The Goat Doctrine

People with no experience with shepherding wonder why all the fuss the Bible, even Jesus places on the need of His people being sheep. I want to shed some light on a few differences between sheep and goats so that you can appreciate the fact that there is no theological confusion or grey areas in the topic.

I have shepherded both and so am speaking from experience, though not very extensive as it was in my childhood.

The first difference is that sheep are normally dependent on the shepherd whereas goats are very independent and therefore break free from the shepherd whenever opportunity arises. The most risky place for the shepherd is next to someone’s farm as the goats will never settle until they run to those farms, however lush the pasture is.

That explains why it is very rare to see a fat goat. It is never content with available resources or even having a shepherd. The only place I found fat goats was the Turkana where there is almost no pasture. They thrive from feeding on anything, from feces to dry shrubs.

Sheep on the other hand are content with whatever the shepherd provides. It will never run off to a farm if the pastures are rich.

Goats are ungovernable. The only sense they follow is their own.

Goats are individualistic. It is next to impossible to find a herd of goats as each of them is fending for itself. We do not have a leading goat as we have a leading sheep. This of course means that we can never have a goat community.

Who are we to God?

Are we ‘foolish’ like sheep and totally dependent on God’s shepherding? Are we as ‘bright’ as goats and can fend for ourselves irrespective of whether we have a shepherd or not? Do we listen to our Shepherd or do we know enough to disregard whatever He has to say.

Sadly, many of our churches are made by goats for goats with no place in their hierarchy for God’s sheep. Most of the sermons we preach and enjoy listening to are meant to make goats comfortable as opposed to making sheep more sheep like.

We pamper the goat instinct instead of nurturing healthy sheep for the Shepherd. We run to the preachers who are more proficient on the urges of the goats instead of the voice of the shepherd.

But we have the last day coming soon when the Shepherd will separate the sheep (His sheep) from the goats.

My sheep hear My voice, I know them and they follow Me (John 10: 27)

Are you a sheep or a goat?

Successful versus Acceptable Worship

What is worship? Where do we direct that worship? What is the outcome of that worship?

I want us to briefly look at a few differences between successful and acceptable worship to be able to understand how we can make our worship acceptable to God.

The main difference is in the audience. Who is gauging that worship?

Successful worship draws in the wows. It receives accolades. It receives honoraria. It is given the high seat and high table. It is paid to perform.

Simply speaking, successful worship is aimed at the people, and the people respond in kind.

Acceptable worship on the other side is directed at a deity with no interest at all on having any audience. God’s ear is the only object of that worship. The audience may come in as simple witnesses of the encounter.

Let me give a Biblical example.

Ezra is in a crisis. Israel has polluted the marriage institution by marrying forbidden peoples. And it is painful as it seems as a slap on God’s face as they have just been delivered from captivity.

He then goes to the closet to plead for God’s forgiveness. He does not raise any intercessory team or start rebuking the offenders. He simply goes to God alone.

What then happens? The offenders are convicted and start on their own volition to come to him providing the solution.

Acceptable worship results in God stepping in. Remember the cloud descending several times in the wilderness when the right worship was exercised? Remember the same when the temple was inaugurated?

It is worth noting that even worship to other gods is accepted on the same terms. Many secular entertainers know that though they do not want the worshippers they lead to know it. Or haven’t you heard of women and girls removing their pants in such an event? You see the god lust is being worshipped and must inspire his worshippers to allow him to manifest his presence.

Worship that is acknowledged by men could very simply be worship directed at other gods, however loud we shout that it is directed at the true God. This is because though it may appear to inspire spirituality, such spirituality does not manifest the holiness that we know God possesses.

Daniel and his three friends were manifest examples of what I am saying here. Though in a heathen nation, their lives were so clear that the spirit of the holy gods were at play in their lives from the confessions of even their enemies.

Compare that with our present day worship leaders. Their level of pride and entitlement sometimes competes with the master of it all, Lucifer.

Let us go to our history. Revivals occur when a small team sees a need to seek God for their community on a consistent basis. Initially nobody outside their group knows what is happening.

Until God steps in. people start flocking to churches. Liquor dens and brothels close. Questionable business deals start closing. Crime dies a natural death and many other positive things happen.

Does that happen in our worship events? Does it happen even in the lives of the worship leaders?

Would I be wrong therefore if I said that this worship is not directed to the God of the Bible?

Where does the business of selling worship events and materials lie? Who qualifies to run that worship? What is the indicator that this worship has achieved anything? And do not talk about the wows.

I know I am speaking very rudely, even offensively to some.

But give me scriptures to defend what you stand for.

Fractional Obedience

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat (mosquito) but swallow a camel (Matthew 23: 24)

I want us to look at the times we choose the side of command we want to keep as opposed to the whole counsel of God. I will highlight three things though there are myriad other ways we behave in a similar manner.

The first is the tithe doctrine. And I will take the most quoted verse.

Bring all the tithe in the storehouse … and test me in this.

We avoid one key portion of that verse. And that is why we are not only outside the context but also guilty of misquoting such a clear verse.

Why are we to bring the tithe? What should happen when we bring that tithe?

That is what we avoid when we go the direction most spiritual brokers go.

The tithe is to help in the provision of services (food) for the believing community. It is therefore important to realize that if your tithe does not meet the felt needs of the church you are outside that command. Our obedience is therefore disobedience in the eyes of God’s law.

Is that what the tithe you give does? And I am not even talking of it being an Old Testament doctrine as I have stated elsewhere.

The next is the Sabbath. We choose to fight over the day and even forget to fight for the real day. The Sabbath is not on a Sunday. That is fine. But the Sabbath is also not on a Saturday also. Both are Roman days.

But we also forget the Sabbath year and Sabbath of Sabbath years which are what determines what the Sabbath is.

How do we use a Roman week to determine a Biblical Sabbath? How do we use a worldly system to push for spiritual doctrines?

Do you realize that part of the reason for the captivity was keeping the day Sabbath and neglecting the other Sabbaths?

The last one I will address is dietary.

We fight against some meats as we advocate for others. Yet do we realize that the fridge itself makes the healthiest of our meats unclean according to the dietary restrictions of the scriptures? Do we realize that going that way may make it impossible for us to eat anything as most of the agricultural practices go counter to some provisions of the Bible?

What am I aiming at?

Let us read the Bible without applying shades to help us understand. Let us pray that God will open our spiritual eyes to His whole counsel.

And lastly, Let us allow grace to do its part in our lives so that we will walk consistent with the leading of the Holy Spirit each moment of our life.