Are you in it for the money?

This week's parablerific goodness is on John 10:1-13:

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

There's a whole lot of talk about sheep going on here. Luckily there's a message in there for us. Jesus tells us why he's the guy we should follow, and not others who would claim to be on our side, but are not really for us at all.

A thief or a hired hand is in things for himself. A thief has no use for a gate, because he's taking the shortest route to get what he wants. He'll go over the fence, and right to the sheep, so he can quickly butcher one and carry it off silently. Somebody might be watching the gate at night, but nobody can watch the whole fence. He's a liar and a destroyer.

The hired hand is there because he wants money. He doesn't care about the sheep. He'd watch a jar of spiders or a pile of rocks if the pay was the same. He's your classic rent-a-cop. Whereas a sheepdog might die valiantly trying to defend his master's flock, the hired hand will flee as soon as his personal risk exceeds how much he expects to earn. He is selfishness decorated with a tin star.

People have come into the world before, claiming to have answers for us, and to want to help us. They have all been con men and cowards to some degree. As imperfect, fallen humans, that's the best we can achieve. They come and claim to be acting in our best interests, but what they really want is our stuff. They claim to be deserving of special respect because they're protecting us from the evil world out there, but when evil arrives, they flee and leave us to the wolves.

When a person comes, making lavish promises and acting like they have all of the answers, it's healthy to be skeptical. Jesus recognized that. The church preyed on people's skepticism at the time. They painted Jesus as a selfish rebel, or as someone without legitimacy. Jesus gave us the parable of the sheep and the shepherd to explain why he's different from all of the people who came before him and after him.

The shepherd owns his sheep. He has a right to them. He is so connected to them that his interest is their interest. Whether he's selling their wool or their meat, he's paying the price by leading them to provision and protecting them from enemies. The thief and the hired hand are only there to take without giving. They are not connected to the sheep. They don't sacrifice for the sheep's wellbeing. They're there to get what they want and go.

There can be only one owner for a flock of sheep. God is our owner. Anyone else who claims to own us is a pretender. In the same sense, we don't own others. We can do things on behalf of the shepherd, but they're not our sheep. The question is, are we in it for the money or the love?

Do we put ourselves on the same level as those we serve, or are they just mouths to feed in order to get what we want from them? Do we keep our distance, or are we among them? Will we take what we want from them and leave when we're done? Will we run away when it gets hard? Or will we stay with them and look after them, for better or for worse, like Jesus?