Why did the Sheep Cross the Road?

… A doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea ... People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.

James 1:6-8

Here's a question for you. Which animal is smarter? More intelligent? Sheep or goats? You probably answer "Goats", right? Everyone knows sheep are stupid, dumb animals. But then consider this: How come it is that goats are so much more likely to be roadkill than sheep? I remember only a couple of times seeing a dead sheep by the roadside. But goats? More than I can count. Perhaps the reason is that by nature goats are more likely to graze by the roadside while sheep are more domesticated and stay at home. Be that as it may, I believe there is another important reason: Goats are too smart for their own good.

The thing about sheep is that they're mostly predictable - it's quite easy for the driver of a car to know what the sheep will do. It usually has one mind - it's instinct and natural urge to follow. They will probably cross the road in a column, behind their leader, and once they've started across, they are unlikely to turn round or make sudden moves. Once they head off, they will get to their destination at the same pace. The driver is thus able to make a good judgment to either speed up, slow down or steer clear to avoid the sheep.

Goats for their part are considerably less predictable. In a moment of crisis they are likely to be caught in two minds - their instinct versus their unfortunately smart brain. It is difficult for them to condense all the information in an instant - survival instinct, distance across the road in either direction, speed of the car, their own speed, etc - and so they make sudden, unexpected and poorly informed moves that often result in accident and death. Their own wisdom may be superior to that of sheep but, because it is incomplete, it is their undoing.

Perhaps now it is easier to see why Jesus would use sheep to represent the good guys in his parable of Matthew 25. I will not go so far as to suggest that God will have us be unthinking individuals with no personal opinion but, like sheep, it will do us a world of good if our principal sentiment is to follow in the steps of our leader, even when trouble is coming our way. That way we will remain safe.

The goats which, according to the parable, are sorted to the left side of the shepherd represent those destined for eternal punishment. Perhaps we act like goats when we let conflicting emotions - emotions like doubt, pride, lust, greed and malice - cloud our judgment and leave us in two minds. The result is the same - Death.

So, for once, I'd much rather be a stupid sheep than a wise goat.

With love, Doosuur.