I think this cartoon speaks for itself. Rather graphic I’ll admit. But something I’ve learned over the years: there are wolves. Then there are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Then there are just some nasty sheep. And they seem to be on the rise. Just sayin.
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Sad, and true. I’ve been a victim of this myself.
Ugh. So true.
Ugh. I hate the reality of this. Rabid sheep — behaving unnaturally because of the disease called “fear”.
Keep on, David. Provoking work!
ha. thanks stacey. i wonder if sheep do get rabies? well… these ones did.
Lol, brings to meaning to the song, “Killing me softly”
:
David, I would love to spend a day inside your head…or would I?
I think this happens because we Christians have it so easy in America. Churches in other nations that are persecuted don’t have the luxury to sit around and argue the finer points of theology until they find their depravity getting the better of them. Even moving from SoCal to Utah, I see how the Christians here tend to stick together, despite their denominational differences. I can’t say we’re persecuted in any real sense in Utah, but on a very subtle level, it is different than it was in California, and there just isn’t spiritual time or energy for the debates that there once was; we’re focused on evangelism and getting the truth that we -do- agree on out there.
This kills me. I’ve certainly experienced it on a personal level (though for me it was more like being ignored to death until I starved).
But it’s also true on an institutional level. This is what denominations still do to each other. And what local churches do sometimes when they treat each other like businesses competing for tithing customers.
I’m wondering this: How do the sheep learn to eat grass again?
I don’t think this is what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Feed my sheep.”
bob: I’m constantly trying to get out of my own head. Why would you try to get in? lol
dcsloan: HAHAHA!
This is so true. As sad as this is, I’m really glad that I no longer have to worry about looking out for the “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” This new breed of sheep is scarier than any wolf could be. I wonder how I can make myself less appetizing to them?
I agree, used to be that this was easily distinguishable…it’s hard to tell who’s just playing the game called ‘church’ and who is ‘sincere’ about the following of God.
Societyvs:
Watch out for:
1) Those who are selling the prosperity Gospel. Especially those who advocate the prosperity of the church leaders as a substitute for the prosperity of the members of the congregation.
2) Those who sell the Good News as a form of spiritual insurance – especially when it has no ramifications or implications or meaning for life now.
3) Those who sell the Good News as an Us/Them paradigm – saved/unsaved, men/women, straight/gay, etc.
Good points. Although, to be fair, I think there are a lot of very sincere people stuck in the third category. It can be very frustrating at times to deal with such people, but we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss them as “playing the game” and not being truly sincere and just ill informed. That’s not to say one doesn’t still need to protect themselves from the sincere but ill informed sheep who honestly believe they are doing God’s work when they attack you.
I don’t know, I think they can all be sincere. Just makes it all that much scarier.
Yes sadly, I can relate to this one very well. I agree … we should be very careful of leadership that preaches an us vs them perspective. It’s the foundation of hate. Just sayin’ …
Third frame: The “shepherds” taking a bite…
Think it was safer when I was a goat!!
Actually, when I think about it I can be more at peace with a
bunch of goats than most sheep.
Maybe if Yeshua came back he’d change the analogy!!
curried goat. mmmmmm.
April: haha. beat ya!: http://www.nakedpastor.com/archives/2451
by following the Shepherd away from the other deranged sheep.
Most of the attacks, in every direction, are made by people who honestly think they are doing right. They know every scripture, chapter and verse, that condones them pointing out your sin and feel its their duty before God to get other people in line. They don’t give much credence to the “take the log out” scriptures and besides, they don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs (at least not when someone is looking), so they have their act cleaned up. Somewhere along the way, judgment, resentment, lying,pride,etc. get overlooked. They have the answers…its right there in black and white in their bibles in the only anointed translation and if you can’t read and know you’re wrong they are going to tell you.
I agree preacherlady. Most of the people I’ve seen hurt others, are doing it with all sincerity.
OK…so now you need the one where the sheep attack the shepherd with a lynch mob mentality.
hahahaha preacherlady: you should see the drawing i’m working on for tomorrow. now THAT’S scary… how our minds think alike.
PL- It’s a bit difficult to attack anyone when you’re way wounded with blood spewing out all over the place, or being roasted on a rotisserie over the fire. The other sheep not being eaten tend to go off together to another field usually…
Once the wounds heal, (if you’re still alive), watch out! I could see a fourth frame of scarred up sheep with crutches, casts, in wheel chairs, etc. coming after the shepherd….if he’s stupid enough to hang out in the same field with them that is!
that’s right april.
