In John 10:16 Jesus says, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” When you hear these words, what is your gut reaction?
Are you offended that Jesus is just as concerned about homeless people and third-world gorilla fighters as he is about you? Or do you feel unconcerned for “other” people, because they’re totally different than you, although Jesus loves them also? Or are you thrilled and determined to prayerfully labor in parallel with this revealed purpose and plan of God, for other sheep to join the one fold under this one, wonderful Shepherd?
David Livingstone is an excellent illustration of a desire and labor running in parallel with Jesus. A white Scottish doctor, he chose to give his life in gospel service to the pagan poor of Africa.
“Other.” What a beautiful word for the diversity of people, in places all over the globe, and with gifts and personalities all over the chart!
When he died in Africa, his beloved black brothers in Christ buried his heart in the center of Africa but sent the rest of his body back to Britain. There it was buried in Westminster Abbey along with such prestigious people as scientist Sir Isaac Newton, author Charles Dickens, and composer George Fredric Handel. But on his tombstone is inscribed from John 10:16: “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
“Other.” What a beautiful word for the diversity of people, in places all over the globe, and with gifts and personalities all over the chart!
You may have grown up outside the circle of the accepted and popular; you may stick out like a sore thumb socially; you may not have a picture-perfect family; you may have known all the loneliness that comes in this world with being “other” — but here is Jesus saying, I’m coming for you! Not just for the special, the elite, the accepted, or the expected — but the others.