Building Champions: Feeding the Sheep

In my previous post, I talked about the mandate of putting on the leadership mantle, a called that Christ has embedded in us to build champions.  

Once we put on the leadership mantle, we got to get moving. One of the key tasks as leaders is to feed our people. 

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 

“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” 

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” 

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” 

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” 

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” 

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, 

“Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” 

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 

On all occasions when Simon Peter answered Jesus’ question, Jesus replied all three times with almost identical answers. “Feed my lambs”, “Take care of my sheep”, “Feed my sheep”. There’s the verb: Feeding and taking care, and there’s the nouns: lambs and sheep. 

Feeding 

Feeding deals with food. We consume food into our bodies because it is a necessity for us if we want to stay alive. On the other hand, consuming food doesn’t mean we will stay alive. It depends on what we consume. What we consume can potentially make us stronger or weaker; eat junk we end up junk and eat healthy and we end up healthy. 

Say no to junk food!

Lambs?? Sheep?? Who to feed? 

Why did Jesus use two different nouns? Why didn’t he just stick to lambs or sheep for that matter? Well, obviously there’s a difference between the two. 

A lamb by definition is a sheep that is 12 months old or less. In other words, a lamb is a baby sheep. A sheep on the other hand is obviously an adult version. In other words, Jesus is commanding us to feed two groups of people – the young and the old, the baby and the adult. 

Feeding the young requires sacrifice of time and convenience; it requires effort and willingness of the heart to serve (as mentioned in previous post). A lot of time we understand and embrace our mandate to feed the young, however, many of us overlook the commandment and the authority that God has given us to also feed the old. 

One of the key things I’ve learn is that sometimes, as children, we need to learn to educate our parents. Note the word educate, not disobey. Sometimes parents can be so fixed in their mindset due to perhaps their upbringing so much so that it distorts their spiritual lenses. As children, we need to educate them. I’m not saying children should disrespect or disobey their parents, I’m saying that in any given relationship – be it parent-child, peer-peer or husband-wife relationship – both parties have the right to educate one another and that’s how any functional relationship grows. 

Similarly, once we put on the leadership mantle, we must understand that God has called us to feed not just to the young but to the old as well. He has given us that authority to do so. We are to empower the generation, both the young and the old. Pray and continue to ask for wisdom and divine insights to do so. 

Now that we understand who we need to feed, we must now tackle the what. 

What do we feed? 

We need to feed each other with 2 essential spiritual food amongst many others: 

1. The Word: 

John 1: 1-5 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... In him was life...” 

It says that the “Word was God” and “in Him was life”. If we neglect feeding our people with the word, it simply means that we are taking away life from them, not in the literal sense but in the spiritual. Without the word, we lose essence of the life and purposes that God intended for us to have. What happens then is that we become like shepherds who lead sheep in circles, always moving but never entering the gateway that God intended for us. Leading soon becomes more of a “chore” and a routine than anything else. Without the word, there is nothing “solid” to feed the people any longer, and what’s worst than going through a “chore” is when the sheep begin to wander off simply because the shepherd no longer feeds them with “life”. 

2. Prayer 

James 5 talks about the prayer of faith. Whenever we talk about prayer, most talk about how powerful prayers are and we should never underestimate the power of prayer. That is true. But there is another significant element about prayer that’s important when we are in the midst of building champions and that’s accountability. 

James 5: 16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed”. Aside from the fact that prayers can heal, it’s the confessing-to-each-other that is crucial as well. This speaks of accountability between a shepherd-sheep relationship, to not just uphold each other in prayer, but to account for each other in life. 

Shepherd = Sheep 

The fact that Jesus asked us to feed the young and the old simply puts us in a dual position – as a shepherd who feeds others and as a sheep who receives feeding from others. A lot of times, feeding others is easier than being fed because the latter may hurt our ego. This brings back to the issue of the heart which I’ve shared in the previous post. We need to be humble to receive and to give. Being both the shepherd and the sheep also means that we must constantly feed ourselves with the Word and prayer. No exception. 

"Feed my sheep".