Thanks for the validation on my last response. I should have replied to PL’s post. I just noticed the reply to specific posts…slow on the uptake here!
Are you from PP in N Cal??
Hmmm…I did the response after your first response and it showed up down here…ah well…
april: hi. i’m from canada and in canada, on the eastern shore.
Cool. There is a Prodigal Project ministry here in Nor Cal…
Oh, I was talking to Prodigal Prophet…thought he might be from that ministry. I probably didn’t reply in the right spot. Thanks for letting me know!
sorry. gotcha.
It depends on what church you’re in, April. I’ve been in both kinds…the one in which the shepherds abused the sheep and the ones where the sheep attacked the shepherd. Now I have yet to see one in which the healed sheep banded together and went back after the shepherd but a dark side of me would love to see it. Usually the ones who abuse get whats coming to them all without our help. Have you ever seen what happens when a major ministry gets cracked open and all its flaws exposed? It isn’t pretty.
Boy oh boy can I ever relate to this one David… it actually pierced my physically. Well done.
Maybe the sheep are starving.
Societyvs: It’s easier than one might think. All you have to do is listen. Listen to what people are saying about the shepherd and the other sheep. It all will become abundantly clear… unfortunately.
I feel very sad and disappointed that you have such a view of people who have loved and supported you for many years. Everyone has been hurt at times but to cast this kind of judgement on the people whom God loves- maybe wounded and hurt people – is a sad testament.
sandy: even though i have experienced this (at times), this cartoon, like most of my cartoons, are not about anybody in particular but everyone in general. it’s not personal… unless it applies.
Ironically, I have had, in the days since you posted this cartoon, multiple relatives and “friends” who profess their Christianity from the mountaintops, let me know just how vile I am for not adhering to their thoughts on marriage equality, social justice, poverty, the oil spill, the President… you name it. All of it was really unprovoked and quite gut wrenching. Your cartoon, like I said earlier, pierced me, because as a former pastor’s wife, I felt this same horrific cannibalism. And today I feel it anew, albeit in a different way. So thank you David. You have no idea how it ministered to me and blessed me, to have someone put my very feelings into a graphic drawing. Please know that God touched me through your art.
Thanks Maria. You’re very kind. I’m glad my images speak to you.
dc3,
I think you’re looking at the right picture, but drawing the wrong conclusions. The problem isn’t the debating. People under persecution don’t have intramural debates because there isn’t time, but because there isn’t need.
When the church faces persecution, the false sheep don’t really stick around. A false gospel isn’t worth dying for, and doesn’t sufficiently answer the reality you’re facing to make it worth keeping. So, generally speaking, the only people who come into the church, or who stay in the church once it comes are true believers. (I’m sure there are exceptions…but that’s the general rule).
What you are facing in Utah is merely mild discomfort. And if your description is to be taken at face value, what it has engendered is compromise in order to gain comfort in numbers. Not exactly a positive result.
Neither are the debates generally over finer points of theology. If you look around you, I think you’ll find that the debates we’re having are over fundamental aspects of theology — but people are so far from the truth that they seem like hairs to them. Hairs like, what is the gospel? Is lying a sin, or even a moral issue? Can practicing homosexuals be pastors? Is God really All-Powerful? Is He really All-Knowing?
Sorry, those are not finer points. A finer point would be something more like infralapsarianism vs supralapsarianism or sublapsarianism. And I daresay the average member of a church today has no clue what any of those things are, let alone what they believe about them. And if explained to them, they would probably tell you they’ve never even thought about those things let alone what their view of them might be.
So persecution doesn’t take away time for debate, it just takes away the need for it.
Shamgar, is your claim that, if the church was under greater persecution, we would all agree about these things because the people holding to one side of each of these debates aren’t true believers, and so they would leave under persecution?
That’s quite a claim. You don’t think there are any sincere disagreements over fundamental aspects of theology?
What if you are questioning all of the “-lapsarianisms”? (Let me just say, I’m no average church member ; I grew up in the Lutheran church; I attended a Christian high school and a Baptist college, and ultimately was a pastor’s wife in an Assemblies of God church) What if none of them completely resonates with you? What if you don’t care about debating any of them? What if you choose to disagree, without being disagreeable? What if all you know is Christ, and Him crucified, and what if you choose love above all?