The Goats at the Left

Now it's time to put the kaboose on the train and end this trilogy of livestock/scripture evaluation. I appreciate the patience and dedication of whomever has read all of my posts on this issue. Again, I am not claiming to have a doctorate of theology or to have an expert opinion. I am, however, attempting to fulfill the requests of some friends who wanted to hear what I have to say on these scriptures based upon my meditations and experience with sheep and goats.

So at this point, Jesus has separated the sheep from the goats. The main difference I have seen between the 'sheep' and the 'goats' is that Jesus praised the sheep for their faithfulness before they had a chance to claim it. The goats, on the other hand, boldly asserted their innocence when Jesus condemns them. Jesus tells them that they ignored the needs of the lowliest and did not obey the teachings and instructions he left behind for them to follow. They say," Lord, when and how have we failed you?" Essentially, Jesus replies that if they cannot see how they failed, then they must never have known him. Obviously, they never recognized the calling on their life and never understood what Jesus taught. What can be discerned from this is that (at the most basic level), the goats never knew the shepherd. If they had known him, they would have known what to do and it would have been their natural impulse to obey. There was no intimacy. At this point, people sometimes divide in doctrine. Some say,"Once saved, always saved." Others say,"You can lose your salvation easily because of free choice." Some people say that the people whom Jesus is referring to never heard the truth in the first place, so never had a chance to reject it. For sake of unity of the spirit, I'm not going to touch on any of these points.

What I see is that in this 'herd' , Jesus has called forth his sheep and goats. It doesn't appear to me that the sheep are tame and the goats are feral...both call him 'Lord' and both are required to live up to the same standard of holiness. When the goats are called on the floor to give an account of what they did with their time, they are concerned with 'covering their butts'. They become defensive, but in the process reveal that they had no idea who the savior (shepherd) was in the first place. Chances are, they were following the wrong shepherd all along. As I see it, the sheep are the beloved bride of Christ who serves without even knowing she is serving. As I see it, the goats are almost like the wavering hearts of adulterous Israel. Israel had a lengthy history of erecting an altar to the Lord next to an altar for a pagan deity. This seems especially 'goatish' to me, because a goat has no preference for his leader. A goat will not follow unless he feels like it. There is one instance in which you will ALWAYS get a goat to follow you--if you have a bucket of grain. A goat's god is his stomach. A sheep will follow his shepherd with a bucket of grain, but is wary of a stranger with the same goodies. A goat doesn't care.

Now I will try to list some characteristics of goats that would make for a very bad Christian, or (if you wish) a person who has deceived himself into believing he is a Christian:

1) Goats are obsessed with 'position' and 'hierarchy'
The natural order of goats is like a totem pole. In a herd or flock, there is the 'head doe' and all others will vie for the next position until you get to the bottom. The head doe doesn't need to fight for her place because she already has it and everybody is afraid to challenge her. Her natural succession after herself will be her daughters. Beyond that, it is a bitter and constant fight involving butting and biting. When food is involved, the 'least of these' will indeed remain so.

2) The male is no covering for the flock
A male goat is called a buck. During breeding season, he shows an interest in the does, but is indifferent at all other times. He is not protective of them and will attack a doe (even pregnant ones or one that he was just breeding 5 minutes earlier) if the issue of food or safety is involved. He is interested only in himself.

3) Goats are extremely independent
A goat (as I said earlier) cannot be led if he doesn't want to be. I have had many, many goats that would either lay down or plant their feet when I tried to lead them by a rope. Some would rather die of asphyxiation than yield to the master. Now, this isn't to say that goats won't develop an affection for you and even follow you, but mind, it's because they want to. Trying to herd them is much like the old adage of 'herding cats'.

In all of this, know that I like my sheep and goats for different reasons. Sheep or goats alike would make poor humans, and I think God knows this. This is why he chose humans to be humans, right? Sheep make the best sheep around and nothing beats a goat for a goat. As a Daughter of God, though, and a Child of the Most High, I must be careful to 1)be devoted to my shepherd, 2) not be contentious, and 3) to be easily led. I must be oh so careful to 1) never try to engage in a power struggle with anyone, 2) submit to godly leaders and be a decent covering of anyone beneath me, and 3) to never think that I could do things better than the shepherd trying to lead me. I long to stand before my Maker one day and to be on his right hand and to hear how I've pleased Him. I will say to my Lord,"Oh, how I love you", and that's it. No excuses, no regrets, no defense. I want to be a sheep so busy following my shepherd and trusting Him, that contention, selfishness, and independence never even occur to me.