Are You Feeding The Sheep Or Entertaining The Goats?
John 21:15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
John 21:16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him,
Feed my sheep.
John 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Jesus told Peter to "Feed my lambs," "Feed my sheep," and "Feed my sheep." Sometimes we question the Lord and His methods of speaking to His people. "Why," we often ask, "did He say that the way He did?" In this case I believe Jesus spoke to Peter in the manner He did in order to impress upon Peter the importance of teaching the children of God. The ministers of God are to teach the children of God the truths of salvation by grace, of the effectual calling of the saints to repentance, of the washing away of the sins of God's people by the immaculate blood of Jesus Christ, of brotherly love one to another, of honoring our fathers and our mothers, of remem- bering the Sabbath day to keep it holy, and the list continues.
When we read and study God's Word, when we beseech Him to bless us to understand a portion of the Scriptures, when we center thoughts and words and deeds upon heavenly concepts rather than earthly ones, when we seek to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, when we are far more content in the presence of other children of God rather than children of the world, we are feeding the sheep, the children of God, as well as ourselves, upon the manna from above, the food from the Master's table.
Conversely, when we are engaged in the entertainment business, telling little stories to tickle the fancy of the hearers, sharing bits of gossip or other titillating pieces of information, true or otherwise, we are entertaining the goats. When we seek to please everyone, we are not being true to our calling. The same diet will not feed and nourish the lambs and goats alike. Each group needs its own special type of nourishment.
The things upon which one group will flourish will be the very things that will destroy the other group. The goats thrive upon a rough diet of worldliness, tempered with harshness and brashness, untruths and innuendos, deceit and distrust. The sheep thrive not on these things but rather upon goodness and mercy, truth and honesty, peace and happiness, sound doctrine and discipline.
Are we feeding the sheep or entertaining the goats?
LC
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Are you a sheep being fed
with the pure word of God?
Or
Are you a goat being amused
with drums, jokes and tongues?
with the pure word of God?
Or
Are you a goat being amused
with drums, jokes and tongues?
The mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired.
An evil resides in the professed camp of the Lord so gross in its impudence that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate evil for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them.
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is clear enough. So it would have been if He has added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him.
Then again, "He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry." Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? "Ye are the salt," not sugar candy - something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead." He was in awful earnestness! Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching.
I do not hear Him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel amusement. Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence.
They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, "Lord grant Thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They "turned the world upside down." That is the difference! Lord, clear Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.
Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy-laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God's instrument in their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today's ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish [the goats] foolishness; but unto us which are saved [the sheep] it is the power of God… and the wisdom of God… it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Apostle Paul
