SHEEP MEET HERE!

It is sometimes funny how simple things can be misunderstood.  Children who are not familiar with the complications that daily life presents are often great examples of this.  And so when little Amy Tasker asked Frank and Iolene about a sign she saw on a denominational church building, they explained to her that she was mistaken.

We are living in a time when people are trying to break from what they perceive to be traditional practices.  Churches are trying to attract attention to themselves by doing things that will cause one to stop and think.  An example of the latter is the use of the marquee sign outside the building with clever religious sayings.  Some are pretty good.  An example of both the latter and the former is the use of signs that identify a church in an unconventional way.  We have such a sign that reads “Christians Meet Here,” which might serve to provoke some to thoughtful consideration of stopping in.

 That brings us to Amy Tasker’s sign.  The church in question went that one step further and put up a sign that made Amy think they sold mutton at the church building.  Frank assured her that a sign that reads “Sheep Meet Here” does not mean that they are butchering lambs and selling the meat.  Frank explained to Amy, “Sometimes the disciples of Jesus, Christians, are referred to in the Bible as sheep.”  He showed her John 10 and all its references, for example, verse 11:  “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep.”  He also showed her Psalm 23:  “The Lord is my shepherd …”

Amy enjoyed the attention and the lesson, but she was still puzzled – and she was not satisfied.  So she asked Frank, “If they are not selling sheep for people to eat, why do they have the sign?”

Ah, 10-year-olds.  They have a way of pressing the point.  But some things are not so easy to discern.  It seems like such an easy thing for us to understand what the sign meant, but Amy needed the help of a loving father explaining the true meaning.

The Ethiopian Eunuch was riding in his chariot reading from the book of Isaiah, specifically Isaiah 53.  When Philip joined him he asked, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” (Acts 8:30).  The Eunuch’s answer, “And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me?” (vs. 31).  So Philip had an opportunity to preach about Jesus beginning from Isaiah 53, specifically verses 7 and 8, quoted this way in Acts 8:  “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth:  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: His generation who shall declare?  For his life is taken from the earth” (vs. 32-33).

Ah, sheep again!

It is the function of Christians as Bible teachers to show people what the Bible says.  That is, they are to show passages of Scripture to people so that they will be able to understand what they need to do to be saved.  That is what Philip was doing when he began from Isaiah 53:7-8 to teach about Jesus.  That is what Frank was trying to do when he showed Amy John 6 and Acts 8.

When teaching someone about what to do to be saved, it is not a good practice to give personal testimony – to tell what Jesus has done in your life.  That practice may be useful in motivating, or in giving comfort, but the practice grows out of denominational tradition, not Biblical example.  What would be wrong with simply quoting Acts 2:38 or Mark 16:16?  It is the information contained in the gospel that brings one to Christ.  He must know what God reveals in the Scriptures.

When someone raises a question about Old Testament prophecy, the best way to answer that question is by finding a verse, either in the Old or New Testament, that explains it.  It may be that the explanation is found in a study of the subject suggested by the prophecy.  But even that must be from the Scriptures to be reliable and useful.

Sometimes the answers to difficult questions are simple.  [That is an oxymoron, I know.]  The question of what to do to be saved is difficult because of the diverse opinions people hold.  But Acts 2:38,  “And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” is an easy passage to understand.  The problem is that too many times we find ourselves directed away from Scripture in these matters.

The “marriage question” is difficult because emotions and relationships are upset.  But the answer to the question, “Who may remarry after a divorce?” is easy to understand when the answer we get is from Scripture.  “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery” (Matt. 19:9).  When people are led to make decisions of moral or doctrinal import based on how they feel about things, the water gets muddy plum quick.  But I rarely meet anyone, who without help, does not understand this passage AND its implications.

So let’s point people to the Scriptures, let’s show them the verses that answer their questions.  That’s the easy way, that’s the sure way to teach them the truth.

How did Frank finally convince Amy about the church with the sign?  He simply explained to her that the food mutton is M-E-A-T.  And M-E-E-T means to come together.  That was the simple solution … Until Frank and Iolene drove with Amy past that particular building.  And what did that sign say?  It read:

SHEEP  MEAT  HERE!

Hmmm…..  Maybe someone else needs a spelling lesson.