June 13, 2023
Hearing the Voice of the True Shepherd
“When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:4-5 (NASB)
I have always been a big proponent of leadership-by-example. I have seen other ways, and have been very disappointed. For instance, I remember one night there was a large bar fight. Two deputies were sent to the scene. A friend and I in a nearby zone were assigned to respond. After a few minutes, I heard my supervisor say he arrived on scene. Once we arrived on scene, we looked for the supervisor. He wasn’t anywhere. So we went into the bar and began to break up the fight. We took two to jail that night. As we were about to leave and take the two to jail, I looked. I still couldn’t see the supervisor. Then I saw headlights. At the far end of the parking lot, he drove toward us. He told us he was keeping an eye on us. I thought, “We really could have used you for a few minutes. There were 20 people in there fighting! What if it turned out bad?” I lost quite a bit of respect for that supervisor that night. I think he just chickened out…
“When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them…” Once the shepherd had returned in the morning, the doorkeeper opened the door. The doorkeeper recognized the shepherd’s voice. In fact the sheep recognized his voice as well. From all the time the shepherd spent with the sheep, they could even determine the tone of his voice when he called. They could sense urgency in his voice or maybe a simple call to assemble to the sheepfold. Whatever way, the shepherd led sheep by his voice. Other cultures, however, have a differing style of leadership though. “Unlike Western shepherds who drive the sheep from the side or behind, often sheep dogs. Near Eastern shepherds lead their flocks, their voice calling the to move on. This draws a remarkable picture of the master/disciple relationship. NT spiritual leadership is always by example, i.e.; a call to imitate conduct (cf. 1 Tim. 4:12; 1 Pet. 5:1-3).”[1] In this style of leading, the shepherd went ahead to make sure the path was safe. He assessed anything which could threaten the sheep’ welfare. He also knew the best places for watering and feeding. He led from the front, not the back, to protect and address the daily needs of the sheep. “…the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” One other thing to remember is when shepherds called their sheep from the sheepfold, there was more than one flock inside. In fact there could have been many. The sheep knew their shepherd though and would respond only to his commands, not other shepherds. Over the years, several have tried to change into the shepherds clothing to try to trick the sheep into following. The sheep knew better. They didn’t respond. They knew the true shepherd’s voice. The same is true today. Those of us who have trusted Jesus Christ, know the true Shepherd’s voice. He is the true leader of our lives. Anything else is counterfeit.
The night the supervisor chickened out; we all realized something. He wasn’t who he claimed to be. He wasn’t a true leader. He told us what to do, but he didn’t lead by example. We really didn’t trust him from that day. We began listening to his subordinate, who wasn’t afraid to show us. He didn’t wait until it was all over and appear. He went ahead of us, setting the example. “he goes ahead of them…” Later, my “chicken” supervisor got promoted. The man who led us as his subordinate, became our supervisor, and he did an incredible job.
[1] (MacArthur, John, 1997), 1603.