Baaa’d Theology
By Grant Gaines
Do you know what the problem is with kids these days? And to be fair, it’s not just today’s generation, it’s every generation—including you and me. At some point in our adolescence, particularly our teenage years, we all think we know more than our parents. And most of the time we don’t mean it in a bad way. We all think that the wisdom our parents are giving us is great advice…twenty or thirty years ago. It’s not that our parents don’t know what they’re talking about, it’s just that they don’t understand us. They don’t know what it’s like to be a kid or teen. They just don’t know as much as we do—or so we think.
The problem with this mindset is not just that we disobey our parents by ignoring their advice which is a sin (Exodus 20:5). But if you examine this mindset even deeper, you will find that the root of the problem is that as rebellious teens, we didn’t know our role—we thought that we were the ones with the greater wisdom. We thought that we were the ones with the better perspective. And ultimately, we thought that we were the ones who should be giving the counsel.
When this role reversal happens with our parents, we typically run into trouble. But what happens when this role reversal happens in our relationship with God? And is it even possible to so skew your view of God that we can come to the point of complete role reversal? I believe that it is not only possible, it is actually quite common.
Take the shepherd and sheep imagery that God so often uses throughout the Bible to most accurately depict His relationship with His children. Who plays what role in this metaphor? As I’m certain that every single person reading this just confidently stated, the Lord is our Shepherd and we are His sheep. There’s no question about that. You flip to nearly any of the 66 books in the Bible and that truth will be so obvious that it leaps off the page at you.
So we know that God is our Shepherd, but is this how we always treat Him? Do we always live according to our role as sheep by following the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) regardless of where He leads us? Not quite. You see, just as naive teenagers don’t have the luxury of life experience to guide, we too are bound to a limited perspective which often causes us, like teenagers, to wander like sheep by following our own plans rather than the Shepherd’s plan. That’s not just bad theology. That is, as a sheep would say it, “baaa’d theology”.
Baaa’d theology will try to convince you that you are the shepherd and God is the sheep. Baaa’d theology will make you think that you have the better plan. Baaa’d theology will make you believe that while God may have once been an incredible shepherd, He’s starting to get a few miles on His tires—after all, He has been around since the beginning (Genesis 1:1)—so He probably needs some guidance in the modern culture.
Can you think of a time when you have fallen victim to baaa’d theology? We all have, there’s no question about that, but when are we most prone to stumble into this trap? Simply put, when things don’t go our way. When we can’t see Romans 8:28—God working all things for our good—playing out quite like we would like it to. When we don’t have the perspective to see that,”… though [we currently] walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” (Psalms 23:4, NIV), our Good Shepherd, “…will never leave [us] or forsake [us]” (Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV), and is leading us to a greener pasture just beyond this valley or trial (Psalms 23:2). That’s when baaa’d theology begins to invade our minds and hearts.
Peter knew a thing or two about baaa’d theology having fallen victim to it himself in Matthew 16. In this chapter—just several verses before Peter’s bad case of baaa’d theology—he had just verbally anointed the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised and prophesized Messiah when he declared that Jesus was, “…the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16, NIV). Well done Peter! Jesus is the Messiah and you are His servant. He is the Shepherd, you are His sheep.
Peter must have felt pretty good about himself, a little cocky even. Unfortunately for Peter, this is not where Matthew 16 ended. Matthew 16:16 was Peter at his best, what followed in Matthew 16 was Peter at his worst.
You see, shortly after confessing Christ as Lord, we read that, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (Matthew 16:21, NIV).
If you were in Peter’s shoes and didn’t know how the story ended—that Jesus did raise from the dead—you would think Jesus was crazy for saying such a thing. After all, wasn’t it Jesus the One who you had just proclaimed as the Messiah who was to save His people? “Maybe Jesus is starting to miss the plan here,” Peter must have thought. “Maybe God doesn’t have as tight a grip of control as we thought. Maybe…” Peter said to himself as he came to his conclusion, “Yeah! I got it! Jesus needs some help here, maybe a little guidance!”
With that thought in mind, “…Peter took [Jesus] aside and began to reprimand Him for saying such things. ‘Heaven forbid, Lord,’ he said. ‘This will never happen to You!’” (Matthew 16:22, NLT).
Peter giving instruction to the One who once rhetorically asked, “Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to give Him advice or teach Him? Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice? Does He need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach Him what is right or show Him the path of justice?” (Isaiah 40:13-14, NLT) would certainly have been a sight to see. You can almost hear Peter trying to tell Jesus that His whole dying on the cross for the sins of the world was a, “baaa’d (“cough, cough” as he tries to clear his throat)…baaa’d idea.” The sheep giving counsel to the Shepherd. That’s baaa’d theology.
So how can you avoid baaa’d theology? Well, it’s easier said than done. You do it by remembering that God is in control—always. You do it by remembering that, “[God] saw [you] before [you were] born. Every day of [your] life was recorded in [His] book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalms 139:16, NLT). You do it by remembering that, “…[God] knows the plans [He has] for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). Finally, you do it by surrendering the reigns of control over to God life because you remember that He is the Good Shepherd with the infinite wisdom, the eternal perspective, and the ultimate good in mind.
Isaiah 58:11 (NIV) promises that, “The LORD will guide you always….” The Lord is willing to lead you, but are you willing to surrender the control of your life and declare along with David, “The LORD is my shepherd…” (Psalms 23:1, NIV)?
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
