Why do we keep mistaking loud, rule-breaking leaders for strong protectors? Perhaps we need to better understand how the “shepherd” metaphor reveals the difference between leadership that serves and leadership that exploits, and why learning to recognize that difference may be one of the most important skills we have!
There’s something deeply human about wanting a protector. When things feel unstable, we don’t just want solutions. When the economy is shaky, when culture feels like it’s shifting under our feet, when the future feels uncertain, we want someone strong. Someone confident. Someone who looks at the chaos and says, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” That instinct isn’t a flaw; it’s part of how we’re wired. For most of human history, survival depended on finding the right people to follow when things got dangerous.
And that’s exactly why the metaphor in John 10 is so powerful. The idea of a shepherd—someone who enters through the gate, who is known, who is trusted, who leads rather than forces—speaks to that instinct in a healthy way. But the story doesn’t stop there. It also warns us about the other kind of figure. The one who doesn’t come through the gate. The one who climbs over, bypasses the system, and still claims to be the protector. The one who sounds like a shepherd… but behaves like something else entirely.
Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: the same instinct that helps us find good leadership can also make us vulnerable to the wrong kind of leadership. And in today’s world, where fear and frustration are easy to amplify, that line between protector and predator gets very blurry very fast.
So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!
