From Eden onward, deception has rarely sounded dangerous at first. It usually sounds close enough to the truth. Why are God’s people so vulnerable to voices that distort His words, and how can we learn to recognize the difference? John 10 talks about Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and what it takes to be good sheep.
In the times of Jesus, shepherds kept their sheep in a communal pen with other flocks. The walls were high enough to keep predators out, and sheep in. This is the imagery Jesus is pulling us into in John 10. Climbing the wall and avoiding the gatekeeper means you don’t have good intentions and Jesus called these the thieves and the robbers. Though we may not see robbers in the pew with us, there are still people on Sunday coming to steal, kill, and destroy. There are leaders, pastors, and wolves in sheep’s clothing who plant the same doubt as Satan in the Garden: “Is that really what God said?”
Looking back at John 10, the sheep aren’t called to do anything about those who enter without the gate. Jesus is rebuking the thieves, and making us aware of the danger. The flock isn’t meant to take up arms and do business with the wolves. That’s the shepherd’s job. What is our job in chapter 10?
In verses three and four, we see that the sheep listen to their shepherd, and they follow Him, because they know His voice. He leads, they follow. He calls, and they come to Him. Verse five adds that they will never follow a stranger, they’ll flee.
Our job as sheep in His flock is to know His voice so well, that we can only be called by Him. When the wolves among us say “It’s not really what the Bible meant when it said…” we won’t be swayed by their cunning, because we are so rooted in the Shepherd’s voice.
Looking at the eighteen verses of the Good Shepherd in John 10, the sheep only do three things.
First, the sheep know the Shepherd’s voice.
Do you know the word well enough for a quick game of “Is it Scripture or is it Star Wars”?
“Your eyes can deceive you, do not trust them.” Scripture or Star Wars?
Another: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart.” Scripture or Star Wars?
How hard was it to be confident in those quotes? They could belong in either context, and we may doubt whether these were breathed by God or from the mind of Lucas.
We have to put the time and effort into our relationship with the Shepherd to know His voice. To deepen the relationship, we have to spend time together in His word and in prayer.
Second: the sheep follow Him because they know his voice. We can discern His voice from the noise in the sheep pen when we know the Shepherd. At the beginning of our walk, when we are little lambs, if you will, it may be hard to discern the shepherd’s call. Having a strong body to build you up, along with an older believer who can disciple you, will help you follow Him.
Paul urges Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6), and we can see the Body’s influence on Timothy. Verse five speaks of the sincere faith of his grandmother and Eunice his mother. They passed down to Timothy their faith by demonstration. We also see in verse six the gift in him through the laying on of Paul’s hands. Find a spiritual Eunice or Paul: someone who has a sincere faith that will push you closer and deeper to God.
Third: the sheep flee from a stranger’s voice. When looking for a body of believers to tie into, knowing the shepherd’s voice is paramount. Being gospel-adjacent isn’t the same as keeping the Word central.
2 Timothy 4:3 tells us:
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
Jesus tells us in John that the sheep flee when someone other than their shepherd calls for them. The verb used here in the Greek means “to seek safety by flight”, and over time it becomes the root word for words like “fugitive” and “refuge” in English. We aren’t called to put down roots in a Stranger’s flock, we are meant to run back to the safety and refuge of the Shepherd’s voice.
We have to watch that we don’t surround ourselves with teachers who say what we want to hear. Are they twisting Scripture to make it land where they want it to land? This isn’t meant to be a moment of compromise. It’s time to flee, even if the band is on point or the children’s ministry is engaging.
Are you staying in places you should be fleeing? Are you becoming personally familiar with the Shepherd’s voice or the Stranger’s? For more information on finding a body of believers, watch the podcast here.
