Today’s lectionary readings pick up on God as a shepherd, or Christ the good shepherd. The logic of the metaphor positions Christians or the faithful as sheep.
In our culture, “sheep” often symbolize mindless followers – an unflattering trait. “Do you really want to be a sheep?”
That presupposes that we get to pick.
Aside from that, sheep are as multi-dimensional as anything else. We could unpack the symbolism of “being a sheep” for a long time.
If we did want to be sheep, or even if we just were sheep and had to make the best of it, what kind of sheep would we want to be?
Maybe more to the point, what kind of shepherd would we want?
Again, presupposing that we get to pick.
Matters of Interpretation 