Herd Mentality

Sheep can be pretty dumb animals. They have a certain herd mentality that taken to extremes can be fatal. Do you know that their herd instincts are so strong that they will follow each other into danger, maybe even over a cliff? Their herd mentality is stronger than their individual intelligence.

They also tend to wander. They lose focus and get distracted, and before you know it, they're gone. When they get lost, unlike many animals you hear of , they can't find they're way home without some help. You hear stories of dogs or cats or horses being lost or loose, yet finding home from miles away. They don't have a natural homing instinct.

They also need protection. Sheep can't defend themselves against predators. The only exception is the occasional ram. He has been equipped with the necessary tool for some defense.

Is it any wonder Jesus used the illustration of sheep and a shepherd for His followers? Don't people have the same characteristics?

Peer pressure is not just for high schoolers. In and out of the church, we tend to follow what everyone else is doing. Sometimes this is great, but many times to can be disastrous. We all need to read the same book, or do the same ministry. We can follow the wrong leader for the right reasons, or the right leader for the wrong reasons. Sometimes over a cliff. We need a Shepherd to guide us.

We are big on getting distracted. We have remotes, microwaves and ipods. Our society has contributed to a mass attention deficit disorder. We have distractions that pull us away. Some times they are important things like our kid's activities or family commitments. Some times it's trivial things like hobbies. We look up and wonder "Where's God?", not realizing it was us who wandered away. We need to rely on a Shepherd to keep us from getting lost

We are also defenseless by ourselves against attacks by our enemy. It helps when we are in a large group. But he can still pick off the weak or slow ones, like a wolf does. We need a Shepherd to protect us.