What's Wrong with This Children's Story?
By Trevin Wax on Feb 5, 2008 in Reformed Theology | 
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I just got done reading this story to Timothy from a popular Children’s Bible Story book. Check out the text and see if you can guess why I walked away shaking my head in disbelief:
“Jesus told a story about a good, kind shepherd. This shepherd had exactly one hundred sheep. One night one sheep went missing. The shepherd went out into the dark to search for his lost sheep. At last he found it. Very happy, he carried it back gently on his shoulders. Jesus says God is happy too when anyone finds him.”
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Did the sheep find the shepherd or did the shepherd find the sheep? It sounds like the author doesn’t understand the parable very well.
BTW, thanks for the info on Dr. Negrut. He preached Sunday morning and was a tremendous blessing.
excogitatingengineer | Feb 5, 2008 | Reply
What’s wrong with this grammar: “I just got done reading…”
R. Mansfield | Feb 5, 2008 | Reply
Nothing is wrong with it. That’s just the way we talk down here in the South.
Maybe I should have said: “I just finished reading…” to suit everyone else!
trevinwax | Feb 5, 2008 | Reply
Sorry, it was the grammar teacher in me coming out; plus I thought I could poke fun at an accomplished writer.
For what it’s worth, I grew up in Louisiana–you can’t get much further South than that. Kentucky is the furthest into Yankee territory I’ve ever lived.
R. Mansfield | Feb 5, 2008 | Reply
Trevin:
I think the answer you’re looking for is in the last line, specifically “when anyone finds Him.” The point of the parable of the lost sheep is that it is God who who goes out and finds the lost sheep, and the last line of the story completely turns the message on its head.
But I also had a probelm with the imagery of “he carried it back gently on his shoulders.” I think this imagery marginalizes the pain and struggle of God in rescuing the lost sheep, something that would not have been lost on the original hearers of the parable in 1st century Palestine, who knew quite well of the grueling nature of carrying a 40-50 pound animal on one’s shoulders through the rugged, mountainous country.
In this writer’s defense, though, I find it one of the hardest things in the world come up with ways to accurately relay the truth of the Christian message to my six-year-old daughter such that it remains authentic but at the same time understandable.
Grace and Peace,
Raffi
Raffi Shahinian | Feb 5, 2008 | Reply
I’ve heard it suggested that the shepherd carries the errant sheep on his shoulders because its wandering has forced him to gently break its legs. For the next few weeks while it heals, it will stay close the shepherd, constantly hearing his voice. When enough time has passed for it to wander more freely, it will have become accustomed to staying close to the shepherd and not likely to wander again.
Paul Wilkinson | Feb 6, 2008 | Reply
The problem with this children’s story is that turns it on its head. The story represents God as he looks for us, his lost sheep. The children’s version I quoted above turns that around and says that God is happy when someone finds HIM. In other words, we’re more like the shepherd and God is like the lost sheep. If only we could find him…
trevinwax | Feb 7, 2008 | Reply