SoulShift #6: Sheep to Shepherd

As I read this chapter, I recalled a cartoon I watched as a child. A wolf sits in a cave reading the newspaper. He reads the front page headline with delight. The U.S. Army has drafted the sheep dog for the war (WWII) effort. The wolf races from his den, down the hill to have a sheep lunch, but he is quickly and brutally rebuffed. The battered wolf returns to the cave to read the continuation of the news article below the fold line. The second headline reads:

Sheep Now Protected by Killer-Diller the Sheep-Guarding Ram!

The rest of the cartoon consists of the wolf trying unsuccessfully to get pass Killer-Diller. One reason I thought of this cartoon was because of how the cartoonist chose to draw Killer-Diller the ram. K-D looked essentially like one of the sheep, only larger, with ram’s horns, and a confident grin.

I have not always agreed with the notion that every Christian is a leader, but I can agree with how DeNeff and Drury have framed this soul shift. Within our sphere of influence, every Christian can lead someone closer to Christ, and we must allow God to expand our sphere of influence if he so chooses. We can lead individuals in our families, neighborhood, workplace, and church. God also calls us to reach the homeless, immigrant, poor, or other stranger, even though we may not normally have contact with those people.

I had already planned to lead a small group using SoulShift, however, this chapter caused me to realize that I needed to lead others into leading small groups. I already have three people interested in reading the book, and I suggested one lead a group instead of just reading it, and another is the senior pastor, who may use it as a sermon series.

My reflections as I read through SoulShift by Steve DeNeff and David Drury.