The Bible refers to the people of God as sheep. You, in other words, are God’s flock, His lambs. Not only this, but God has called His chosen leaders shepherds; that is, He has called His ministers to the task of feeding and caring for those sheep.

What kind of sheep are you?

Maybe you’ve never thought about it. Maybe you don’t like the idea of being a sheep. But this relationship highlights one of the inherent difficulties of pastoral ministry. Consider how St. John Chrysostom writes about it in his “Six Books on the Priesthood.” The shepherd, observes Chrysostom, can easily see the ailments of his physical sheep; less easy is it to identify the spiritual ailments of God’s sheep. The shepherd, he points out, has “full power to compel the sheep to accept the treatment if they do not submit of their own accord.” But a pastor may never compel the people of God, especially because Christians “above all men are forbidden to correct the stumblings of sinners by force.” And all of this because, “God gives the crown [i.e., eternal life] to those who are kept from evil, not by force, but by choice.”

Your pastor has been set above you by God for your spiritual health. He cannot execute his task if you are unwilling. He cannot teach you, lead you, feed you, guide you, and correct you if you refuse to be taught, led, fed, guided and corrected. And so I challenge you to ask yourself this question: Am I a willing sheep, or a recalcitrant one? Your answer, and your salvation, are in your own hands to choose.