Three Shepherds

A successful sheep rancher called his three Shepherds together and assigned them 100 sheep each. He sent them out into the countryside to pasture their sheep with instructions to report back in a year. The first Shepherd found forage for his sheep, cared for the occasional illness or injury that came up, protected them from predators and when the occasional sheep got lost he searched diligently until he found it… dead or alive. He loved his sheep. The second Shepherd behaved in a similar fashion except that when one of his sheep strayed off he would make a cursory sweep for it and call for it by name but if it failed to show up he figured he had made the effort and went back to tending the rest of the sheep and soon forgot about the lost sheep. The third Shepherd found pasture for his sheep but was kind of a “hands off” guy. The sheep needed to learn to tend for themselves and be responsible for themselves. If a sheep strayed off he didn’t look for it. He figured if the sheep didn’t appreciate the benefits of the flock then it could do what it wanted. If it came back… fine but if it stayed away… fine. At the end of the year the Shepherds returned for an accounting of their flocks. The first Shepherds sheep were in good shape and the Ewes had all “lambed” and the flock had increased to 175 sheep. He had lost a few sheep due to predation and health related issues but all in all he had done a good job and managed everything under his control. The second Shepherds flock tallied in at 143 head of sheep. The third Shepherd’s flock had decreased in size to 88 head of sheep due to his faulty philosophy of individual responsibility and a “hands off” approach. The Sheep Rancher fired the third Shepherd for losing so many sheep due to his negligence. The Sheep Rancher is Jesus. The Shepherds are his appointed Elders/Bishops. The sheep are the church. The roundup and tally are the Judgment day.