Guest Editorial: Other Sheep

By Victor W. Decker

The guest author is the father of Evelyn Stone, ABWE missionary to Peru. For the past 50 years, Pastor Decker has shepherded a flock of about 100 people in northeastern Pennsylvania. For the past 25 years he has also shepherded a flock of 400-700 sheep.

"Sheep, shepherds, and related terms are used as pictures throughout the Bible to convey spiritual truths and relationships. In the agrarian culture of ancient times, and even in the rural populations of the Western world, these concepts were readily understood. Unfortunately, the applications are not as clear to contemporary readers who get no closer to the agricultural production base than a supermarket counter, a shopkeeper's display, or a fleeting glimpse from an interstate highway.

"Domestic sheep are helpless wanderers with a minimal sense of direction. They cannot survive without the care of their shepherd. Isaiah drew on this when he wrote, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6).

"Peter used similar imagery when he wrote, 'Ye were as sheep going astray.' Like Isaiah, who presented the Savior wounded and bruised in His mission to redeem lost sinners, Peter depicts the recovery of the lost who are 'now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.' (1 Peter 2:25).

"Recovering and returning a lost sheep is not an easy task, even if it is only a 40-pound lamb. Frightened, nervous, and perhaps injured, the lamb can't be led. Chasing it only compounds the problem. Catching the lamb and carrying it is the only effective solution. The shepherd must reach the lost sheep without frightening it, then find a way to carry it back home. It is the shepherd's responsibility to find the lost one and bring it back to the fold.

"In Luke 15:3-6 Jesus portrays a touching picture of the shepherd dealing with squirming, frightened, and resisting sheep. The strong, compassionate shepherd grasps the forelegs in his left hand, the hind legs in his right hand, and hoists the sheep onto his broad shoulders where it rests in helpless repose. The procedure works. I have followed it.

"A similar procedure works with lost sinners, and I have experienced that, too. Until the straying sinner is found, subdued by God's mercy, and comes to trust completely in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, he is helplessly and hopelessly lost."

Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd who loves and cares for His sheep. In John 10:16, He gives the challenge which must stir everyone who believes in Jesus Christ: "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring." Since 1927 ABWE has been part of the vast endeavor of reaching the lost around the world. In this issue we introduce you to the ABWE appointees who join in the task of seeking the lost and bringing them into the fold.

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