I just want to be a sheep....

I just want to be a Sheep – bahhh bahhhh bahhhh bahhh, I just want to be a sheep, bahhhh bahhhhh bahhhh bahhhh – I pray the LORD my soul to keep, I just want to be a sheep, bahhhhh bahhhh bahhhh bahhhh. 

Have you ever heard that song?  It is one of my favorite all time kids songs.  It is fun to sing, it has the best motions and it actually has meaning!  Being a sheep, being a follower of Jesus, letting Jesus be our shepherd and following him.  He may be leading us through a rough area to get to greener pastures, but we are his sheep.  If we get lost- he ensures the other sheep are safe, and comes looking around for us.  He protects us overnight from wolfs and from other animals.  He is our shepherd.

The song then continues:

I don’t want to be a Pharisee (unt uh…), I don’t want to be a Pharisee (no way) ‘cause their not fair, you see….  I don’t want to be a Pharisee.    Why????  *sing the sheep part again*

What is a Pharisee?  Here is how one site describes the Pharisees of Jesus’ day:

“The Pharisees were religious leaders in the Jewish society at the time of Jesus. They were religious fundamentalists who focused on strict observance of the Jewish laws, ceremonies and traditions. There were around 6,000 Pharisees during Jesus’ time on earth. Pharisees were leaders in the local synagogue.  Most every Jewish community had their own synagogue, while there was only one temple and it was in Jerusalem.

“Pharisees strongly encouraged the Jewish people to pursue righteousness by closely following the Jewish laws and not compromising with the beliefs and ways of the Romans. The Pharisees openly opposed Jesus for many reasons. They were particularly appalled at his acts of healing people on the Sabbath and his blatant claims to divinity.

“Jesus denounced them as being hypocrites. They often lived moral lives, full of good deeds, but it was all outward actions with no thought given to the heart or motives of the actions.” 

(thestoryofjesus.com/politics.html)  

I looked at quite a few descriptions and this seemed to be the easiest and most consise definition. 

They were the people that followed the Torah, they looked at the law of the Bible, of the old testament, and followed it to the letter.  They didn’t believe in Jesus due to the fact that he healed on the Sabbath and had his disciples collect food on the Sabbath because they were hungry.    

They followed the Lord, but only with their actions, not with their hearts, they had a religion and not a relationship. 

The next verse of this cute little ditty goes:

I don’t want to be a Sadducee (uht uh), I don’t want to be a Sadducee (no-way) ‘cause their so sad… you see…  I don’t want to be a Sadducee…  Why????  *sing the sheep part again*

What is a Sadducee?  According to that site (again, the most concise and easiest to understand description)

“The Sadducees were Jewish religious leaders who were primarily from the upper-class, were much more sympathetic to the Romans and sought to maintain their aristocratic positions in society. They often disagreed with the Pharisees because the Sadducees rejected the oral traditions and much of the doctrine of the Pharisees.

“The Sadducees were opposed to Jesus because there was the supposed threat that Jesus could potentially overthrow the Roman government, thus jeopardizing their positions of prestige. Sadducees lived primarily in Jerusalem and their lives were often focused around the happenings of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

“The Sanhedrin (the judicial council of the Jewish people) was comprised primarily of Sadducees. “

So they loved having a religion because it gave them power.  It gave them status, it gave them something to say – I am in charge here.  They didn’t think Jesus was good because he was threatening their position. If what Jesus was teaching was real, then perhaps it was going to upset the rules and make them loose their status in the society. 

The last verse of the song goes:

I don’t want to be a hypocrite (uht uh…) I don’t want to be a hypocrite (no-way) ‘cause their not hip…. With it… I don’t want to be a hypocrite….  Why???  *back to sheep part*

What is a hypocrite?  According to dictionary.com

1.  a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

Hummm –so 3 things in this song:

1)      I don’t want to be a Pharisee- holding and clinging to too many laws, I want to be a sheep, following Christ’s direction and His guidance and leading.  If something is against the “rules” that my religion has set up (and not the Bible) then I need to seek God’s wisdom and his guidance and see if those Rules might need to be re-looked at.

2)      I don’t want to be a Sadducee- if something is challenging my standing where I am in my church, maybe don’t knock it, maybe be sure to seek God and seek his will and see if the structure needs to be re-looked at!

3)      I don’t want to be a hypocrite- I don’t want to say that I follow God and that he is the center when he really isn’t.  I don’t want to pretend to cling to something that I am not truly 100% committed to.  

So – where does that leave us?  Matthew 22:34-40

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?  Jesus replied: “ ‘Lovethe Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ this is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and Phorphets hang on these two commandments.” “

So if I do the GREATEST commandment and Love the Lord.  With ALL my heart, mind and soul then all the other things will come.  Part of Loving is to ensure that you DO follow rules, but first and foremost we need to Follow GOD and His leading and direction.  The only way to do that is to earnestly seek him every day and to ensure that I am in his will and direction.  I think that if the whole church (as in the full body of Christ, not a specific church) just gets back into the word and really seeks the Lord and seeks him first – things will be a lot clearer to everyone!  So my goal is to really seek the Lord in all that I do.  Follow the 10 commandments (as in the righteousness blog) while at the same time, just seek His Kingdom and HIS Righteousness.  

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”