John 10:1,16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber… And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Other Sheep, but No Other Way
The other day we were driving the back roads just for relaxation when we passed a field of four or five horses. I glanced at them quickly and said, “Oh, good-looking horses!” It is something I just captured in the moment, and I knew that they were of good confirmation. Subconsciously, I knew they were stock horses. They were, in short, quarter horses.
My wife said, “What are they?” I said, “I think they are quarter horses.” A lot of people see a field of horses and say, “There’s a bunch of horses,” although it may be five horses, a mule, and a cow. They hardly know the difference. Other people look at horses and tell you exactly what they are. There is a difference between a quarter horse and a Tennessee walker. Some people see distinctions where others, perhaps, would not see them.
Distinctions are important. What I have just demonstrated is that the closer you get to something, the more pronounced the distinctions are. That can be true about horses, and it can also be true about people. A couple years ago I was preaching in South Dakota where there was a man with long hair and short shorts in the service. My first thought was, “Great! I hope he will hear and accept the gospel.” Now, I didn’t know his heart. All I could see was his hair, t-shirt, and shorts, and I would not have pegged him for what he turned out to be. I found out later that he was a youth pastor down the road.
Usually I can spot another preacher at 100 yards with my eyes closed, but I didn’t that night. The closer you get, the more pronounced the distinctions become. Distinctions have a place of importance.
John 10:1 and 16 give us two distinctions that help us see on a continuum where we should be and where the balance may rest. John 10:1 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entered not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” Jesus goes on to say, “I am the door of the sheep… I am the door… I am the good shepherd.”
The Bible says that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to God except by Him. In other words, there is no other way. However, there are other sheep. Someone that comes in another way is not a sheep, but there are other sheep that are not of this fold. Verse 16 says, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
When we get to Heaven, there are going to be people that are not from my church. There are going to be people that are Jew and Gentile, and people that I may not even care for. There may be people with whom I have profound disagreement, but they are there because there is only one Shepherd and one way. So, in short, there are other sheep, but there is no other way. Their going to Heaven is based on their relationship to Jesus, not their relationship to me. This is the crucial distinction, the one that separates between sheep and goats.
It is important to keep our distinctions clear. I may have an affinity for people because of their conservative political views. That is great, but just because they are for those things does not mean they are on their way to Heaven or helping other people to go to Heaven.
On the other hand, there might be people who preach the gospel, but have music that I think is ungodly. That is unfortunate, but it is very possible and actually quite frequent. I am not demonstrating the stand by which you should have fellowship with people; I am simply saying that it is important for us to keep our distinctions clear.
The bottom line is to ask, “What do others do with Jesus?” The closer I am to Jesus and the closer someone else is to Jesus, the better we can partner, perhaps. The closer people align on important questions about the gospel, the better they can partner. But there is a continuum. We need to remember that there are other sheep, but there is no other way. We need the grace, wisdom, and savvy of God to know where we should be. Jesus said we should be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We don’t need to be naïve or unkind, but we need to be both savvy and sweet by God’s grace.