Don’t Christians ever get offended by being called sheep? Think about it. Pastors (Latin for “shepherds”) have flocks of parishioners. Doesn’t it ever occur to them that sheep are stupid-looking beasts whose function is to get fleeced or butchered?
Not to mention that calling someone a sheep is slang for them being mindless…
But being a “sheep” also implies that there’s someone who’s smarter, faster, stronger, and wiser than you watching out for your pitiful, meaningless existence, making sure that you survive so that He can benefit from your life and the byproducts of your life.
How touching.
I don’t think they do… Because Jesus is seen as the great Shepherd caring for his flock. (As seen by the Parables and Psalm 23 “The Lord is my Shepherd etc etc…”)
We’ve been called a lot worse. No. Calling me a sheep doesn’t offend me at all. Nor do all the other names. It’s just words.
There are too many other issues for Christians than to dwell on name-calling.
I suppose they SHOULD turn the other cheek…
But Ultress, doesn’t it bother you that the people who are calling you this aren’t jeering heathens, but your own church and your own pastors (see above)?
Sheep are docile and trust their shepherd only, which is how Christians are supposed to be.
What difference does it make?
I am a non-Christian but at one time in my life I considered myself a Christian and was very much involved with Christianity. I would say that at that time I found the term sheep when used by someone in the church a very good thing. The term had the connotations of being cared for, protected from danger, watched tirelessly. For all the negative connotations that non-Christians associate with the word, I don’t think Christians see them because of the positive ones.
My ex-wife is still involved in the church very heavily and frankly I don’t think she cares a wit about the criticisms of non-church members. My observation of her was she was so content in the comfort her faith provided her that what people outside her faith had to say was sort of like the “sticks and stones” rhyme of childhood. In fact, even though she was not the kind of person to examine the underlying truths of her faith ie. she didn’t care if the Bible could be backed up in fact, she was quick to point out that though I left the church because my faith was rocked by my inability to reconcile Christianity with historical fact, my questioning mind hadn’t served me very well because she was a person very happy with life and I was a very unhappy person.
I think if you look at the cultural context, that of a society of nomadic shepherds and experienced animal handlers, it’s actually kind of a compliment.
Goats give meat, milk, and leather, come into heat at any time of the year, and frequently give birth to twins. They also eat brush that other animals won’t. However, they can be difficult to handle, as even the nannies have horns and don’t take any guff from anybody, plus the billies are extremely agressive. Also, goats will not allow themselves to be herded in a flock–they insist on going their own way, and require careful management by the goatherd. He has to “persuade” them that his way is the right way. Their wool can be difficult to spin, and is scratchy when made up into cloth.
Donkeys are useful and docile, but not edible, according to Levitical laws, and do not give wool. Donkeys have an 11-month gestation period, and they come into heat only once a year. They rarely give birth to twins.
Cattle give meat, milk, and leather, but can be very dangerous; even Old Bossy can toss her head and gore you when you’re not looking (“this is the cow with the crumpled horn, that tossed the dog, that worried the cat…”) Cattle have a long gestation period, coming into heat only once a year, and rarely give birth to twins.
But sheep are extremely useful and valuable. They are small, docile, easy to manage, and edible. They reproduce quickly–they frequently give birth to twins, and some Mediterranean breeds of sheep, unlike northern European breeds, will come into heat at any time of the year. Sheepskin is an extremely valuable and useful product (parchment as well as jacket linings), and of course sheep will give you a valuable wool crop every year, which spins up nicely into comfy wool clothing.
I’m flattered that we are characterized as “sheep”. We’re the premier animals of the Bible patriachs’ lifestyle. Get out of our way–we take big steps. Baa.
If Christians are supposed to be sheep, and Jesus is supposed to be their shepherd … then why is Jesus also called the LAMB of God? Huh? Hmm? Huh?
What, God’s so puny he can’t use more than one metaphor?
I believe the “Lamb of God” comes from the concept of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. At Passover, a lamb would be sacrificed. The Passion of Christ occurred at Passover, hence the metaphorical term “Lamb of God” for Jesus.
The phase “Lamb of God” came into being because Jesus was “perfect” (I won’t argue for or against that fact), and newborn lambs (and other animals, but I guess “lamb” held up best in translation) for sacrifices… unblemished lambs, mind you. The idea was that newborns hadn’t had any time to be sullied by the world, and were still pure enough to make a worthy sacrifice.
And, despite my jokes, I can sure understand the comfort in being part of a supreme beings’ flock… in addition, even I have to admit that the two different slang usages of the word “sheep” came about differently… for Christians, it was the “someone’s watching out for me” thing… for insultive purposes, it meant a stupid person who followed the crowd. In all seriousness, I think both definitions could be applied to a lot of religious people.
Matt, I don’t want to pick on you too much, but doesn’t it occur to you that you (your culture) has different connotations and associations for sheep than other groups/cultures? What makes you think the association sheep=stupid is absolute and universal? Try not to be so narrow minded.
These associations are purely conventional and cultural. I guess the possitive connotation in been called sheep is that they feel part of a broad group and Jesus (being the shepherd) will take care of them.
Why would you call your lover “honey”, something so sticky and difficult to get rid of? If your native language is not English it may sound pretty stupid.
Now take the words of the Mexican song “Cielito Lindo”, literally “beautiful sky”. In Spanish it may sound pretty sweet but in English it sounds quite silly.
Did you know the “animal” you call “pussy” in Spanish we call “rabbit”? So, what is it really? (reminds me of a Spanish song of a girl who "had a rabbit, small (young) and playful, and she showed it to her boyfriend… )
I am also reminded of the relativity of points of view from the story about the worm who divided the animals into those who are peace loving and would not attack you (like the lion) and those that are fierce and aggressive (like the chicken).
The real Kat, of course, has over 1800 posts. I denounce thee, troll and sockpuppet, seed of an accurs’d race. Get thee to Coventry.
Why are Christians called sheep? … because they are humble and baaaaaaaashful.
Well, someone had to say it.
Dex, I bet you feel sheepish, don’t ewe?
If you don’t stop with the sheep puns, I’m going to ram this thread into my don’t-read file at the push of a mutton.
This is weird. I know I started a thread on this same topic here in the past but now I can’t find it with the search engine. Maybe it was one of the thread that were eliminated during the streamlining.
Anyway, I said basically what Matt did in his OP. I couldn’t (and can’t) see how Christians can reconcile themselves as metaphorical sheep. The shepherd doesn’t love, or even like, his sheep. They are a resource which he is using for his own benefit.
If the Lord is our shepherd we should be asking ourselves if he likes mutton.
But then Jesus himself states it’s the good shepherd who cares for the sheep while the hireling could care less in regards to their welfare. He even mentions the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep if necessary. In the end I do believe we’re making much ado about nothing since there are many other terms in the scriptures describing Christians in much more aggressive terms. This is especially true near the conclusion of Revelation where we’re described following Christ down as he takes control of the Earth. We sure don’t sound like sheep then.