kitty was abandoned, but she did and took it into her care. Then of course, she was the first the kitten saw, the one who had been feeding him. That cat had a special bond to Char the rest of its life.
-----But little lambs have their mommies, so I can figure how the kitty bonded to Char isn’t the way sheep bond with the shepherd. There has to be something distinguishing about the shepherd’s voice for the sheep. What it was always interested me.
-----Long ago I heard that shepherds worked hard to form specially close bonds with their flock’s lead sheep. Every social animal has its top dog, its alpha-male (or female,) or its lead sheep. Early, early psychologists of the Scottish Moralists (I just love those guys) noted that even animals are aware of proper behavior and seek to maintain it by responding according to the actions of others they see. This elemental piece of social interaction theory has never been rejected, as have so many other pieces of traditional knowledge. And well it could not be, for it is right out there for us all to see, because it’s real. The whole flock follows the lead sheep who responds to the shepherd. Then they respond to him too.
-----And it is no wonder we are often derogatorily called sheeple. We have this natural tendency, too, this fear of running counter to the herd. And the herd sheeple have a proclivity for recognizing lead sheeple and knowing their voices. The bigger part of what drives this proclivity is never taught. Hardly ever, even, is a sheeple aware of it. But there is just a sense of “working well” between what the leader does and what are the matters of the sheeple. Once accepted, the lead sheeple could lead the flock over any cliff and they would follow.
-----It’s really odd that your substitute instructor would say, “reach to the right” for a diagonal reach to the sky. Then of course, our vocabulary is not well stocked with words meaning a diagonal upward reach. But if she had a bit of excuse there, her missteps with the music cadence was less forgivable. However, since your lead sheeple said she was the temporary leader, the class follows (except for the one who knew also the cliff.)
-----It is good to know the cliff. For our Leader has told us in His voice to follow certain others who were quickly called “elders”. Looking back across the expanse of church history reveals a picture of most sheeple completely unaware of what a cliff is or where it might be encountered. Consequently His visible body is now broken into thousands of denominated pieces at the foot of many cliffs instead of sitting as one at His feet. But there are some, like you and me and Char and many we know and myriads we haven’t met who will go with these “substitute” instructors only where the Word goes. All other off-cadence rhythms and misdirecting instructions are humored at worst, better ignored, or exposed as errors at best, because the Word warns of many crags, precipices, and cliffs.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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