This summer I had the opportunity to work with the Quechua people in the rural Peruvian Andes for two months and encourage new Christians in their faith. It was awesome! Now, keep in mind that most of the Quechua are shepherds/farmers. This means that they spend most of their lives in the fields with their livestock. If I wanted to hang out with these awesome people, this meant I usually followed them up the mountain to their field..with all 20 something of their sheep and cattle. (This ain't easy for a gringa, by the way!!!)
Today as I was walking out with Tetchi, one of her sheep escaped and she left me and my partners Andrew and Sam all alone with her herd! We started laughing as we watched her running after that sheep of hers, because little Quechua women can RUN! And she ran, ran, ran until she found that missing sheep.
Watching that woman run after her sheep made me see firsthand what Jesus meant when He told the parable about the lost sheep and how the Good Shepherd searched and searched until He found that missing sheep. See, I had never really been able to fully understand Christ's parable, because in Tallahassee we value College Night at Chick-fil-A and that glorious day when financial aid is dispursed, but not sheep. Baaaaah. Because sometimes in the Bible, we have to read some about the historical context and background that is unknown to us in order for the words on the page to fully make sense. Why? Well, the Bible doesn't take place in Tallahassee, Florida, 2012.
But what if it did?
I thought about that this summer, before and after the event with Tetchi's sheep happened. What would the Gospel look like in our culture, in our world as we know it? Who would Jesus challenge? Who would try to condemn Him? What people would be hated by the high and lofty?
So I did what I do with all things that require much thinking on my part..and wrote about what I thought might happen. And these next several weeks, I'm going to share with you my 2012 versions of the Gospel story here, just like I did last December with the Christmas story.
Please understand a few things. First, I'm not trying to take away from the Word itself. Go read that to reallly understand what happened, because this is just me being creative. Secondly, I'm not trying to be irreverent of God's Word but rather try to get people to see things in a new perspective. Finally, I may or may not have the right interpretation of what would have really happened. All I know is this. Jesus Christ was, is, and will be a hero. He is the shepherd that saves all of the lost sheep and saved us at the highest price He could pay-His life.
He's my hero. I'm His sheep and He's my shepherd. And He loves all of us and will RUN after all of us to bring us back home. Now let's see what Christ may have looked like in Tallahassee, a land with no sheep but people in need of a Shepherd.
A hero.
A shepherd feeding her sheep.
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