Be careful who you listen to; be careful who you trust

Chapter 10 of the book of Zechariah contains a clear warning.

Be careful who you listen to; be careful who you trust.

Zechariah is talking about the false prophets, the diviners, the idols, the bad habits and lies and misguided traditions that God’s people have picked up from the surrounding nations. The people have forgotten that God is the one true God, that this God is the only god who can really provide and protect. For God is the Creator God, God of the whole universe, the God who created the heavens and the earth.

Why pray and offer sacrifice to any other god to bring the rains and the sunshine for the crops, when this one true Creator God is the one who created the rains and the sunshine in the first place?

Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.  Zechariah 10:2

Zechariah uses the analogy of sheep and a shepherd because this is an image the people could relate to. It’s one that the psalmist uses in Psalm 23 when he says ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want’. It’s one Jesus picks up in John 10, when he says ‘I am the good shepherd’.

It’s an image that we have to work harder to understand. We don’t have shepherds in the same way any more, although I guess we still talk about people as sheep in a derogatory way to describe those who follow blindly and accept everything they hear without questioning, without any discernment. Like the sheep described in this song by the Housemartins from 1986.

Sheep

Sometimes I get so angry with the simple life they lead
The shepherds smile seems to confirm my fears
They’ve never questioned anything, They’ve never disagreed
Sometimes I think they must have wool in their ears

And when you see a cane I see a crook
And when you see a crowd I see a flock
It’s sheep we’re up against
Sheep we’re up against

When I was young they used to get me counting sheep
But the counting I did was all in vain
No when I’m tired and I’m trying to get to sleep
I count humans jumping onto trains

Sheep are the people who go through the motions without thinking why.

Sheep are the people who repeat what they’ve read in the newspaper or on Facebook without really understanding.

Sheep are the people who jump onto every latest craze, every fashion trend, every fad diet, without any real discernment.

Sheep are the people who go with the status quo and never dream of rocking the boat.

Sheep are the victims of celebrity self-made life coaches.

Sheep are oppressed and manipulated by advertising and the media to crave the latest must-have gadget or accessory.

Sheep are the ones who forget how to think for themselves, how to recognise the truth when they see it.

Sheep are the ones who drift on the waves of public opinion, who go with the flow, unaware of the undercurrent and of where the flow is taking them.

Sheep are the ones who’ve lost sight of the shepherd, the good shepherd, the shepherd they can really trust to provide and protect.

And there will always be those (not all, but some) who will take advantage of the sheep: those with the power and authority to be listened to – teachers, leaders, politicians, religious leaders, gurus. Those who let the power and authority go to their heads, who then mislead and abuse and control the sheep for their own ends.

They will be held accountable. Have no doubt about that.

My anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.  Zechariah 10:3

From Judah will come the cornerstone.

This will be the place to build out from every single time.

The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone): the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. Important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

The key stone. The point of reference. The truth. The right way. Jesus is to be this cornerstone. All leaders, if they are to be good leaders, good shepherds, will refer to God – the way, the truth, the life, the light, the love (whatever you call this divine truth and energy) – as the basis and foundation and compass for the way in which they lead and teach.

Building on this truth is the way to strength.

Building on this truth is the way to living life to full, living life with God.

Building on this truth is the way to true joy, deep happiness.

Building on this truth is the way to restoration and redemption.

‘I will strengthen them in the Lord
and in his name they will live securely,’
declares the Lord. Zechariah 10:12

Be careful who you listen to; be careful who you trust.

Never believe everything someone says just because it’s them saying it.

Never believe everything someone says just because they’re saying what you want to hear.

Develop a discernment of your own.

Listen out for what rings true, what resonates deep within you.

Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life’. John 14:6

This life’s journey is working out what that means for each one of us in practice in our own lives every single day. We tend to have a very narrow view of how that looks. We limit God by our own dogmas and traditions and understanding. God is way beyond our understanding.

It’s time to set people free to find out what God’s way and truth and life look like for them. It’s time to set each one of us free from being a sheep (and this applies to within the Christian tradition too) to work out God’s way and truth and life for ourselves.

Trust in the way, the truth, the life.