Theology 101 — The Church as a Flock

Theology 101 — The Church as a Flock

Ecclesiology Through Imagery

By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist

To the diverse biblical images of the Church as a body, as a bride, as a building and as a household, Theology 101 this week adds the imagery of the people of God as a flock of sheep.

The prophetic Scriptures point toward this imagery in Isaiah 40:11 in which, through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord God promised the coming of a day when He would “feed His flock like a shepherd” and “gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in His bosom and gently lead those who are with young.”

The coming of Christ ushered in the fulfillment of that ancient promise.

Perhaps the best-known analogy of a flock and a shepherd is found in the favorite and oft-read Psalm 23, with its opening words, “The Lord is my shepherd” (v. 1).

There then follows an enumeration of the Lord’s care for His flock in terms of leading, restoring, comforting, protecting and feeding. Such divine spiritual provisions in the fullness of their meaning awaited the coming of Christ and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

When He came, one of the most memorable ways Christ referred to Himself was as the Good Shepherd. In like manner, the Bible refers to Christ’s followers as a flock, specifically “the flock of God.”

Good Shepherd

In the instructions found in 1 Peter 5 as to how elders are to function as leaders of God’s people, believers are referred to as a flock: “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away” (vv. 2–4).

When we read about Christ as the Good Shepherd in John 10, we also learn what it means to be members of God’s flock.

As the Church we are people for whom Christ died. He said in reference to Himself, “The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (v. 11).

Having died for us, we are members of His flock because He sought us when we were astray. He kept seeking us until He found us. He never turned His back on us or left us.

Furthermore, as members of the flock of God under the shepherding ministry of His Son, Jesus Christ, we are people who are known to Him individually and personally, and in return get to know Him genuinely and personally as our Lord and Savior (v. 14).

Assurance

As God’s flock, the Church is thus composed of those who have heard His voice and decided to follow Him (v. 27).
True members of God’s flock have the assurance of eternal life in heaven and will never perish. Members of the flock are secure in the hand of the Good Shepherd, from which no one can ever snatch them (v. 28). They are His forever.

As saved and secured members of God’s flock, we are able to voice the witness of the Psalmist who testified, “The Lord is my shepherd,” as well as proclaim to the Shepherd, as affirmed in Psalm 79:13, “We, Your people and sheep of Your pasture, will give You thanks forever; we will show forth Your praise to all generations.”