Have
you ever heard of billy goat religion? Well, maybe
not. After all, goats are not a part of the assignment of our Lord to
his
apostles to take the Gospel to “every creature” (Mark 16:15). Goats are
not
among those charged in both testaments to “prepare to meet thy God”
(Amos 4:12;
Jam. 4:8) because of an impending appearance before the Judgment Bar of
God to
give an account of one’s life (Ecc. 12:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:10). However,
the Bible
does refer to animals, including sheep (lambs) and goats, figuratively
through
types, metaphors and similes to teach spiritual truths. “Types” use one
thing
to represent a fuller and superior thing or person (e.g., the
sacrificial lamb
of the Old Testament versus the Lamb of God—Jesus
Christ—who died for us). “Metaphors” call
something that it is
not for the purpose of comparison and emphasis (e.g., Jesus compared
Herod to a
fox, Luke 13:31-32). “Similes” use the word “as” or “like” to compare
two
different things for the purpose of comparison or emphasis (e.g., the
Holy
Spirit is compared to a dove, Matt. 3:16). Jesus used his famous
illustration of goats and sheep respecting Final Judgment in Matthew
25:32-33.
So, using similar figures, just what is billy goat religion?
Billy goats
resemble sheep to a degree. Both
goats and sheep are near the same size, have four legs, are grazing
animals and
have a similar voice. Likewise, non-Christians and unfaithful
Christians may
resemble Christians to a degree. Anyone with clear eyesight can
distinguish
easily between a goat and a lamb. Likewise, anyone possessing the least
powers
of discernment ought to be able to distinguish easily between
non-Christians or
unfaithful Christians and faithful Christians. If the world (family
members,
co-workers, fellow students, friends and peers) are prone to confuse us
with
(spiritual) goats rather than sheep, isn’t this a fairly obvious
indication
that we resemble goats more than (spiritual) sheep? Borrowing from a
VBS song,
“I don’t want to be a goat, nope, because goats have no hope, nope!”
Billy goats
will eat almost anything. “[T]”hough
kept with sheep it had the advantage of being able to thrive on poorer
ground”
(New Bible Dictionary). The proverbial goat even eats tin cans!
How is
that different from the child of God who fills himself with the filth
of this
world (e.g., from song, movie, bad language, mode of dress, Internet
choices,
poor choices in Christian living) and conspicuously acts like a
homesteader
instead of a pilgrim (e.g., lack of Christian service, sporadic
Christian
worship, little conviction)? Lusts of this world are not passports to
heaven,
but elsewhere (1 John 2:15-17). Especially Christians need to digest
the Word
of God (2 Tim. 2:15), fill their minds with noble thoughts (Phil. 4:8)
and develop
godly virtues (2 Pet. 1:5-10). There is a sense that we are what we
eat, not
only physically, but spiritually, too. “I don’t want to be a goat,
nope,
because goats have no hope, nope!”
Billy goats
and sheep are not the same. Goats
and sheep may resemble each other in some ways, but goats and sheep are
different members of the animal kingdom, and they represent in
Scripture
different classes of souls, headed to different eternities (Matt. 25).
Do you
practice billy goat religion, or are you one of Jesus’ little lambs? “I
don’t
want to be a goat, nope, because goats have no hope, nope!”
