Sheep and Shepherds

Vacation reading this last week was Wolf Totem, by Jiang Rong, a narrative describing the relationship of Inner Mongolian herders to the grassland and to the wolves that both threaten and insure their livelihood. The book is chock-full of insights into Mongolian culture, and I was particularly struck by the similarity of the relationship between native Mongolians and their Han Chinese interlopers and that of Native Americans and European settlers. However, one quote stood out as having particular relevance to the church:

“We have good grass and water here in Olonbulag, so the sheep have plenty of milk and they know their own lambs. That makes things easy for us. If the grass and water quality were poor, the sheep wouldn’t have enough milk and they’d reject even their own lambs. We’re lucky we have good leaders who understand the grasslands and understand wolves. They don’t focus their efforts on the flocks, but on the grass and on the pastureland. When people take care of the important business, the lambs pretty much tend themselves.”

How would it change the church if leaders spent more time focusing on the quality of their teaching rather than attempting to ascertain the needs of the sheep and meet them. With good feeding, I imagine sheep will “pretty much tend themselves.”